Chess Evolution is proud to announce its FIDE-approved endgame manual. The first volume, written by GMs Mikhalchishin and Balogh covers Queen and Pawn endgames.
The Fianchetto Solution
When experienced teacher Emmanuel Neiman found that some of his pupils were avoiding tournaments for fear of being crushed in the opening, he set out to build the most practical repertoire he could: complete, solid, easy to learn, slow to date — and usable with both colours. Teaming up with grandmaster Samy Shoker, he settled on the King’s Fianchetto.
The appeal of the idea is its economy. Whether you are White or Black, you fianchetto the king’s bishop and play with the same handful of structures and plans — the bishop serving as both a defender of your own king and a long-range attacker. Learn the ideas once and you can apply them from either side of the board, which dramatically cuts the amount you must study.
For Black the book gives the Modern Defence against 1.e4 and fianchetto set-ups against 1.d4; for White it offers reversed King’s-Indian and Pirc structures and clear answers to the Dutch and to ...d5 systems. Throughout, the emphasis is on understanding typical fianchetto structures, activating the bishop, and attacking and defending these positions, with exercises to reinforce each idea.
Ideal for busy amateurs who want one coherent, low-maintenance system for their whole repertoire rather than separate theory for every opening.
Beating Minor Openings
offers a world-class repertoire for Black against every sensible first move apart from 1.d4 and 1.e4. GM Victor Mikhalevski advocates an ambitious approach for Black, with the aim of occupying the center and fighting for an advantage, rather than mere equality, wherever possible.
King's Indian Warfare
This is not a repertoire book but something rarer: a master class in the King’s Indian told through the games of a lifelong expert. Grandmaster Ilya Smirin has played the King’s Indian his whole career, and here he annotates his best efforts with it — with a foreword by his friend and compatriot Boris Gelfand.
The selection is thematic rather than theoretical. Chapters group the games by the ideas that make the King’s Indian so dangerous: the long-range power of the dark-squared bishop, opening lines toward the enemy king, deliberately wrecking your own pawn structure for activity, nimble knight manoeuvres, and the famous "kamikaze" rook sacrifices of the kingside attack. A highlight is his mini-match record against former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, which Smirin won 2½–1½.
Because the lessons come through complete, deeply annotated games, you absorb not just moves but the attacking instinct and judgement behind them — including, refreshingly, a chapter on two of his favourite losses, where the same fire backfired.
Ideal for club players and above who already play, or want to understand, the King’s Indian as an attacking weapon. Read it for inspiration and pattern-knowledge rather than line-by-line preparation.
The London System has become one of the most popular weapons in club and even elite chess, and for good reason: White develops the dark-squared bishop to f4, builds a sturdy, low-maintenance set-up, and steers the game toward positions understood by plan rather than memorised by rote. This book presents a complete, up-to-date White repertoire built on it.
Rather than dumping raw theory, the coverage is organised by the structures Black can choose. Separate chapters handle the Caro-Kann-style set-ups, the early ...Qb6 counter, the Classical formations with and without ...e6, the Slav and symmetrical ...Bf5 lines, and the King’s-Indian/Grünfeld fianchetto and Queen’s-Gambit approaches — so whatever Black tries, there is a clear answer and an explained plan.
A dedicated chapter on the typical London endgames is a welcome touch, since so many of these positions are decided in simplified play where knowing the right technique matters more than any opening novelty.
The result is a practical, modern repertoire designed to be learned efficiently and relied upon for the long term. Well suited to club players who want a sound, repeatable system with 1.d4 that keeps the game on their own terms.
Boris Gelfand continues his investigation into decision-making at the top level, discussing some of his best games as well as his worst slips, giving the reader a unique insight into the mind of a world-class grandmaster.
This ebook is a part of Bundle: Gelfand Decision Making
Continuing from Volume 1A (The Catalan), this book completes Boris Avrukh's reworking of his Grandmaster Repertoire series on 1.d4, covering all of Black's remaining answers to the Queen's Gambit across 24 chapters.
The biggest departure from Avrukh's earlier work is in the Queen's Gambit Accepted: he has replaced 3.e3 with the more ambitious 3.e4, applying immediate central pressure rather than the quieter development of his previous recommendation. This requires more theoretical preparation but, as Avrukh argues, pays off in positions White can genuinely enjoy playing.
The Slav Defence takes up the largest section. The core recommendation — 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 — remains, but the coverage has expanded from 95 pages in the original to 203 pages here, reflecting how heavily the theory has developed. The main change is after 4...Bg4, where Avrukh now prefers 5.h3 over his previous 5.Nc3.
The final section covers Black's smaller lines: the Chigorin (now split across two chapters due to new developments), the Albin Counter Gambit, the Tarrasch, and various rare defences including 2...Bf5, 2...Nf6 and 2...c5.
As with Volume 1A, this is an advanced book designed for serious study rather than quick preparation. The two volumes together give White a complete, deeply researched repertoire for 1.d4 against everything Black can play.
The Fighting Dragon showcases a variety of ways for Black to handle White’s responses. After taking in the key concepts, aspiring Dragon players can then deepen their understanding with three dozen critical test positions.
London is a universal system, valid against almost any black response and one of the safest for White. It is very popular with club players who want to avoid the more theoretical lines, but it is also played regularly by strong grandmasters
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