The Pirc Defence is a fundamentally positional opening that often erupts into dynamic, tactical counterattacks for Black. By allowing White to occupy the centre, Black accepts early space disadvantage in return for flexibility, latent pressure, and the chance to undermine White’s position at the right moment.
In this volume of the Grandmaster Repertoire series, Mihail Marin presents a complete Pirc repertoire for Black against 1.e4. The recommendations are based on Marin’s long-term practical experience and sustained analytical work, covering all of White’s major systems with clear strategic guidance.
Key Features
About the Author:
Mihail Marin is a Romanian Grandmaster, highly respected trainer, and one of the world’s most acclaimed chess writers. A three-time Romanian Champion and individual bronze medalist at the Chess Olympiad, Marin has established himself as a leading authority on opening theory and chess history.
Playing 1.d4 d5, A Classical Repertoire is an invaluable resource for players seeking to excel in Queen’s Gambit Declined for Black. Regardless of the specific defense chosen, players will come across recurring pawn structure themes and strategic plans in this opening. As such, the author, Nikolaos Ntirlis, focuses on the theoretical foundation behind these positional concepts and the typical pawn structures that define the QGD. Each concept is followed by an illustrative example to enhance understanding.
In addition to the classical QGD lines, Ntirlis offers a complete repertoire against popular alternatives such as the Catalan, London System, Torre, and all other significant deviations from move 2 onwards.
Playing 1.d4 d5 is an excellent repertoire for both club and experienced players alike, making it an essential tool for mastering the complexities of the QGD.
This book covers the final two decades of Tal’s life and games, from 1972 until his death in 1992.
When Axel Smith was chasing his final GM norm, he decided he needed a change in his White opening repertoire. Instead of his usual approach of memorizing many concrete moves to try to force an advantage, he would focus on pawn structures and typical plans. The result was a repertoire based on a set-up with the moves d4, Nf3, c4 and e3. It helped Axel Smith to the GM title, and led to the creation of e3 Poison.
In this, the fifth and final volume of the epic Kotronias on the King’s Indian series, Grandmaster Vassilios Kotronias completes his masterpiece by tackling all major variations after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 which were not covered in the previous volumes. The book starts with 3.f3 and works through numerous set-ups including the Smyslov, Sokolov and Seirawan Systems, followed by the Four Pawns Attack and culminates in the mighty Sämisch System.
How do we make better decisions on the chessboard? GM Jacob Aagaard, the author of Grandmaster Preparation: Thinking Inside the Box, will teach you just that.
The focus of this book is to break down the most important topics relating to chess improvement, many of which deal with the psychological aspects of the game, and to illustrate how to overcome critical thinking barriers that hinder progress.
The topics include the psychology of chess improvement, four types of decisions made during a game, calculation techniques, abstract thinking, strategic concepts, and more.
Thinking Inside the Box is the final volume of the award-winning Grandmaster Preparation series which consists of 5 exercise books: Calculation, Positional Play, Strategic Play, Attack & Defence, and Endgame Play. Each book focuses on specific ways of looking at various types of positions and includes exercises to enhance understanding and application of key concepts.
A thought-provoking read, this final book is meant to be a conversational piece, unifying concepts written in the previous five books. It is the ultimate self-improvement guide, catering to amateurs and world-class players alike aiming to overcome their plateau and achieve better results.
In the words of Aagard himself, “Improvement in chess is hard; knowing how it can be done should be easy.”
This ebook is a part of Bundle: Grandmaster Preparation
Attack & Defense - GM Preparation
Part of Jacob Aagaard’s award-winning Grandmaster Preparation series, this volume tackles the dynamic heart of the game: the twin skills of attacking and defending. These are the moments when a game is won or lost outright, and they are notoriously hard to teach as a system rather than a set of disconnected examples.
Aagaard’s solution is to carve dynamic play into separate, trainable abilities — seizing and using the initiative, attacking the king, defending under pressure, and finding counterplay — and to set out the main principles governing each. By breaking the subject into clear components, he gives the reader a structured way to expand a part of chess that most players approach by instinct alone.
As throughout the series, the method is active rather than passive: the principles are introduced and then drilled through a large body of demanding exercises drawn from real play, so you build the skill by solving rather than just reading. The detailed solutions show how a strong player reasons through the chaos of a sharp position.
This is genuinely difficult, high-level material, best suited to strong club players, experts, and aspiring masters who want to sharpen the attacking and defensive sides of their game. A rigorous workout, and a natural companion to the other volumes in the series.
In Calculation thinking methods such as Candidates, Combinations, Prophylaxis, Comparison, Elimination, Intermediate Moves, Imagination and Traps are explained to the reader, and ownership of them is offered through a carefully selected series of exercises.
Endgame Play - GM Preparation
Part of Jacob Aagaard’s award-winning Grandmaster Preparation series, this is endgame training pitched at the level where it actually decides games among strong players. It is not a theoretical manual of memorised positions but a workbook for building genuine endgame skill.
Aagaard introduces a small set of key endgame concepts and then puts the reader to work, with a large body of carefully chosen exercises drawn from recent tournament practice. The progression runs from pawn endings and simple minor-piece and rook endings through the notoriously tricky opposite-coloured bishops, challenging rook endings, queen endings, and on to tactical endings, fortresses, and strategic endgames — with a foreword by endgame authority Karsten Müller.
The emphasis throughout is on doing rather than reading: you train your calculation, technique, and judgement on real, difficult positions, the way a professional prepares. The exercises are genuinely hard, which is the point.
Best suited to strong club players, experts, and aspiring masters who want to turn endgame knowledge into practical strength. Demanding, rigorous, and highly rewarding for the committed improver.
Strategic Play - GM Preparation
Part of Jacob Aagaard’s award-winning Grandmaster Preparation series, this volume tackles what he considers the hardest area of all: strategic play, the handling of complex positions where the right path is not a matter of calculation or familiar patterns but of deep, original thinking.
This is the most demanding kind of chess training. The games and exercises here deliberately go beyond the skills drilled elsewhere in the series — beyond pattern recognition, calculation, and routine positional assessment — into positions so rich that you must genuinely think for yourself to find the way. Aagaard provides the conceptual tools and then sets you to work on tough, carefully chosen material.
As throughout the series, the emphasis is on active solving rather than passive reading: you wrestle with the positions the way a professional preparing for a tournament would, and the detailed solutions show how a strong player navigates the complexity.
Genuinely difficult, and aimed at strong, ambitious players — experts, masters, and aspiring masters — who want to develop the deepest layer of chess understanding. Not a first improvement book, but a superb one for those ready to be stretched.
The Nimzo-Indian Defence stands as one of the most trusted and reliable systems for Black against 1.d4, maintaining its reputation for over a century. It has been an important weapon for many World Champions including Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov, Anand, and Carlsen.
In this volume of the Grandmaster Repertoire series, GM Michael Roiz presents a complete opening repertoire for Black after 3...Bb4.
Key Features:
GM Michael Roiz is an elite Israeli Grandmaster and coach who once reached the top 40 worldwide with a peak rating of 2680. He is a prolific and highly respected author whose theoretical works in the Grandmaster Repertoire series are considered definitive. He also served as a primary second for Boris Gelfand during the 2012 World Championship match.
Luther’s Chess Reformation provides a wealth of practical tips and suggestions for chess players of all levels. Using the experiences and insights gained from his remarkable career, Luther offers an insider’s view into the world of grandmaster chess
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