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The Carlsbad Pawn Structure is one of the most important and instructive pawn structures in chess. It commonly arises from the Queen's Gambit Declined, Exchange Slav, and other 1.d4 openings, offering a wealth of strategic ideas for both sides. This structure has been studied extensively by many world champions, including Capablanca, Karpov, and Petrosian, due to its rich positional themes.

This textbook is a must-study for any serious chess player. It provides a deep understanding of long-term plans and strategic maneuvering. If you want to improve your positional play, mastering this structure will give you a huge edge in tournament games.

* Final Rating: 9/10 - A timeless and instructive pawn structure that belongs in every player's repertoire.

In the epic book French GM Christian Bauer will be your truthful chess guide!

The Petrov's Defense (also known as the Russian Defense) is an underrated gem in classical chess, offering solid play and excellent counterattacking opportunities. While it might not enjoy the same spotlight as the Ruy Lopez or Sicilian Defense, it's a highly respected opening for players who seek consistency, strategic depth, and resilience.

The hallmark of Petrov's Defense is its symmetrical pawn structure after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6. It emphasizes equalizing early without the chaos of sharper lines, making it an ideal choice for those who prefer calm and strategic maneuvering over immediate tactical fireworks. Black's goal is not just to survive the opening but to gradually turn equality into an advantage through careful piece placement and timely counterplay.

What stands out most about this opening is its reliability at all levels of play--from club players to elite grandmasters. Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik has used it successfully in high-stakes games, demonstrating that it's not just a drawing weapon but also a fighting choice for ambitious players.

The Petrov's Defense can lead to rich middlegame positions, especially in less explored lines, offering plenty of scope for creativity and independent thought.

In summary, the Petrov's Defense is a rock-solid choice for players who value structure, deep understanding, and long-term plans. Whether you're aiming for a quiet positional struggle or waiting to unleash a tactical shot at the right moment, this opening has something for everyone. Give it a try--you might just fall in love with its subtle charm!

Bird's Opening is currently in that 'Goldilocks' zone of the great arbitrages in life. The majority of chess players have dismissed it overlooking its inherent value and this allows for adopters of the Bird to take advantage of this asymmetry. As of this writing, it is played 0.9% of the time in online databases and this drops to 0.2% (!) in the master's database of OTB games. For reference in the OTB database 1.e4 is played 45% of the time. So for every 225 OTB games your opponent plays against 1.e4, he plays against the Bird once. While a case could be made that 1.e4 or 1.d4 are stronger, the objective difference between them and the Bird is infinitesimal. The way I see it, people will continue to ignore the Bird for the foreseeable future. Unless this book sells a million copies, the Bird will never be played remotely close to the frequency it deserves. Because of this it will never be worth your opponent's while to study it, so it will always carry great surprise value.

The book is structured around the Lichess database for players rated between 1200 and 2000 - so if you are in this category the repertoire will synchronize perfectly with the lines your opponents are choosing in your own games. Whenever possible I have sought out lines to surprise your opponent and give them the toughest time figuring things out.

This book gives Black a full repertoire grounded in answering 1...e6 against everything. The answer against 1.d4 is the Stonewall, while the answer against 1.e4 is the French. The repertoire is geared towards all levels due to its flexibility. While I am known for my extreme attention to detail, I have streamlined the text so that it is not as terse as, say, a 1500-page textbook on neurology.

I have returned to my book from a few years ago, to an opening that at the time was a rare guest among books as a topic – and not only among books, but also in tournament practice. In the intervening years it has become very popular to use this old and somewhat forgotten method of playing and I have found lots of interesting new games.

This time though I have focused mainly on Colle-Zukertort type positions, plus some transpositions to Queen’s Indian-type play, so this is not a repertoire book like the previous one, but rather you can look at it as an opening book. Of course, Slav reactions with ...c6 are covered as well, and also early and quick ...c5 and ...g6 reactions.

Due to increased popularity, I have dived into specifics which we can consider now as a renaissance of this old line.

Another important thing, and it is indeed an especially important detail, is the organization of material into logical sections, because this system is often transpositional. Therefore, it is important to do this because reading this book should be an easy and joyful experience.

There are positions in this book that have stood the test of time, but I have also focused on the most recent ideas as I didn’t want to simply repeat the same ideas as before – I wanted to include as much as possible new plans. I also tested these ideas numerous times in my own practice.

So, what you have here is a completely redesigned and modernized system compared to only a few years ago, when this system was virtually forgotten.

This updated volume takes you deeper into the strategies and tactics of one of the most daring defenses in chess.

The Benoni, known for its bold imbalance and sharp counterattacking potential, is the weapon of choice for players looking to challenge White from the very start. This expanded edition not only revisits the fundamental ideas of this opening but also introduces cutting-edge theory, new variations, and insightful commentary from top-level play.

The Sicilian Scheveningen Defense is a highly respected and flexible variation of the Sicilian Defense, characterized by the pawn structure Black adopts with pawns on e6 and d6. It arises after the moves 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6. This setup allows Black to maintain a solid central presence while keeping options open for dynamic counterplay.

Chess has evolved significantly over the past few years. Talented teenagers are playing better than ever, top players possess even deeper theoretical knowledge and make fewer mistakes, and preparation now demands more time and energy. Consequently, winning against strong opponents has become increasingly challenging. This has taught us that players need to manage their energy levels carefully. Most of the advice in this book remains applicable even when you are tired, though in such cases, it's usually better to play more solidly if you're primarily aiming for a good result. That said, results aren't everything. Interesting games are also important, and we are excited to share them with you in this epic book.

About 10 months ago, Nery approached me. We already knew each other; Nery had been my student in group online classes for about 2 years. Nery’s main goal and desire is to help chess lovers like himself. Let’s say we don’t know the theory beyond moves 8-10 and, in many cases, after 5-6 moves we find it difficult to make the right choice. We are also not interested in studying all these complex and long variations, it does not bring us pleasure, and we only want to understand the criteria that we can rely on in choosing a move or plan in opening positions that are critical for us. Nery came to this idea thanks to numerous positions from many of his games in which he found it difficult to make a quick and correct decision. The analysis of these positions after the game, and the conclusions made together with his coach or the computer, or even independently, brought invaluable experience for making further correct decisions in the opening.

Dear chess friends, he wants to share this experience with you.

I’m sure you will enjoy reading this book. Play chess and love chess!!!

We live in era of computers (unfortunately!) and we are simply forced to use them often and widely. Chess is no exclusion – it is impossible even to imagine modern chess without computers, engines, databases, online platforms, etc. Modern generations have their first connection with chess through computers, not books, and that is wrong of course! Young players prefer to memorize than to understand; they follow some fashionable line even if they do not know what is going on!

That motivated me to write this book – logic must be included in the process of chess education! Moreover, logic must be the most important part of that education process. Youngsters often neglect logic and not surprisingly they get surprised when their “well-remembered” variation doesn’t work.

Experienced players often lead the game out of theory, to places where understanding will prevail over memory and energy. That is my favorite concept against youngsters –setting static situations on the board – because young players usually go for dynamics, because they are good at calculating and memorizing. Understanding and logic are everything you need with statics on the board.

Although the London System has been known for a long time, it has only surged in popularity in the last decade or so. This rise can likely be attributed to many players’ desire to focus more on the practical aspects of chess, emphasizing positional understanding over the heavy use of engines and memorization of long theoretical lines. The London System has seen not just an increase in the number of games but also a deeper understanding of the positions it produces. Historically, it was sporadically used, with only a few regular practitioners, such as grandmasters Milorad Knezevic and Vlado Kovacevic from the former Yugoslavia, and the English GM Tony Miles.

Today, players like Gata Kamsky and Magnus Carlsen frequently employ the London System, and it has become a staple in the repertoires of many other grandmasters and non-grandmasters alike. The system’s various move orders and the resulting transpositions make it unique, adding a layer of complexity not as prevalent in other openings.

My personal experience with the London System has been mixed. After losing a game to Grandmaster Volkov in the Rilton Cup, I initially decided that the resulting positions were not to my liking. However, in 2019, I revisited the London System during a game in a World Senior tournament and played exceptionally well. Like any opening, it can lead to both good and bad games, but the London System has undeniably become a significant part of 1.d4 theory.

You can hardly find a more unconventional idea than pushing your g-pawn 2 squares down the board.

Some may say it belongs to a backroom chess game in a café, some may say it belongs to olden times - back when the King's Gambit was the main line after 1.e4 e5. But we are seeing more and more occurrences at the top-level.

Is it a coincidence ??

It's safe to say that g2-g4 (or ...g7-g5) is one of the most weakening moves available. As a matter of fact, the objectively worst first-move happens to be 1.g4, accompanied by an evaluation of -1.30 when running Stockfish 15 on low-depth (we did not see the point on letting it run in this position, it will probably get lower, that's not good advertising).

Now, there are quite a few positions where g2-g4 (or ...g7-g5) makes more sense and brings an interesting fight. The player has to be willing to take some considerable amount of risk, and that may be too much for some of us. The resulting positions often get messy and veer very much away from traditional paths, which means the expected number of mistakes gets higher, thus decreasing the drawing percentage.

Still, it's important to remain somewhat objective and not to get too excited by the thrill of an upcoming attack. Yes, g-pawn pushes are aggressive, but can also very quickly turn out to have disastrous consequences. "I wish I could play g4-g2", is usually a sign the experiment has gone wrong. The book is aimed at covering a wide range of chess openings. We decided to showcase the different categories of g4 (...g5) one may meet in the early stage of the opening, no matter if the idea is strong, interesting or quite unadvisable (bad, you may also say).

Most of the time, g4 (...g5) won't be the best move, but we will try to show that the value of surprise and the tendency of players to react solidly to aggression can matter as well. Also, we have decided not to include any Sicilians, as the g2-g4 push has become so frequent there, and in many variations deeply analyzed already.

Over the 50 games that we picked, the 3 main reasons why the g-pawn is being launched are: 1) Attacking a short-castled king with a hook created by h2-h3 (or ...h7-h6) 2) Challenging the stable position of a Nf3 (or ...Nf6). It becomes stronger when the knight doesn't have a good square to hop to. 3) Seizing space on the kingside.

The more you dive into the examples, the more you'll see that it's a mix of the 3, with one reason prevailing. We wish you happy reading and hope that you'll implement some of these lines into your play!