In The Czech Benoni in Action, two practitioners of this little-known but sound counterattacking system join forces to show how you can pose novel problems for opponents of all strengths, leaving them to fend for themselves as early as move 3.
The Dragon is one of the most thrilling chess openings and a favorite of attacking players. This volume deals with the 9.Bc4 and 9.g4 variations of the Yugoslav Attack.
In "The Duel", Alessandro Bossi and Claudio Brovelli go deep into the lives of these two legendary World Champions, who have left their mark in an unforgettable manner on their epoch (the first forty years of the 20th century) and who remain – in part, due to their very different personalities and relationship with the game – inimitable examples for all the chess-playing generations to come. The choice to present in parallel the two biographies (in my opinion quite rightly so), shows clearly and effectively similarities and differences, not only in the style of play, but also in the approaches to life of the two protagonists. With very precise historical descriptions and presenting the events in chronological order, the authors accompany us on a journey alongside the lives of these two legends of chess. In this fashion the personalities emerge, in many ways antithetical but equally fascinating: Capablanca, friendly and charming in society, precocious, genial and nearly invincible on the chessboard, and Alekhine, who combined a wonderful talent with a capacity for work, a competitive attitude and an energy which was truly enviable.
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!
More opening outrage and mayhem! The author of the 2017 groundbreaking study The Elshad System once again defies the principles of opening play – this time from White’s side of the board with 1.c3, 2.Qa4, and a quick advance of the kingside pawns. In The Elshad System for White, FM Igor Nemtsev surveys Black’s most common responses to this creative opening, including the King’s Indian, Dutch, and big-center setups. Conventional approaches are hazardous for Black: unexpected tactics abound, and White is not afraid to sacrifice material for a sudden attack. Not even grandmasters tread safely in the Elshad minefield. Break free from the shackles of memorized variations and stereotyped book lines. Challenge your opponent on the first move with The Elshad System for White!
“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” Sun Tzu
Mostly basing my chess work on this statement of the great Chinese military theoretician, I have managed throughout my chess coaching career to implement many of his principles, and even establish them as being valid for the game of chess. I think the statement above should be taken as an axiom. Thus, strategy must be the leading chess topic, and definitely based on logic. Moreover, strategy must tower over all other chess topics and sub-topics; strategy is the ultimate chess idea and it sublimates and determines other principles.
How to learn strategy? Can it be learned? It can be, of course. And these volumes are the perfect guide to learn (or, more precisely, to learn to understand) strategy.
My idea is to throw light on all the strategic concepts in these volumes. To help you navigate more simply, I have divided all the material into two volumes. This first one is exploring the elements of strategy, explaining typical and essential principles in detail. The second one is about pawn structures. Of course, structures themselves actually mean nothing without recognizing patterns and principles from the elements (because pawn structures are used to determine the values of pieces, for instance). That is why volume two can be considered as an advanced level of strategy. Generally, examples will be based on material adopted from volume one and upgraded.
Volume 2 is divided into eight chapters. Unlike Volume 1, it is possible to mix the order in which you study these chapters, but not to study the games within each chapter out of order, since the examples build upon each other in complexity. I suggest that the chapter on “Passed Pawns” should be studied first, because many of the various middlegame structures can ultimately give rise to a passed pawn in the endgame. Work carefully through these examples, because masters use pawn structures even in the opening to predict the properties of endgames which can potentially arise – this is a widely neglected aspect and can be a strong weapon for you!