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.
White players who enjoy playing the Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5) often expect to have an easy time in the opening. Numerous Black systems allow White to complete development with natural moves which often results in a small but clear advantage. Not so The Schliemann. The Schliemann (3...f5) is a ferocious beast that immediately takes the fight to White. The swift counter with ...f7-f5 is undoubtedly risky but has the advantage of disturbing White’s equanimity and setting difficult problems to solve as early as move three. Any White player who is not highly attuned to the nuances of this system can quickly find themselves in very hot water. This makes the Schliemann an ideal practical weapon for the aggressively-minded tactical player.
Not all chess players are ready to face a dangerous opening like the Grivas Sicilian, or any other open form of the Sicilian Defense of course, so an alternative set-up is on the quest. White has plenty of choices after 1.e4 c5; these choices sometimes are quite sound, and some others are simply crap!
Well, shorter time-controls (blitz & rapid) ‘favors’ safer, not forced and not very deep and long theoretical continuations, so White has a fair point for avoiding the open versions of the Sicilian Defense. Especially in the ‘cholera years’ as I call the 2020–2021 years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, chess players had to stay home, avoiding travelling and exercise instead via the internet form of our royal game.
This general fear demanded as ‘compensation’ a lighter approach to the game and some weird and unsound opening choices were on the daily menu. That’s fine of course, for the well-trained and ambitious chess player sitting behind the black pieces!
It is also quite true that this book is quite ‘heavy’ and contains many, many lines which are almost impossible to remember in totality. But chess is learned sub-consciously, so repeated motifs and ideas guide our choices and help us to recall important lines.
We must be trained not only in concrete opening moves, but on the middlegame, the endgame and the tactical part of the opening in question. And this is exactly what this book offers: a complete structural think-tank on the non-open form of the Sicilian Defense.
There are no good or bad openings – there are openings you understand and openings that you do not understand. And understanding comes by studying and applying the absorbed Knowledge!
The French Defence is a highly reliable response to 1.e4 which is popular at all levels. With the first two moves, Black creates a solid foundation in the centre and seeks to put pressure on White’s position in the early middlegame. In this book, International Master Cyrus Lakdawala explains the basic ideas in the French and examines the important variations. The key ideas are emphasized with notes, tips and warnings and the reader’s understanding is tested with frequent exercises. This book tells you everything you need to know in order to take your first steps with the French Defence.
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.
The book presents a Black repertoire based on the Nimzo-Indian Defence.
From the "Preface": "I wrote this book for the adventurer who wants to start playing the Nimzo but is afraid of drowning in its lines. My creative task is to provide the reader with useful practical advice while sparing him unnecessary learning overhead." Igor Lysyj
Igor Lysyj is a strong grandmaster with a peak rating of 2700. He is also a FIDE Senior Trainer. Lysyj was Russian champion in 2014, European blitz champion in 2019, won the World Student’s championship in 2008 with the Russian team. Together with 43 other Russian chess players (including Chess Stars authors Khalifman, Kryakvin, Barski), Lysyj signed an open letter to Russian president Vladimir Putin, protesting against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and expressing solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
The King’s Indian Defense has a reputation as a sharp combative opening where Black aims to attack on the kingside, usually through a pawn storm supported by heavier artillery.
Meet the Makogonov Variation!
In this line of the King’s Indian, it is frequently Black who will be the target of White’s aggression. Black’s standard plans usually result in either a passive position with little hope of counterplay or facing down a kingside attack by White. In this work, you will find forty-six thoroughly analyzed main games with lots of explanations and additional analysis as well as a 'Quick Repertoire' that will allow you to play the opening in your games after a minimal amount of study time. It is time to take your opponents out of their comfort zone and right into yours!
The Colle and London are opening systems for White starting with 1.d4. They are very popular choices at club level and for two very good reasons:
In this book, International Master Cyrus Lakdawala examines both openings in detail and provides a highly practical repertoire for White based on a mix of the Colle and the London. All the way through the reader is helped along by numerous notes, tips and exercises. This book tells you everything you need to know before taking your first steps with the Colle and London systems.
The King's Indian is a hugely popular opening at all levels of chess. Rather than attempting to secure early equality, Black is fighting for the initiative from the very first moves. White is allowed to build up an early central advantage but Black relies on the middlegame, hoping that the central installations that White has constructed will become unwieldy and vulnerable to a devastating counterattack. In many variations, White pursues material or strategic gains but in return Black has tactical and attacking opportunities. The King's Indian Defence appeals to players who arrive at the board prepared for a fight.
The Move by Move series provides an ideal format for the keen chessplayer 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. 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 chess while providing the best possible chance to retain what has been learnt.
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!
Do you play 1.d4, but feel discouraged by the seemingly limitless number of finely honed defensive systems available to Black? If you're put off by the idea of having to learn massive amounts of theory just to reach a playable middlegame, then The Richter-Veresov Attack: Qd3 Variation might be just what you're looking for.
Right away, you'll be taking your opponents out of their preparation and into your comfort zone. While the Richter-Veresov has developed its own "book" over the years, Eric Fleischman shows you how to bypass a lot of that body of theory, too, with an early deployment of the queen to d3, an idea sometimes known as the Amazon Attack.
Covering a wide range of setups that Black could adopt in response (including French, Caro-Kann, Indian, Benoni, and Dutch formations), the author uses games by international players and examples from his own play to show how experience and a sense of the position count for more than memorized lines in The Richter-Veresov Attack: Qd3 Variation.
Eric J. Fleischman received the title of National Chess Master from the U.S. Chess Federation in 1987 and the title of Original Life Chess Master in 2019. He has worked as a chess instructor, chess writer, and events promoter in the New York City metropolitan area.
This exciting defence, which is characterized by the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5, always amazed me. Quite an aggressive setup, Black is aiming to get very dynamic play (even at the cost of some material in many cases) in order to put a lot of pressure on White players as early as possible! No wonder that great, ambitious players such as Anand, Shirov, and Caruana, just to name of a few, like to employ it regularly. The variation also gained some attention at the Carlsen-Karjakin world championship match from 2016.
The Ark has always been considered one of the theoretically-heaviest defences in meeting the Ruy Lopez, though also the most exciting and definitely the most beautiful of all. It requires tactical vision, good calculation and memory, but not just from us – from the White side too. Let’s not forget that! I also must say that no good lines are absent of theory, so if we’ve decided to learn something “finally”, I argue that it can very well be an ambitious, double-edged line too!
I should also mention that this book is a complete Black repertoire starting from 3.Bb5 a6, the exchange variation being the first chapter. The publisher and me agreed on offering a full package, one that should prove useful for many years to come!
A good start is half the battle. Experienced American chess coach Dean Ippolito has trained thousands beginners and adult improvers and knows exactly how you should build your opening knowledge.
Each chapter focuses on a concrete tactical theme. Those will allow you to set traps, and play tricks, but will also develop your general understanding of opening play with concepts as development and the importance of the center.
In this first book of a series of three, Ippolito gives you the tools you need to start your chess games with confidence. Delve into the exciting world of the Center Fork Trick, the Fried Liver Attack, and many more powerful openings tips and tactics.
Dean Ippolito has been considered one of the best coaches in the United States for more than two decades. By the age of 25, he had already coached three of the five youngest national champions in American history. A former prodigy himself, International Master Ippolito understands what is needed to climb the rankings of scholastic chess players. Ippolito has written five well-regarded chess books, including the successful Wojo's Weapons series.