Opening Books

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.

Many gambit lines, where one or more pawns are sacrificed for the initiative, have to be taken seriously, but Ivan has succeeded in finding many new ideas and theoretical improvements. The result is the neutralisation or refutation of most of these common and well known 'Gambits'.

The Queen’s Gambit is one of the oldest and most reliable opening which is mainly based on positional and structural understanding. The author gives a perfect guide about it and if somebody masters it, he will be able to use it in his entire chess career. This opening will never run out of fashion, its strategical and positional ideas will not be refuted by the strong computers.

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.

The Full English Opening – Mastering the Fundamentals by Carsten Hansen is the first one-volume guide to cover all major variations of 1.c4 while focusing on what really matters: understanding. Instead of drowning you in endless theory, Hansen takes you inside the core plans, ideas, and strategies that make the English Opening a powerful weapon. Drawing on decades of experience and inspired by legends like Viktor Kortchnoi, he equips you to build your own repertoire with confidence—so you control the opening, not the other way around.

This book is written for the Black side, though new ideas for White are suggested and old ones occasionally improved. It contains not only the author’s personal take on how to deal with all major White tries after 1.e4 c6, but also a range of alternatives for Black to cater for different types of Caro-Kann player.

Victor Bologan presents a complete Caro-Kann repertoire for Black that is much more than just a lucidly explained and highly playable set of responses. In many lines Bologan provides two options to handle the Black position.

There are hundreds of opening books available, full of deep analysis, but many of them fail to explain the reasons for choosing one computer line over another. And how top players distinguish between good and bad opening lines remains a mystery to most of the chess world. Grandmaster Opening Preparation addresses such questions as how to balance computer preparation with human considerations, along with a wealth of practical advice on how to go about building the opening repertoire which is right for you. The book also provides an in-depth treatment of the evolution in understanding of Isolated Queen’s Pawn positions, which will enable the reader to become more effective in a multitude of openings, with either colour.

Playing 1.e4 - French Defence and Sicilian Sidelines

This is the second volume of John Shaw’s acclaimed three-part White repertoire after 1.e4 (Volume 1 covered the Caro-Kann, 1...e5 and minor lines). Here the focus narrows to two big jobs: the French Defence in full, and the first instalment of the Sicilian.

Against the French, Shaw advocates his own favourite weapon, the Tarrasch Variation (3.Nd2). He covers the entire French landscape through that lens — the various 3rd-move tries, the ...Nf6 main lines, the ...c5 systems with both recaptures on d5, and the solid Rubinstein and Fort Knox set-ups after 3...dxe4 — giving a clear recommendation and the plans behind it in each case.

The final section opens the "mammoth task" of the Sicilian by mopping up the tricky sidelines: Black’s rare second moves and the various 2...e6, 2...Nc6 and 2...d6 move orders that try to avoid the main roads. These get tidy, ready-to-use answers so nothing catches you off guard.

A serious, fighting repertoire for club players and above. With Volume 1 and the concluding Volume 3 (the main-line Sicilians), it forms one of the most respected complete 1.e4 repertoires available.