Opening Books

One of the sharpest lines to meet 1 d4 is the Modern Benoni (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 e6 4 Nc3 exd5 5 cxd5 d6). The hallmark of this opening is that Black makes the positional concession of allowing White a central majority and in return hopes for counterchances via active piece play. However, there are many other weird and wonderful ways to handle these "Benoni structures" as the very experienced chess coach and author Andrew Martin demonstrates in this highly engaging book.

Martin introduces the reader to (amongst others) the Vulture (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 Ne4), the Clarendon Court (1 d4 c5 2 d5 f5) and the Snake Benoni (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 e6 4 Nc3 exd5 5 cxd5 Bd6!?). All of these are outlandish tries but nevertheless set White difficult problems to solve at the board.

In other systems Black plays "Nimzo-style" and jettisons the dark-squared bishop in order to inflict weaknesses on the white pawn structure. One typical line is 1 d4 g6 2 c4 Bg7 3 Nc3 c5 4 d5 and now 4 ... Bxc3+!? 5 bxc3. This is a line favoured by elite grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura who has used it frequently in blitz and rapid chess. An advantage of playing this way is that it will usually take well booked up White players outside their comfort zone and force them onto their own resources.

If you want to inject a big dose of dynamism into your play with Black, the create some mayhem in the Benoni.

This book is a collection of games played by top players in which either White or Black wins in 15 moves or less either a result of blunders, an accumulation of mistakes or brilliant chess tactics. It covers the Dutch, Benoni and various d-pawns specials

The Rossolimo is the Anti-Sicilian that is by far the most popular with club players – and with elite grandmasters such as Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri, and Alireza Firouzja.

If you play 3.Bb5 in the Sicilian, you do not need to keep up-to-date with the dazzling theoretical developments in all kinds of Open Sicilians. You can sidestep theory, play your own creative game – and put your opponent in trouble! You will love the harmonious, easy development and reach unbalanced positions with winning opportunities and surprisingly dynamic play.

Victor Bologan has played the Rossolimo ever since his youth – in practical play, but also in training sessions with Garry Kasparov. Bologan has now updated and expanded his authoritative 2011 repertoire book. As a former top-20 player, Bologan is one of the few Grandmasters whose opening books are read by both his peers and by club players. His ideas are always thoroughly analyzed and checked by the strongest engines, but still very accessible to amateurs.

Faced with the novel challenges of The Elshad System, your opponent will have to rely on his own resources instead of cranking out deep theory. Avoid those symmetrical drawing variations from unambitious opponents playing White. Play the Elshad and experience once again what it’s like to play fresh, fighting chess!

The Accelerated Dragon is a dynamic choice for Black and arguably the most natural way to play the Sicilian Defence: Black develops rapidly and chooses the most active squares to place his or her pieces. Unknowing white players looking for a direct attack similar to the one used against traditional Dragon are shocked by Black's increased options due to the flexible move order. Instead, White sometimes employs a more positional approach incorporating the famous Maroczy Bind, when the battle centres on White's impressive pawn structure against Black's lively pieces and the ability to create a pawn break. The Accelerated Dragon was brought to prominence by the Danish chess legend Bent Larsen, while in more recent years its advocates have included World Championship Candidate Sergey Tiviakov.

This book is a further addition to Everyman's best-selling Starting Out series, which has been acclaimed for its original approach to tackling chess openings. International Master Andrew Greet, an Accelerated Dragon expert, revisits the basics of the opening, elaborating on the crucial early moves and ideas for both sides in a way that is often neglected in other texts. The reader is helped throughout with a plethora of notes, tips and warnings highlighting the vital characteristics of the Accelerated Dragon and of opening play in general. Starting Out: The Accelerated Dragon is a perfect guide for improving players and those new to this opening.

– User-friendly design to help readers absorb ideas 

– Includes coverage of the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon 

– Ideal for improvers, club players and tournament players

Winning with the Modern London System - PART 2

This is the second volume of a complete White repertoire built on the Modern London System — the Bf4 set-up that has swept through chess at every level because it is sound, flexible, and refreshingly light on theory. Where the first book laid the groundwork, Part 2 fills the most important gaps.

The main focus is on Black’s fianchetto and ...e6 defences — the King’s-Indian- and Grünfeld-style set-ups with ...g6, and the solid ...e6 structures — which are exactly the lines that give London players the most trouble. The book also folds in improvements on the first volume, extends coverage to the closely related Torre Attack, and adds an Anti-Benoni section for when Black strikes with ...c5.

The material is taught largely through complete, well-chosen games — including many recent grandmaster examples and instructive efforts by London specialists — so you absorb the typical plans, piece set-ups, and attacking patterns in their natural context rather than as dry variations.

Best read alongside Part 1, it completes a practical, low-maintenance 1.d4 system for club players who want a reliable opening they can play in every game and improve at through understanding rather than memorisation.

Anyone who plays the Sicilian Defence as Black must be prepared to meet a whole host of options for White known as the Anti-Sicilians. These includes popular choices such as the c3-Sicilian, the Grand Prix Attack, the Closed Sicilian, the King’s Indian Attack and all Bb5 lines, as well as numerous gambits and tricky sidelines which can be very difficult to meet for the unwary player. In this book, International Master Cyrus Lakdawala examines the Anti-Sicilian lines and provides repertoire options for Black against all of them. Using illustrative games, he explains the positional and tactical ideas for both sides, highlights important move-order issues and provides answers to all the key questions. This book tells you everything you need to know about facing the Anti-Sicilians with Black.

The Modernized Slav Defense presents a fresh and forward-looking approach to one of chess’s most reliable and respected openings. Long valued for its solid structure and positional resilience, the Slav Defense has evolved significantly in recent years—embracing dynamic ideas, sharper continuations, and modern move-order subtleties.

This book captures that evolution. Zaven explores contemporary interpretations of the Slav, highlighting flexible setups, timely pawn breaks, and energetic piece play that challenge the outdated notion of the Slav as merely “solid.” Through carefully selected theoretical lines, model games, and clear explanations, readers learn how today’s top players inject ambition and precision into this classical defense.

Designed for practical use at the board, The Modernized Slav Defense equips players with a complete, up-to-date repertoire against 1.d4. Whether you seek dependable foundations or modern counter-attacking chances, this book shows how the Slav Defense can meet the demands of modern chess with confidence and clarity.

Building and maintaining an opening repertoire can be a demanding task – for a start there are an enormous number of different lines to choose from. There's a strong temptation amongst beginners and improving players to opt solely for tricky lines in order to snare unsuspecting opponents, but this approach has only short-term value. As you improve and your opponents become stronger, very often these crafty lines don't stand up to close scrutiny, and suddenly you're back to square one with no suitable opening weapons.

In Starting Out: 1 d4! John Cox solves this perennial problem by providing the reader with a strong and trustworthy repertoire with the white pieces based on the popular opening move 1.d4. The recommended lines given here have stood the test of time and are regularly employed by Grandmasters. Reading this book will give you the confidence to play these variations against all strengths of player and provide you with a reliable opening armoury for years to come.

This book is written in Everyman Chess's distinctive Starting Out style, with plenty of notes, tips and warnings throughout to help the aspiring player.

Do you relish the prospect of setting your opponent awkward problems from the early start of the game? If so, you should just continue reading, for in the Bg5 Najdorf, it’s every man for himself, and only the best informed and most creative resourceful player survive. The Bg5 variation gives White very dangerous attacking ideas, and Blacks really needs to know a precise defense to come out of this variation alive. This book provides weapons that are ideal choices for those who revel in forcing opponents into chaotic and uncomfortable positions. Lukasz Jarmula, a player and writer of international caliber, will be your truthful guide!

The Modern Defence is an important opening that can be played by Black against absolutely any White opening system. It is an ambitious, counterattacking weapon, favoured by dynamic players. White is initially allowed to occupy the centre but Black plans to undermine this structure in the middlegame with well-timed blows from the pieces and pawns. If Black gets it right then the white centre can be dramatically swept away. However, when it goes wrong, Black can be overrun.

First Steps books are based around carefully selected instructive games which demonstrate exactly what both sides are trying to achieve. There is enough theory to enable the improving player to get to grips with the opening without feeling overwhelmed. If you want to take up a new opening, First Steps is the ideal place to start.

Each chapter includes a selection of highlighted ideas & concepts from White’s and Black’s perspectives.

After that follows a theoretical discussion, where, unsurprisingly, many of the concepts make a second, concrete, appearance.

Most newly analyzed games are much more modern, and most annotations there were typically made from scratch for this book.

If we count the endless online rapid and blitz tournaments, which are becoming increasingly popular, the new games presented in this book, even the fast ones, are of exceptionally high quality and incredibly important if you wish to surprise your opponent.

On top this book cuts through the dense theory that surrounds this opening and establishes a total new repertoire based around consistent strategies, concepts and novelties.

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.

The Queen's Indian Defence has the reputation of a very reliable system for Black. Although his chances of obtaining sharp double-edged positions are restricted, good knowledge of piece set-ups and different plans should offer Black chances of seizing the initiative even in calm variations. The opening monographs on the QID, as a rule, focus on the move order 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6. What is Black supposed to do if the opponent wishes to avoid the QID and begins the game with the moves 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4, or 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3?. How should Black deploy his pieces and what should he aim for in the middlegame? The book of the grandmaster from Saint Petersburg and chess-coach Evgeniy Solozhenkin answers these questions!

The Janowski Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined arises after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6. Black plays ...a6 to prepare the queenside expansion ...b5, aiming to challenge White’s c4 pawn and gain space. The idea was introduced by the Polish-French grandmaster Dawid Janowski around the turn of the 20th century.

Compared with classical QGD lines, this variation is less theoretical and offers flexible development for Black. White usually responds by strengthening the center and preventing ...b5, often with moves like a4, Nf3, or cxd5. The resulting positions typically feature a strategic battle between White’s central control and Black’s queenside expansion.

The Modern Benoni is just about the most aggressive method that Black can choose to counter White’s 1 d4. In the main line variations Black allows White to have a preponderance of central pawns which, traditionally, grants the first player the advantage. However, in return, Black gains the opportunity for tremendously dynamic counterplay. This places White and under immediate pressure as any inaccurate moves can prove to be disastrous. In this book, FIDE Master John Doknjas examines all aspects of this highly complex opening and provides the reader with well-researched, fresh, and innovative analysis. Each annotated game has valuable lessons on how to play the opening and contains instructive commentary on typical middlegame plans. With thorough variations and explanations on pawn structures and piece placement, this book provides insight for both strong masters and less experienced players alike. The format is ideal for the chessplayer keen to improve their game. While reading you are continually challenged to answer probing questions – a method that greatly encourages the learning and practising of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of chess knowledge.

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 examines what might be described as the “pure” Réti Opening. White starts with 1.Nf3 and intends to meet 1...d5 with the “Réti” response 2.c4. One of the major advantages of playing these systems is that they rely far more on general strategic understanding than rote memorisation. However, this does not mean that Black is not set difficult problems to solve. In the modern era these lines have mainly been championed by Vladimir Kramnik and Lev Aronian. Both these players have frequently set very difficult problems for their elite opponents with these complex systems. This series provides an ideal platform to study chess openings. By continually challenging the reader to answer probing questions throughout the book, the Move by Move format greatly encourages the learning and practising of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of opening knowledge. Carefully selected questions and answers are designed to keep you actively involved and allow you to monitor your progress as you learn. This is an excellent way to study any chess opening and at the same time improve your general chess skills and knowledge.

Building and maintaining an opening repertoire can be a demanding task – for a start there are an enormous number of different lines to choose from. There's a strong temptation amongst beginners and improving players to opt solely for tricky lines in order to snare unsuspecting opponents, but this approach has only short-term value. As you improve and your opponents become stronger, very often these crafty lines don't stand up to close scrutiny, and suddenly you're back to square one with no suitable opening weapons.

In Starting Out: 1 e4! Neil McDonald solves this perennial problem by providing the reader with a strong and trustworthy repertoire with the white pieces based on the popular opening move 1.e4. The recommended lines given here have stood the test of time and are regularly employed by Grandmasters. Reading this book will give you the confidence to play these variations against all strengths of player and provide you with reliable opening armoury for years to come.

This book is written in Everyman Chess's distinctive Starting Out style, with plenty of notes, tips and warnings throughout to help the aspiring player.