In this, the third volume of the Kotronias on the King’s Indian series, grandmaster Vassilios Kotronias presents the second part of his world-class repertoire against the famous Mar del Plata variation, starting from the position after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.0–0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7, with the focus on 9.b4, 9.Nd2 and all other sensible alternatives to 9.Ne1
The Modern Benoni is a bold answer to 1.d4 and GM Marian Petrov shows it is possible to play this line confidently without memorizing extreme levels of theory.
Italian-American grandmaster Fabiano Caruana is the perfect role model for any aspiring player. Already a very strong grandmaster, he announced his presence as a leading contender for the world title in 2014 when he scored an incredible 8½/10 (including seven straight wins from the first seven games) in the Sinquefield Cup in St Louis. This was an elite event where he finished an astonishing three points clear of Magnus Carlsen, whom he will challenge for the world title in late 2018. Caruana earned this right thanks to his fine victory in the Berlin Candidates where he scored 9/13 and finished a point clear of a world class field. Caruana’s style is universal. He is a very dangerous attacking player who is also equally at home in quiet strategic positions or manoeuvring in an endgame. In this respect he is the epitome of the modern grandmaster, being a hard-working and determined fighter who prepares thoroughly and plays with great determination and accuracy.
Feature articles and hundreds of deeply annotated games
Many gambit lines, where one or more pawns are sacrificed for the initiative, have to be taken seriously, but Ivan has succeeded in finding many new ideas and theoretical improvements. The result is the neutralisation or refutation of most of these common and well known 'Gambits'.
In this book, Cohen has created a vibrant and robust opening repertoire for Black after 1…e5, based on the Petroff Defence. Cohen presents inventive ways for Black to fight for the initiative in this dependable opening. He covers the entire spectrum, the main variations as well as the most unexpected and bizarre sidelines.
The Sveshnikov is one of the most active and dynamic variations of the Sicilian, and has been used successfully by chess players of all abilities from club level through to world champions. In Grandmaster Repertoire 18 – The Sicilian Sveshnikov, opening connoisseur Vassilios Kotronias places this bold system under the microscope and provides a world-class repertoire.
Ntirlis and Aagaard radically change the theoretical lanscape for this classic opening.
Grandmaster Repertoire 16 – The French Defence 3 concludes this ambitious three-volume series by offering a comprehensive repertoire against the Advance, Tarrasch, and other alternatives to 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3.
Feature columns by Adams, Leitao, Marin, Berg, Mueller, Roiz and others. As always, the volume is full of traditional annotated games, as well as combinations, endings, and studies.
The book contains 50 of the most stunning games of 2016. These games from high-level tournaments have been selected and analyzed by Grandmasters Naiditsch, Balogh, and Maze.