Most chess opening books are either too detailed or too shallow. Chess Opening Essentials has exactly the right balance and is an accessible primer and a reference book at the same time. It gives a flavor of how every opening works and points at the various middlegame plans that apply after the opening has ended.Chess Opening essentials helps beginners to develop a solid understanding of fundamental opening ideas, gives casual players the ability to choose the opening that suits th...

Chess Openings Can Be Simple! Because of the sheer volume of variations, possible transpositions and ever-changing theory, chess openings can be overwhelming � even intimidating. This book is an introduction to understanding and playing chess openings. The author, Danish Master Carsten Hansen, stresses opening play based on comprehending opening principles as well as useful, fundamental knowledge. With an overview of all the most important opening variations, examples of good and bad ope...

Analytics The Method of Logical Analysis You are invited to take an instructive journey with one of the most successful chess coaches of our era, Greek grandmaster Efstratios Grivas. Over 40 critical aspects of the royal game are examined by this experienced, well-respected trainer. Grivas presents almost 240 games, most with complete scores to assist comprehension, illustrating his themes with practical, insightful examples and explanations. And the convenient structure of the book is suc...

The 20th Anniversary Edition!In 1998, the authors set out to demonstrate the viability of the Accelerated Dragon as a weapon for Black, not fearing the Maroczy Bind or any other set-up White can come up with.In the intervening year, the opening has been part of the opening repertoires of world top players such as Carlsen, Ivanchuk, and numerous other top grandmasters.Even though the original material is now older, it is still very instructive and will enhance anyone's ...

INSTRUCTIVE NAJDORF MINIATURES "An opening book based only on miniatures? Perhaps it sounds odd at first, but it works well in the sharp Najdorf, and even in the more positional Queen's Indian Defense. As usual Carsten's theoretical coverage is thorough, and the books are not repertoire based, but gives a full examination of these topical openings. Is it limiting only to show miniatures? Maybe, but one somehow get the purified version of a successful strategy, when the games are not complex ...

Tried and True for More than Two Centuries The Scotch Game is a solid opening that has been tried and tested in practice by some of the strongest chessplayers in the world for more than two centuries. The idea behind the Scotch Game is simple and easily understandable. White eliminates – in a purely mechanical fashion – Black’s e5-pawn which initially impedes his ambition to dominate in the center. This is very appealing for White, as he controls the direction of the struggle’s development...

Lessons, motivation and coaching to make you a better chess player.In an ideal world, any aspiring chess player, at almost any level, would get better with a coach. If that's not possible, having chess champion coach Thomas Engqvist's book at your side is the next best thing.In his series of lessons, Engqvist guides you through not only the most important elements of chess to master but also the psychology, how to marry knowledge with imagination, and how t...

After you have learned the rules of chess and developed some tactical abilities, how do you go from there? You are now ready to tackle basic issues of strategy, but what is the best way to improve and win more games?Of course, you have to train. But chess training only makes sense if it fits your level of play and if it is structured in an accessible way.Experienced chess trainer Yaroslav Srokovski has developed a practical, well-structured, compact first course in position...

The Queenside Fianchetto Factor In the first full book to examine 2.b3 against the Sicilian, French and Caro-Kann, mainlines, interesting sidelines and current theory are reviewed. In addition, what actually happens in modern practice is surveyed. The authors are optimistic for White, and concentrate on the best continuations while trying to be objective. It is in that spirit that they conclude that 2.b3 is sound against the Sicilian, fun against the French, and curious against the Caro-Ka...

Throw Down the Gauntlet from the Very First Move! The Modern Defense has been popular for decades. However, within the purview of this defense, there is a system that challenges White right from the get-go. The brainchild of Georgian grandmaster Bukhuti Gurgenidze, Black plays 1...g6 and follows with a timely ...c6 and ...d5. Occasionally classified as part of the Caro-Kann, it draws battle lines immediately. The move 1...g6 in general is an aggressive approach, throwing down the gauntlet ...

Lambasting the London Although the London System was first played almost 200 years ago, it lay dormant until the beginning of the 21st century. Then chessplayers rediscovered it, realizing that the London could be played against most responses by Black, obtaining a good game with little preparation. Nowadays the London has evolved into an opening taken up by both club players and world champions. Magnus Carlsen has played it regularly and the new word champion Ding Liren used it to convinc...

Miniatures in the Ruy Lopez Main Line Another Great Book in the "Miniatures in the..." Series! The lines covered in this book, the Ruy Lopez Main Lines, arise (with a few exceptions for move order and such) after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0. The Ruy Lopez, or Spanish Opening if you like, is one of the oldest openings, named after a Spanish priest who first played it back in the 16th century. Needless to say, it has been played a few times since and remains a popular openin...