The Rossolimo is the Anti-Sicilian that is by far the most popular with club players – and with elite grandmasters such as Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri, and Alireza Firouzja.
If you play 3.Bb5 in the Sicilian, you do not need to keep up-to-date with the dazzling theoretical developments in all kinds of Open Sicilians. You can sidestep theory, play your own creative game – and put your opponent in trouble! You will love the harmonious, easy development and reach unbalanced positions with winning opportunities and surprisingly dynamic play.
Victor Bologan has played the Rossolimo ever since his youth – in practical play, but also in training sessions with Garry Kasparov. Bologan has now updated and expanded his authoritative 2011 repertoire book. As a former top-20 player, Bologan is one of the few Grandmasters whose opening books are read by both his peers and by club players. His ideas are always thoroughly analyzed and checked by the strongest engines, but still very accessible to amateurs.
The Royal Chess Couple is a combined attempt to introduce the various traits of the most significant piece with the most powerful piece on the chessboard. Following a short historic review of the development and metamorphoses of each piece over time, the reader is offered 240 positions (480 in total) from tournament practice as well as from the magic world of chess composition. In each position a royal piece plays either a crucial offensive or defensive role. These positions are subdivided into 60 themes, four positions per theme, arranged by their increasing difficulty. The reader may use the positions as training challenges to improve his understanding and playing skills or just to enjoy playing through them. In either case he will learn to appreciate the characteristic qualities of each piece alone and in collaboration with other pieces.
An old Soviet quip has it that Western amateurs “play the opening like grandmasters, the middlegame like experts, and the endgame like beginners.” Soviet-trained players would fearlessly steer the game toward the final phase, confident of their superior endgame skill. Ilya Rabinovich’s Russian Endgame Manual is a major reason for this. Rabinovich raises the beginner’s understanding of the endgame to a sophisticated level, starting with elementary checkmates and then moving on to the principles for handling complex endgames and advanced concepts in king-and-pawn endings, such as the theory of corresponding squares. The author pays special attention to frequently neglected endgame themes such as rook vs. pawns, rook vs. a minor piece, and queen vs. rook. First published in 1927 and updated in 1938, this classic work – featuring more than four hundred instructive endings and over three hundred exercises for self-study – served a generation of players at the height of the Soviet School’s dominance. Mongoose Press now makes it available to the English-speaking public for the first time.
In this book, Grandmaster Neil McDonald studies one of the most important openings of all, the Ruy Lopez. This famous opening enjoys a long and distinguished history and is still widely regarded as White's strongest choice after 1.e4 e5. McDonald shares his experience and knowledge of the Lopez, examines the main ideas for both sides and offers answers to the key questions.
This book is a completely new edition of the original The Safest Grünfeld of 2011. I rechecked all the lines and changed my recommendations according to latest developments of theory and my new understanding. Especially the anti-Grünfeld chapters are basically new. In my opinion top players have long lost hope to find advantage in the main lines and try early deviations. Anand chose 3.f3 against Gelfand and 5.Bd2 against Carlsen. So I devoted special attention to the Sämish approach with two different propositions. 3...Nc6 is less studied and probably more rewarding from a practical standpoint, while 3...d5 is in perfect theoretical shape, but requires more memorization. Every too often White players try to avoid the Grünfeld by refraining from d4 or c4. I added an additional chapter on the very topical lately Trompowsky and Barry/Jobava attack. The 7.Bc4 system in the Exchange Variation, and the Russian System have also underwent a major reconstruction.
A completely revised edition, which retains the strucure of the first edition but is based on new analysis of all critical lines.
This book presents a Black repertoire based on the Scandinavian Defence with 3...Qd6. This is the safest yet aggressive queen retreat. It allows Black to increase pressure on d4 with ...0-0-0 or ...Rd8 while keeping coordination in the centre. Kotronias offers new plans for Black in the most topical lines. They are backed with deep analysis based on solid chess understanding.
GM Vassilios Kotronias is ten-time champion of Greece and a famous theoretician. His peak rating so far was 2628.
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.
In the Scotch Gambit, White immediately strikes in the center and attacks the f7-pawn, provoking concessions from Black. An imbalance typically results, where White has attacking chances on the kingside. The Scotch Gambit will help you develop a finer feeling for the initiative and improve your combinational vision.
Tried and True for More than Two Centuries
The Scotch Game is a solid opening that has been tried and tested in practice by some of the strongest chessplayers in the world for more than two centuries. The idea behind the Scotch Game is simple and easily understandable. White eliminates – in a purely mechanical fashion – Black’s e5-pawn which initially impedes his ambition to dominate in the center.
This is very appealing for White, as he controls the direction of the struggle’s development, while Black can only try to keep pace. Furthermore, there are relatively simple schemes in the white repertoire in which it is enough to remember the main plans of both sides and typical maneuvers.
This is the second edition of Vladimir Barsky’s book that first appeared in 2009. The new edition consists of seven chapters dealing with the core ideas and variations of the Scotch, supplemented by 79 Illustrative Games. The authors not only present detailed analysis of all lines but are also careful to discuss the ideas behind the opening. If you already play the Scotch, you need this book. If you don’t, find out what you have been missing.
About the Authors
Grandmaster Alexei Bezgodov won the Russian Championship in 1993, and finished second in 1999. He is the author of many books, including The Art of the Tarrasch Defense, The Liberated Bishop Defense, Extreme Caro-Kann, The Double Queen’s Gambit, and Defend like Petrosian.
International Master Vladimir Barsky is a respected journalist and trainer. Among the books he has written are A Modern Guide to Checkmating Patterns, The Ragozin Complex, The Modern Philidor Defense, and A Universal Weapon 1.d4 d6.
"The Secret Ingredient" is a grandmaster guide to maximizing your chess results, focusing on key elements of practical play which have received little to no attention in previous chess literature. How exactly can we best make use of computers? What’s the ideal, step-by-step way to prepare against a specific opponent? How can we optimize our time management at the board? And what’s the one key skill that separates the best players from those who have yet to reach their full potential? GM Jan Markos sheds light on these topics and many more, helped by the world-class insights of his good friend GM David Navara.
Five years after the first edition, the book was completely rewritten and redesigned. While remaining true to the original structure, this new edition underwent major changes