A Grandmaster Guide

Material imbalances are a fundamental part of almost every chess game, yet have not received much attention in chess literature. In this illuminating book, GM Mauricio Flores Rios breaks down this universal topic into categories such as bishop vs knight, opposite-coloured bishops, possessing and playing against the bishop pair, and various scenarios with a queen or rook being traded for a number of pieces. With well-chosen examples, insightful commentary and exercises to test your newfound understanding of all types of material imbalance, this book is an essential tool for chess improvement.

Chess Opening Repertoire

Chess theory ebbs and flows. Lines that have been discarded for decades suddenly become all the rage and everyone starts playing them. A case in point are queenside openings where White plays Bf4. For years these had been the chess equivalent of flared trousers but in recent times they have been reinvented and even the best players in the world are now sporting them.

Chess Opening Repertoire

One of the sharpest lines to meet 1 d4 is the Modern Benoni (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 e6 4 Nc3 exd5 5 cxd5 d6). The hallmark of this opening is that Black makes the positional concession of allowing White a central majority and in return hopes for counterchances via active piece play. However, there are many other weird and wonderful ways to handle these "Benoni structures" as the very experienced chess coach and author Andrew Martin demonstrates in this highly engaging book.

Chess Opening Repertoire

When deciding upon a repertoire to meet 1 d4, those players whose natural inclination is to be aggressive have a difficult decision. There are plenty of outright counter-attacking tries such as the Benko Gambit, the King's Indian Defence and the Modern Benoni. However, such openings are generally considered borderline unsound at the higher levels. On the other hand the safe options such as the Queen's Gambit Declined and Queen's Gambit Accepted make it difficult to create middlegame complications. So, what to do?

Chess Opening Repertoire

The Accelerated Dragon (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 g6) has attracted the attention of many creative players. In the past these included Tigran Petrosian and Bent Larsen while modern aficionados include the dominant player of the era, Magnus Carlsen, as well as Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Vassily Ivanchuk, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and many others.

A full Black repertoire grounded in answering 1…e6 against any move!

510 Seiten, gebunden, Thinkers Publishing, 1. Auflage 2025

A dynamic opening repertoire for White

Grandmaster Simon Williams was taught the English Opening at the age of six and 1 c4 was his weapon of choice until long after he became an International Master. For this new work, he teamed up with acclaimed theoretician International Master Richard Palliser to explore his old favourite.

A Complete Repertoire against 1.e4

GM Daniel Fernandez (born 1995) has been an active and accomplished player for several years. He represented his native Singapore twice at Olympiads (2010 and 2012) before transferring to the English chess federation. There, he won the national classical titles at U-18 and U-21 levels, and worked to become a Grandmaster while simultaneously studying at Cambridge.

Cunning, Crafty & Concise

Every chess player faces an opening dilemma: big main lines are complicated and time-consuming to learn, while easy-to-learn sidelines usually suffer from other defects. Finding the best of both worlds has been an impossible dream until now!

A combative Trompowsky repertoire for White

IM Richard Palliser outlines a combative Trompowsky (1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5) repertoire for White. The lines analysed deal with all of Black’s common responses. A perennial favourite of creative players, the ‘Tromp’ sets Black complex problems from the very beginning. IM Richard Palliser is a highly experienced chess writer and opening expert, having worked closely with Gawain Jones and Simon Williams.

272 Seiten, kartoniert, Popular Chess, 1. Auflage 2024

Opening Repertoire

Opening Repertoire: Strategic Play with 1 e4 guides the reader through a complete repertoire for White. Pavlovic examines the key aspects of each line and provides the reader with well-researched and fresh analysis. Every annotated game is a lesson on typical middlegame plans, based on the instructive question-and-answer method.

A 21st Century Opening Repertoire

When Axel Smith was chasing his final Grandmaster norm, he decided he needed a change in his White opening repertoire.
Instead of his usual approach of memorizing many concrete moves to try to force an advantage, he would focus on pawn structures and typical plans. The result was a repertoire based on a set-up with the moves d4, Nf3, c4 and e3. It helped Axel Smith to the GM title, and led to the creation of e3 Poison .

stark erweiterte Neuauflage 2022

Jeder Schachspieler, der seine Partien mit 1.e4 eröffnet, stellt sich immer wieder die Frage "Was spiele ich gegen die Sizilianische Verteidigung?“. Schließlich ist 1...c5 die meistgespielte Antwort auf 1.e4.

Systems for Black Based on ...b5

The Dawn of the Planet of the b-Pawns!

“There can be no Plan B because there is no Planet B,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. We disagree when it comes to chess. In this book you will see analyzed not only 1.d4 b5 (the Polish Defense) but also the St. George Defense (1.e4 e6 2.d4 a6 intending 3...b5), 1.Nf3 b5, also 1.f4 b5 and, most shocking of all, 1.e4 a6 2.d4 b5. Grandmasters have lost to these systems; other Grandmasters even try them out themselves when they have the black pieces. No, an early ...b7-b5 is not Plan A. However, if you want to humiliate the opposition by being literally eccentric (off-center) and disrespectful

... Welcome to Planet B!

Simon Williams (the Ginger GM) is passionate about the Dutch Defence. He has played it all his life, knows it inside out and is considered one of the world's leading experts on this very dynamic Black counter. In this book he shares his extensive knowledge, holds nothing back and carves out a formidable repertoire for aggressive black players.