The most testing reply to 1.c4 is the direct 1...e5 — Black grabs the centre and plays a "reversed Sicilian" with an extra tempo. This book, the first of Kiril Georgiev and Semko Semkov’s two-volume English repertoire for White, is devoted entirely to meeting it.
The authors focus on the modern, flexible approach: after 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 they recommend the restrained 4.e3 and 4.d3 set-ups rather than the older, heavily-analysed main lines. The idea is to reach sound, strategically rich middlegames where understanding matters more than memorised theory — and where White’s extra tempo gives genuine, low-risk chances to play for the advantage.
Coverage includes the critical 4.e3 Bb4 lines with 5.Qc2, the Suba Variation, Anand’s pet 2...Bb4, and the various King’s-Indian-style set-ups Black can adopt with ...d6 and ...g6. As usual for Chess Stars, each chapter combines a "Main Ideas" overview, a "Step by Step" theory section, and annotated games.
Aimed at club players and above who want a complete, modern way to handle 1...e5 against the English. Volume 2 completes the repertoire against everything else.
Play the Trompowsky Attack
The Trompowsky Attack — 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 — lets White set the terms from move two, pinning the knight and steering the game away from the heavily-analysed Nimzo-Indian, Grünfeld, and King’s Indian into sharp, original middlegames. In this book, grandmaster Dmitry Kryakvin presents it as a complete and notably aggressive White repertoire.
Kryakvin’s treatment leans into the opening’s combative side. He covers all of Black’s defensive tries — 2...e6, 2...c5, 2...Ne4, and 2...d5 — but where the position allows it he favours the most testing, attacking continuations, making this a good fit for players who want the Trompowsky to be a genuine winning weapon rather than merely a theory-avoidance device.
In the Chess Stars house style, each chapter pairs a "Main Ideas" overview of the typical plans and structures with a detailed "Step by Step" theoretical section and annotated games, so you can study the recommendations at whatever depth you need. The level is pitched at the ambitious club player and above.
A sharp, well-organised Trompowsky repertoire for those who want to surprise opponents early and play for the initiative.
Play 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6!
The Queen’s Gambit Declined is the most classical and dependable way to meet 1.d4: with 1...d5 and 2...e6 Black builds a solid, flexible structure that has anchored the repertoires of World Champions for over a century. This book turns it into a complete, modern Black repertoire.
Every recommendation is chosen in line with current top-level practice, so you are playing the same lines the world’s best grandmasters trust today rather than dusty theory. The coverage is thorough: the main QGD systems after both 3.Nc3 and 3.Nf3, the important Catalan lines that arise when White fianchettoes with g3, and a dedicated section of sharper ...a6 set-ups for when a win is required and Black needs to unbalance the game.
In the Chess Stars house style, the lines are presented clearly and supported by complete annotated games, so you absorb the typical plans, pawn breaks, and piece manoeuvres rather than just a list of moves.
A reliable, low-risk repertoire for club players and above who want a sound answer to 1.d4 that will serve them for years — with enough bite in reserve to play for the full point when the occasion demands.
After 1.e4 e5, the early bishop move to c4 has quietly become one of the most fashionable choices at every level — the modern elite has rediscovered the slow Italian and the Bishop’s Opening as a way to sidestep heavy theory and simply play good chess. This book turns that approach into a complete White repertoire.
The recommendation is built around the Giuoco Pianissimo and Bishop’s Opening structures, reaching them by various move orders (2.Bc4 and 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4) with a flexible d3 set-up. White delays committing the centre, develops harmoniously, and aims for a small, durable edge and a rich middlegame rather than a forced theoretical duel.
Coverage runs through the main set-ups Black can choose — early ...c6 and ...d5 breaks, the ...h6 and ...a6 systems, plans with Bg5, and the lines after 5.0-0 0-0 6.c3 d5 — in the Chess Stars three-part format of Main Ideas, Step by Step, and annotated games.
A practical, modern repertoire for club players who want a sound, low-maintenance way to meet 1...e5 and outplay opponents from a quiet position.
In the second volume of this repertoire set GM Kornev analyzes Caro-Kann as well as openings where White doesn’t play 1.e4 or 1.d4
This book presents a Black repertoire against the opening hit of the year – the London System, which arises after 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4. The author also covers various move orders with 2.Nf3 or 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 c5. Kiril Georgiev analyses several different set-ups for Black, so the book would be of help to White players, too
Practical Black Repertoire with d5, c6 Volume 1
This book is built on a clever, economical idea: combine the Slav and the Caro-Kann into a single ...d5/...c6 system, so that the same structures and plans serve you against almost everything White can open with. Learn one set of ideas and you are equipped against 1.d4, 1.c4, and 1.Nf3 alike.
The practical payoff is real. After 1.c4 Black can simply play 1...c6 without fearing 2.e4, and many of White’s most annoying tries — including London System lines — transpose into harmless, familiar Caro-Kann or Slav positions where Black already knows the plan. That overlap dramatically cuts the amount of theory you must carry.
Volume 1 covers the Slav complex in detail: the Exchange and main-line Slav, the various ...Bg4 and ...Bf5 set-ups, the Qb3 and g3 systems, and the sharp lines after 5.Bg5, all in the Chess Stars format of clear theory plus complete annotated games.
A solid, unified repertoire for club players and above who want a dependable, low-maintenance answer to the whole family of queen’s-pawn and flank openings, rather than memorising a separate defence for each.
A Practical Black Repertoire with Nf6, g6, d6 Volume 1
The great appeal of a universal system is economy: learn one harmonious set-up and play it against almost anything. Alexei Kornev builds exactly that for Black here — a repertoire founded on the flexible ...Nf6, ...g6, ...d6 structure (the King’s-Indian/Pirc/Modern family), where the same fianchettoed bishop on g7 and the same core plans recur whatever White does.
This first volume handles everything except the main King’s Indian battleground. Against 1.e4 it gives the Pirc Defence; against everything where White declines the big centre it supplies clear, unified answers — the English and Réti, the offbeat 1.f4, 1.b3 and 1.b4, and the whole Queen’s-Pawn family (the Trompowsky, London, Torre, and fianchetto systems). Because all of these are met with the same ...g6 scheme, the amount you must learn stays remarkably small.
In the Chess Stars house style, each chapter pairs a "Main Ideas" overview of the typical plans and structures with a detailed "Step by Step" theoretical section, so you can study to whatever depth suits you.
Volume 2 completes the system, covering the main King’s Indian Defence after 1.d4 and c4. Together they give Black one coherent, low-maintenance answer to the entire opening landscape — ideal for club players and above who would rather master one set-up deeply than juggle a different defence for every White move.
This book offers to meet the new challenges to Black by building an English Hedgehog formation. It is all the more convincing as it is based on the successful practical experience of one of the authors.
This book presents a full repertoire against open Sicilians with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6. It advocates the modern set-up with Bc1-e3 and Qd1-f3 against the Taimanov, an innovative treatment of the Keres Attack, 5.c4 against the Kan.
Bf4 in the Queen's Gambit and the Exchange Slav
Grandmaster Alexey Dreev is one of the leading experts on the quiet, pressing systems where White develops the dark-squared bishop to f4, and this book is his detailed guide to using them as a complete White weapon against two of Black’s most solid defences.
The first half covers the Exchange Slav (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Bf4) — an opening often dismissed as drawish, which Dreev shows to be a genuine tool for posing problems. The second half applies the same Bf4 idea to the Queen’s Gambit Declined, in both the Petrosian and Classical Variations, where the bishop’s early development sidesteps Black’s most comfortable set-ups.
Dreev’s treatment is thorough and concrete: he maps out the many move-order branches, explains the recurring plans for both sides, and supports the analysis with complete illustrative games. The recurring theme is how White can keep a small but lasting initiative in positions Black expected to be safe.
A specialist, theory-rich repertoire for ambitious players who want a sound, low-risk way to fight for the advantage with 1.d4 against the Slav and the QGD.
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