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.
This book considers a gambit treatment of the Slav and the Semi-Slav. White offers the c4-pawn in order to get a space advantage and a long-term initiative. It also covers the Closed Catalan and the modern line 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.g3 0-0 6.Bg2 dxc4 7.Ne5. The author’s idea is to throw 1...d5 players off their comfort zone by dragging them into sharp unbalanced positions. If you are fed up with all the mainstream Slav/Meran theory out-there, this book will offer you new refreshing approaches for both sides. Grandmaster Kiril Georgiev has been one of the strongest Bulgarian players for many years. He was a Junior World Champion and a bronze medalist in Europe. He has played in 15 Olympiads and also coached Bulgarian national team. His peak rating was in the world's top ten. Kiril wrote the books The Sharpest Sicilian, Squeezing the Gambits, Fighting the London System and The Modern English.
This volume covers the Ragozin, the Chebanenko, the Vienna, the Hennig-Schara Gambit, theTarrasch, 1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 a6 and 3...Bb4.
This book aims to offer an active Black repertoire against The English Opening 1.c4, the Reti 1.Nf3, and their siblings that arise after 1.g3. More importantly, it tries to offer not only variations, but also a philosophy of how to treat such openings.
This book presents a full repertoire against open Sicilians with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6. It advocates the modern set-up with Bc1-e3 and Qd1-f3 against the Taimanov, an innovative treatment of the Keres Attack, 5.c4 against the Kan.
The secret of its success may be its anti-positional look. The pawn thrust g2-g4 is often so counter-intuitive that it’s a perfect way to confuse your opponents and disrupt their position. Ever since World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik started using it to defeat the elite grandmasters of his day, it has developed, on all levels of play, into an ever more popular and attractive way to fight for the initiative. Grandmaster Dmitry Kryakvin owes a substantial part of his successes as a chess player to the g2-g4 attack. In this book he shows how it can be used to defeat Black in a number of important Closed and Semi-Closed Defences and Flank Openings: the Dutch, the Queen’s Gambit, the Nimzo-Indian, the King’s Indian, the Slav and several variations of the English Opening. With lots of instructive examples, Kryakvin explains the ins and outs of the attack on the g-file: the typical ways to gain tempi and keep the momentum, and the manoeuvres that will maximize your opponent’s problems. After working with this book you will be fully equipped to use this modern battering ram to define the battlefield. You will have fun and win games!
Because of the sheer volume of variations, possible transpositions and ever-changing theory, chess openings can be overwhelming – even intimidating. This book is an introduction to understanding and playing chess openings. The author, Danish Master Carsten Hansen, stresses opening play based on comprehending opening principles as well as useful, fundamental knowledge. With an overview of all the most important opening variations, examples of good and bad opening play, opening traps and problems to solve, chess openings and its major principles are covered thoroughly. Many games are lost as a result of a player’s poor grasp of even the most basic principles of opening play. This book will help you enhance your understanding and give you guidelines on how to best study and play chess openings, reaching good, playable middlegame positions.
Is the Grob/Basman a con artist's bogus-operandi, or is the line actually sound? The truthful answer is that the opening is a bit of both! And we can call 1.g4 a "good opening," the same way a mob member calls a hitman colleague "a stand-up guy." The engine already prefers Black's chances after 1.g4, so nobody can honestly claim it is White's optimal first move from an empirical standpoint. But is it refuted? The answer is "no," and what we nearly always get is a disorienting mess by the early middlegame.
In this volume, experienced authors Lakdawala & Hansen take the Basmanic plunge and examine some of International Master Michael Basman's most remarkable victories with 1.g4 or 1...g5, along with some of his less successful tries, as well as some games by other occasional adherents, like Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura.
This should not become a cornerstone of your repertoire, but you are guaranteed a bunch of fun and entertaining games.
The book offers a complete White repertoire, based on the Bishop Opening and the Italian Giuoco Pianissimo, which are the latest trend in chess fashion.
When I decided to write The Modernized Sveshnikov (June 2020) I knew that I was basically committing myself to covering the Anti–Sicilians in a separate book as well. After all, what’s a book on the Sveshnikov alone worth when your opponents decide to avoid the Open Sicilian? Especially since the Sveshnikov is nowadays considered to be one of the most reliable options for Black in the Sicilian, White players have been investigating new territories within the Anti–Sicilians. The book you are holding in your hands, Beat the Anti–Sicilians, aims to provide a complete Black repertoire against all the critical sidelines after 1.e4 c5. The biggest part of the book covers the Rossolimo and Alapin, but also the popular lines at club player’s level like the Grand Prix Attack and the Morra Gambit, and other alternatives on White’s 2nd move are also worked out in detail.
Welcome to an aggressive but sound gambit system against the Dutch Defense! Who would not want to play a system against an opening that is theoretically sound, promises good attacking chances and avoids learning reams of theory about the Leningrad Dutch, the Stonewall or the Classical Dutch, opening set-ups our opponent knows everything about? This book explores such a system for White with a complete repertoire based on the Staunton Gambit. A repertoire for White, with attention for various alternatives White may choose from along the way, and an in-depth analysis of all of Black's responses.
The Staunton Gambit is a very rewarding opening. White’s piece development follows the classical principles of gambit play. White is ahead in development and obtains a fine initiative. Even without the theoretical knowledge of certain variations, White should be able to find his way. Best of all, White determines the direction of the game already on move two, without the risk of having to play the maneuvering games we know from the Leningrad Dutch, the Stonewall Dutch or the Classical Dutch.
Good luck with this opening. With the rigorous and engine-assisted analysis of old and new theory and over 160 years of practice, this book presents an aggressive, interesting and robust repertoire for White against the Dutch. Despite its long history there are still many opportunities for White to improve on well-known theory and grandmaster games. Recent developments and insights have considerably strengthened White’s theoretical case.
This all has once again made the Staunton Gambit a challenging variation for Black to meet when playing the Dutch. In games with a shorter time limit, the gambit has already made its comeback and has become a regular guest. I trust that this book will provide you with the basis for many victories against the Dutch!