From the first moment (about a year ago) when Mr. Daniel Vanheirzeele from Thinkers Publishing contacted me about the possibility of writing an opening book, I was really excited about the prospect. Writing a chess book was a completely new direction for me, and anything new excites me and gives me a high. Then after some discussion we narrowed the topic down to 1.e4 (‘Best by test’) and I found myself with a contract to cover two major variations within the Sicilian: the sharp Najdorf and the trendy Taimanov. I actually already had a decent reputation as a dangerous theoretician on the white side of 1.e4, and in particular against these two openings. I had shown some interesting ideas in my games over the years which were the result of my real passion for opening knowledge, a trait which has stayed with me throughout my chess career.
Grandmaster Repertoire 11 – Beating 1.d4 Sidelines provides a sound and active repertoire against virtually every non-standard opening line at White’s disposal after both 1.d4 d5 and 1.d4 Nf6.
This ebook is a part of Bundle: Avrukh Grandmaster Repertoire
Do you struggle to score against the Hedgehog and find it difficult to break the Black fortress? This opening manual, which could double as a positional middlegame manual, will show you how White can use a space advantage in this chess opening with maximum results.
The Hedgehog System, a personal favourite of many club players, is important to understand for all White players as the positions are near-universal. They can arise from the English Opening, the Nimzo-Indian and Queen’s Indian Defences and the Sicilian Opening. The Hedgehog is a flexible defence as Black can undermine your centre with …b6-b5 or …d6-d5. Black can attack your kingside dark squares with a queen-and-bishop battery or go after your king by launching the g-pawn.
That’s why Beating The Hedgehog System focuses on the most airtight variations, taking the sting out of Black’s counterplay and making White’s space advantage count. You will learn the general strategies but also essential features such as:
– how to get the ideal queenside formation versus the Hedgehog
– how to use x-rays and little tactics to stop Black’s …d6-d5 break
– how to provoke Black’s e-pawn to move to e5
– when to push your a-pawn to the fourth rank… and when to hold it back
Included are fifteen model games and thirty strategy and tactics exercises to fine-tune your feel for this Opening. This book has been adapted from the MoveTrainer® and video Chessable course with the same name.
Hanna Ivan-Gal is a top-100 player in Hungary, Woman FIDE Master and an experienced coach. She is also the presenter of the Hedgehog video course on Chessable.
Laszlo Hazai from Hungary is an International Master, a lifetime FIDE Senior Trainer, a former coach of the Polgar sisters, and a distinguished opening theoretician who wrote dozens of Opening Surveys for New In Chess Yearbook.
A comprehensive guide through the Najdorf Sicilian jungle that enables you to find your way to security and initiative with the black pieces.
The so called “rare lines” have become extremely popular in recent times, so we offer you a single volume “solution” to all the nuances and complications that may arise in these less common lines.
Over the years some of the variations covered in this book got a strong following among the professionals and amateurs alike (6.h3 in particular), while some remained less explored and essayed only by the very elite (6.a3, or 6.Qd3).
IM Szuhanek presents you his deep and diligent analysis of all the possible (and reasonable) White tries with focus on more common lines. Throughout the book you will find many improvements for both sides, but with author’s clear preference for the black side.
Now you got a highly practical weapon to tackle all the White’s pesky Najdorf options!
The Benoni is a chess opening that offers Black excellent chances to play for a win. One of the main reasons for this is that it creates unbalanced positions from the very beginning, which favors the player with a better understanding of the nuances of the position. The Benoni involves Black placing their pawns on d6 and c5, and then fianchettoing their dark-squared bishop on g7. This setup creates a solid pawn structure and puts pressure on White’s center, making it difficult for them to launch a direct attack, while simultaneously threatening the c3 knight and the b2 pawn.
The Benoni is a chess opening that originated in the 19th century, but it wasn’t until the mid-20th century that it gained widespread popularity. The Benoni was initially viewed as somewhat dubious, as it allowed White to gain a strong pawn center with moves like d5 and e4. However, in the 20th century, players such as Mikhail Tal and Robert Fischer began to experiment with the Benoni and achieve success with it. They demonstrated that the opening could create dynamic and unbalanced positions that favored Black’s attacking chances. Over the years, the Benoni has gone through many variations and refinements as players on both sides have sought to find the best way to play against it. Despite this, the opening remains a popular and viable option for Black, offering excellent chances to play for a win in the right hands.
As a player, Ivanišević has had many successful games with the Benoni, including wins against many top-ranked players. He is known for his aggressive and dynamic style of play, which is well-suited to the Benoni’s unbalanced and tactical positions. He has been playing Benoni for more than ten years in both classical and rapid chess formats.
The book “Benoni” is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to master this exciting and challenging opening. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced player, this book is sure to help you improve your game and achieve better results. The book covers all the key variations of the Benoni and provides readers with a deep understanding of the opening’s strategic and tactical ideas. Ivanišević’s extensive experience and expertise with the opening are evident in the book, which is full of practical tips, annotated games, and detailed analysis.
This collection brings together more than 120 of Bent Larsen’s best games, annotated by himself. His comments are lucid, to the point, instructive and humorous.
Grandmasters Arkadij Naiditsch and Csaba Balogh analyze the 50 best attacking games from 2012-2015. The readers will see not only the brilliant sacrifices and mating combination at the end of the games, but also how it was all built up from the beginning.
The readers will see 50 incredible tense battles with many beautiful ideas, sacrifices and hidden motifs.
In the course of a game of chess, questions continually arise that test a player’s reasoning skills. Questions such as: “Who has the better position?”, “Should I resolve the tension in the center?”, “How can I improve the placement of my pieces?”. In this long-awaited extension of the classic Best Lessons of a Chess Coach, the reader is invited to take a seat in the classroom of a renowned chess teacher, and learn how to answer such questions while experiencing the beauty, logic, and artistry of great chess games. When Sunil Weeramantry lectures on the games of top grandmasters, one can imagine making decisions alongside them. When he lectures on his own games, one can also experience the personal excitement, disappointment, and satisfaction of a well-contested game of chess. The cumulative effect of studying these lessons is to give the aspiring player a wide range of tools with which to win.
Have you ever wished for a “formula” to help you decide what move to make in any given chess position?
Joel Benjamin concentrates on a wide array of practical issues that players frequently have to deal with. By applying a grandmaster’s train of thought, club players will more often arrive at strong moves and substantially improve their game.