The French Defence is coming back to fashion again! One of the leaders in the 2020 Candidates tournament, Ian Nepomniachtchi, successfully staked on it. Lately World champion himself also embraced the French several times. A great expert of this opening is the last challenger for the world title Fabiano Caruana. The French became a real arena of the battle of the engines – neural network genius Leela was confidently repelling the attacks of its powerful rivals. The author’s view on the French allows Black to obtain fresh creative positions without having to compete with deep knowledge in well trodden paths. The theoretical material is based on the author’s tournament practice, and passed the test at a GM level during the writing of the book.
The Breyer and Zaitsev Variations of the Ruy Lopez are two of the most dynamic lines played today. Examining them from both White and Black’s point of view, Greek grandmaster Vassilios Kotronias discusses their strengths, weaknesses and presents suggested improvements where necessary. The Breyer Variation of the Ruy Lopez is the brainchild of Hungarian hypermodern Gyula Breyer. He suggested the paradoxical knight retreat 9...Nb8 early in the 20th century. Although its soundness has been confirmed in many grandmaster games for over a century, there is surprisingly little which has been written about it. This book has just changed all that. The Zaitsev Variation was one of Anatoly Karpov’s workhorses in his title matches against Garry Kasparov. Formulated by the brilliant theoretician Igor Zaitsev, it can be found in the repertoires of some of the leading grandmasters of our era. As the author notes in his introduction, this is an objective presentation of two excellent opening variations for Black, from which players sitting on either side of the board may profit. The play is strategically complex, tactically rich and will improve you as both a player and connoisseur of the game. Kotronias’ clear writing style, coupled with in depth analysis, makes for a splendid opening manual on two of the most topical – and solid – variations of the Ruy Lopez.
There is no doubt that the Nimzovich Defense is one of Black’s most inspiring openings after 1.e4. Black strives to unbalance the position by creating new problems for White from move two, giving himself every opportunity to fight for the initiative from the outset. It is no surprise that 1…Nc6 appeals ambitious players who relish a complicated battle. In this book, GM Christian Bauer explains how to use this powerful weapon drawing from his own successful experiences. He is not shy to show you the fundamental ideas, the traps, the pitfalls and naturally the move order subtleties which play such an important role in our modern game of chess. We are convinced this book will give you plenty of confidence and make your opponent think more than twice.
Are you searching for a new weapon against 1 e4? Look no further - choose the Killer Sicilian! In this book, opening expert Tony Rotella presents a Sicilian repertoire for Black, the backbone of which consists of the Kalashnikov Variation. The Kalashnikov is an ideal choice for those looking to take up the Sicilian. Black follows an easy-to-learn system of development, with clear strategic aims. What's more, in many lines Black can choose between aggressive and positional options. It's no coincidence that the Kalashnikov has attracted such attacking talents as World Championship candidate Teimour Radjabov and multi-time US Champion Alexander Shabalov. Rotella critically examines the main lines and lucidly explains the key positional and tactical ideas for both sides. He also shows what Black should do against White's various Anti-Sicilian options. Read this book and unleash the Killer Sicilian!
1.e4 vs Minor Defences
This is the fifth volume of Parimarjan Negi’s celebrated Grandmaster Repertoire — 1.e4 series, and it rounds out the project by tackling everything Black can try besides the Sicilian, French, Caro-Kann and 1...e5. In other words: all the "minor" but pesky defences that a 1.e4 player meets constantly.
Negi supplies a top-class White repertoire against the Alekhine, the Scandinavian, and the Pirc and Modern complexes, plus the various offbeat first moves (1...Nc6, 1...b6 and the like) that try to drag you out of book early. As throughout the series, the recommendations are built on sound main lines and then sharpened with the original ideas of a world-class theoretician.
These openings are often under-prepared by ambitious players precisely because they seem secondary — which is exactly why a serious, well-analysed repertoire against them pays off in practice. Negi leaves no gaps.
Demanding and thorough, this is for strong, ambitious players who want their 1.e4 repertoire to be airtight against everything, not just the main defences. With the rest of the series it forms a complete answer to 1...whatever.
There is no easier way to win a game of chess than by luring your opponent into a devious trap. Similarly, there's nothing worse than being the one on the receiving end. Tricks, traps and swindles lie in wait everywhere, especially so in the opening phase of the game, and many battles can be won or saved simply through learning and mastering the most important ones. In this instructive and fun book, Gary Lane looks back through chess history and at modern times to create a list of his own favourite tricks and traps. Selecting from hundreds of contenders, Lane examines a variety of factors in order to decide which ideas are most worthy of inclusion. Discover the stories behind the most cunning tricks and traps of all time; how you can utilize them to score easy wins; and how you can avoid being tricked yourself.
This book presents a full repertoire based on the Gligoric System against the King’s Indian Defence – 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3. The key point of this set-up is that White does not commit his king to any flank, at least for a while. That makes Black’s thematic attack with ...f5-f4, ...g4 pointless and allows White to play chess without having to memorise tons of variations. The authors focus on typical positions and methods of handling them, which is essential for the Gligoric System.
There's no denying that the opening is one of the most daunting phases of the game for newcomers to chess. There are literally hundreds of different opening lines, many with unusual sounding names, and some of these go up to twenty or so moves of theory. What is a chess player supposed to do: memorise countless variations? Don't panic! In Discovering Chess Openings John Emms argues that studying openings doesn't have to be hard work at all - indeed, it can be both enjoyable and enlightening. The key to successful opening play is not simply learning lines off by heart; instead it's the understanding of the basic principles, and here the reader is guided through the vital themes: swift development, central control and king safety. An appreciation of these principles and their many offshoots will actually allow readers to recreate and discover opening theory, giving them the opportunity to choose the most suitable lines to play in their games.
"In this book Yuriy does not overwhelm you with variations, but instead he focuses a lot on the verbal explanations and understanding of the typical positions. At the same time, you can be confident that his recommendations are quite sound and have been thoroughly checked with extensive databases, strong engines as well as critically looked upon from the human perspective. I am entirely sure that studying the materials presented in this work will benefit players of all levels, from some relatively inexperienced club players to even strong players." ~ Susan Polgar
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