The Black Lion is a thoroughly modern counterattacking system that is a nightmare to face. This wild and aggressive line attempts to take away White’s initiative from a very early stage and is guaranteed to throw your opponents off balance.
The Black Lion is essentially a contemporary and aggressive interpretation of the Philidor Defence (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6). The Black Lion starts with a slightly different move order, 1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3, and now the lion family splits into two different animals: the risky lion (3...Nbd7) or the tame lion (3...e5). Both treatments are thoroughly investigated in this book.
Simon Williams (the Ginger GM) is the ideal guide to explain how to whip up an extremely dangerous attack using either treatment. Williams is well known for his swashbuckling, attacking play and the Black Lion suits his style perfectly. His commentary and annotations are always instructive and entertaining.
– The Black Lion is an unusual and dangerous system with little established theory.
– White cannot rely on simple, safe moves as such a strategy is liable to be overrun.
– The Black Lion is fun and exciting to play!
In this book, International Master Jovanka Houska presents the reader with a complete Caro-Kann repertoire, which is based primarily on her own repertoire she has used with success over many years at international level. Houska provides a comprehensive update on her popular 2007 book Play the Caro-Kann and focuses on key new developments since then. She offers solutions against all of White's main options and efficient methods to deal with tricky sidelines. She examines important tactical and strategic plans for both sides and deals with key move order issues. This book tells you everything you need to know about playing the Caro-Kann.
The English Defence (1 d4 e6 2 c4 b6) is a dynamic, counter-attacking line, initially investigated by English grandmasters. Black aims to set White difficult problems to solve at the very earliest stage of the game. Black’s play is provocative – aiming to lure White into establishing a big pawn centre. This is a risky strategy as White falls behind in development and Black switfly becomes very active. However, if White’s response is more circumspect then Black can often manoeuvre into favourable structures reminiscent of positions arising from the Nimzo-Indian Defence, the Queen’s Indian Defence or even the Dutch.
José González provides an excellent analysis of this complex opening and carves out a powerful repertoire for Black covering all lines after 1 d4. It is possible for White to avoid the "English battle" by playing either 2 Nf3 or even 2 e4 (a rare move for 1 d4 players but seen occasionally). Gonzalez champions an aggressive variant of the Dutch against 2 Nf3 and outlines a simple but effective French Defence repertoire to counter 2 e4.
– A complete repertoire for Black to counter 1 d4.
– The question and answer approach provides an excellent study method.
Most chess openings have been around for centuries; the first book on the Ruy Lopez was written in 1561. Not so the Jobava System. This is a thoroughly modern opening that has only achieved prominence in the last decade or so. It is named after the Georgian chess visionary Baadur Jobava, a highly imaginative and creative grandmaster. The Jobava System is based around the opening moves 1 d4 d5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 Bf4. For many years this was considered to be a quiet and unassuming backwater of chess theory. No longer!
Thanks to the efforts of Jobava and others this system has been honed into a fierce attacking weapon. As this opening is so new the correct defensive methods are not well understood. This makes the system extremely dynamic and dangerous.
In this book, Simon Williams (the Ginger GM) delves deep into the Jobava and offers up a complete repertoire based on this exciting new system. The advantages are clear:
– There is very little existing theory
– Black cannot play safely on “auto-pilot”
– It is fresh and it’s fun!
The Nimzo-Indian Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4) and the Queen’s Indian Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6) are two classic systems for Black to meet 1.d4. They are popular at all levels and have been played by virtually every world champion. They enable Black to gain a firm foothold in the centre at an early stage and White is not permitted the easy space advantage that occurs with many other defences to 1.d4. Black does not seek to engage White in immediate battle but postpones conflict for the middlegame when an understanding of themes and plans will be paramount.
In Opening Repertoire: The Nimzo-Indian and Queen’s Indian Defences, highly experienced chess author and coach Nigel Davies guides the reader through the complexities of these two lines and carves out a repertoire for Black. He examines all aspects of these complex systems and provides the reader with well-researched, fresh, and innovative analysis. Each annotated game has valuable lessons on how to play the opening and contains instructive commentary on typical middlegame plans.