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One of the important issues players face ¿ both relatively inexperienced ones at the beginning of their career as well as seasoned ones as they realize their chess craves change ¿ is choosing an opening repertoire. As a player and a coach, I have seen many approaches to this question, both remarkable and mistaken. Some players believe that the opening is something to ignore, that everything is decided in the middlegame. Others think that studying opening traps is what wins games.Some tend to follow their favorite world-class player's recommendations, while others like to sidestep well-known opening theory early on, preferring unpopular side-lines.To me, opening choice is about all those decisions. I think that many openings are good; there are some dubious ones, but they can also yield formidable results overall or in specific situations if chosen and handled carefully. I firmly believe that your opening repertoire should mostly be based on your playing style and other personal traits, such as memory and work ethic. It is important to evaluate yourself as well as your strengths and weaknesses properly in order to be able to build the right repertoire that would not only suit you well, but also improve your overall chess.The little detail, though, is in the word ¿mostly¿. Namely, I firmly believe that there are a few classical, rock-solid openings with an impeccable reputation, such as 1.e4 e5 as a response to 1.e4 or the Queen's Gambit and Nimzo as an answer to 1.d4 that players of all styles and standards should try, no matter what their style is. This will enable players to learn, appreciate and practice some of the key chess values, such as the importance of space, lack of weaknesses, bad pieces, and comfortable development and so on ¿ you name it. I, myself, started out as a keen Sicilian player. Just like all youngsters, I cheerfully enjoyed complications, tactical massacres and everything else that the Sicilian is all about. However, as I was developing as a player, my style was changing also. Eventually, I realized I was much more successful with positional play, so it was time to change the outfit ¿ and 1.e4 e5 suited me well. I have used this move as a response to 1.e4 nearly exclusively in recent years, both versus weaker and stronger opposition, with fantastic results. If only other openings would grant me such results as well! I have not only studied these variations myself but have also shown them to numerous private students. To be frank, we have almost always concentrated on White's most dangerous possibilities, such as the Ruy Lopez, Italian and Scotch. Occasionally, we have also analysed the side-lines ¿ either as a part of preparation for specific opponents or to make sure my students become more universal players and gain more all-round knowledge. Eventually, I realized that the knowledge I gained from 1.e4 e5 can and should be shared with more players, and this is how my book came to life. Of course, the readers will differ, so there is a no ¿one-size-fits-all¿ solution. But, I have carefully and diligently tried to achieve the same goal I used when working with my students: to keep my recommendations both theoretically sound as well as practical and accessible. I expect not only titled players but club players and the less experienced readers to equally benefit from this book. So, sometimes you will find razor-sharp novelties, but in many cases, we will rely on positional understanding, typical structures and standard ideas. I believe the opening is not all about memorization, so I have taken a different approach from many authors by keeping the balance between recommending objectively good variations as well as making sure an adequate amount of work will suffice to get you started. You won't need to spend years studying the material, fearing there is still much more to learn. 1.e4 e5! is not just an opening. It is repertoire that represents our game as a whole. It is something players of all styles will enjoy due to the countless possibilities 1...e5 provides. Hopefully, learning 1...e5 will also make you a better player. And, finally, I hope the book you are now holding in your hands will not only give you joy but illustrate a passion for chess with the variations presented in this work.

In his revolutionary opening books, Bauer reveals the secrets of how to play certain unknown variations. He takes an in-depth look not only at the main lines but also more offbeat tries, creating a comprehensive, ready-to-use manual for any player. Beyond any question or doubt, Christian is a top author.

How to learn strategy? Can it belearned? It can be, of course. And these volumes are the perfect guide to learn(or, more precisely, to learn to understand) strategy.  Our idea is to throw light on all the strategicconcepts in these volumes. To help you navigate more simply, we have divided allthe material into two volumes. This first one is exploring the elements ofstrategy, explaining typical and essential principles in detail. The second oneis about pawn structures. Of course, structures themselves actually mean nothing without recognizing patterns and principlesfrom the elements (because pawn structures are used to determine the values ofpieces, for instance). That is why volume two can be considered as an advancedlevel of strategy. Generally, examples will be based on material adopted fromvolume one and upgraded.  Volume one is divided into ninechapters and the titles suggest the topic explained in detail. Examples are arrangedfrom less to more complex and I recommend that the reader not skip examplesinside the chapters. Moreover, I would ask the reader to go through thechapters in the order in which they are presented in the book, because the mostimportant topics come first. For instance, centralization is the leadingprinciple and it must be kept in mind while working on other topics!

The Italian Game is the front-line of modern chess. After a hundred years of oblivion, in the 21st century, it edged out many other renowned openings, and is employed today by all the world’s top players. Its modern interpretation is full of new ideas, and its theory has grown thanks to the research of modern grandmasters. This book is an attempt to comprehend the current state of this opening.The book, however, is not just a collection of lines of this fashionable opening. Its main idea is to demonstrate the key ideas and typical techniques in various opening positions, with every key idea being highlighted in the text. The manual can thus be used as a strategy textbook in Italian-type positions; it even includes a special section called ‘The Italian Endgame’.A separate chapter is devoted to one the most important problems of modern chess, that is, getting similar positions of the Italian type from other openings.The book should be of interest to players of various strengths.

Proper handling of Bishops in the Endgame is an important feature in today¿s chess and a must for every chess player who wants to climb the world¿s chess hierarchy. This book deals with all important themes and ideas on the world of Bishop endings.

Before you is the tournament book of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021. Theevent that has been won in sensational fashion by the young Dutch grandmasterJorden van Foreest. In a tiebreak in the third blitz game, he was just a bit faster ofhis compatriot Anish Giri. The barrage was necessary because both players verysurprisingly ended with the wonderful score of 8½ out of 13 in joint first place. Withthis they had left behind, among others, World Champion Magnus Carlsen (7½) andthe number two in the world, Fabiano Caruana (8). An unprecedented achievement, because the tournament in Wijk aan Zee is sometimes called the "Wimbledon of chess" of the elite tournaments. After the last round, in which Van Foreest in a formidable way had left the Swede Nils Grandelius chanceless, it was waitingfor the game between the Spaniard David Antón Guijarra and Anish Giri. Ourcompatriot was in a bad position, lost perhaps, but he managed to free himself fromthe tangled position and gain an important half point. It was decided beforehandthat a tiebreak would be held, consisting of at least two blitz games. Should theseresult in a 1-1 score, an Armageddon game would be played. This turned out to bea nervous and blood-curdling fight, with the pieces flying around. In the end theyounger OF the two, Jorden van Foreest, emerged victorious and thus the youngGroninger booked the greatest success of his still young career. Apart from thecommotion in the Dutch seaside resort of Wijk aan Zee, where the tournament washeld – under strict corona rules – the whole of the Netherlands rose to its feet whenthis great result became known. Hadn't we had to wait since 1985, when JanTimman won the Hoogovens chess tournament, for a Dutch chess player to standon the highest podium? And now it was even two players from this country whocould dispute together who would take the highest honor

One, and sometimes more engines, toil without rationing electricity, sometimes checking on their master¿s ideas or more oft en showing their own evaluations and recommendations on screen with each conclusion supplemented by an exact numeric equivalent. There is no arguing with such an expert. Is it even necessary? He, as the almighty judge, knows all and can answer any question. All that is needed is patience. During a mutual training session, a young player who is currently one of the top in the world, asked Garry Kasparov: ¿How did you evaluate positions in the past?¿ After all standard evaluations like ¿better¿ or ¿worse¿ are too vague and cannot begin to satisfy a modern professional. Th e very question feels like a giant gap between the approach to solving chess problems then and now. Intuition and improvisation are gradually phased out by exact knowledge and calculation. So far this has only become fully evident in the opening. More than anything else it has become opening preparation which has made the biggest fundamental change to professional chess. So now let us peer behind the curtain!

When you are building your repertoire youhave many choices available against 1.e4. Everyone knows the Sicilian is themost dangerous reply but there are so many choices! Most of them are highlytheoretical such as the Najdorf or the Dragon. Some are very difficult tounderstand from a positional and dynamical point of view. The Kalashnikov andthe Sveshnikov are two good examples, without even mentioning the amount oftheory.I have always been interested by lesstheoretical Sicilians. I have been playing the Classical Sicilian for a longtime and right before the covid period, I decided to find a new one. TheSicilian Kan came to me as a very serious option, and I decided to work on it.In the meantime, my friend and editor Daniël Vanheirzeele offered me the chanceto author a book about it. This came to me as a complete surprise, as I had noexperience with it. In comparison with my work on the Reti and the Dutch (mytwo previous books), I am a newbie on the subject. But I decided to accept thechallenge. I found it extremely interesting, as this gave me a fresh look atthe positions. I think I managed to ask myself the questions everyone wouldhave asked. I also work as a second for others and am accustomed to working onopenings I do not necessarily play as well as finding the key ideas very quickly.So, after a deep initial work to understand the variations, I was ready tostart writing8In opposition to my prior efforts, Idecided to start with the mainlines. I did it both during my work and then inthe structure of the book. It seemed better to address the most difficult linesfirst to prove that Black gets playable positions, and then take care of the lesschallenging lines. This approach allows you to have an idea of the typicalpositions and then compare it with the less usual lines so you may understandwhy the sidelines are not as good. I take this as an opportunity to sharemy knowledge of openings and how I analyze them. I started this book with theidea that I wanted it to be useful for all levels of playing strength,from amateurs to even top grandmasters. I really consider the best books to bethose where everyone can understand the basics of the variations while alsobeing of use to anyone that aims at going deeper into the theory. I based many of the lines andconclusions in this book not only on computer evaluation, but also from apractical point of view. While I did a deep dive using strong engines whenanalyzing the lines I cannot say that they are perfect. The most importantthing is that all of the evaluations are based upon my own understanding and knowledge ofchess. Adrien Demuth November 2021

Grandmasters Kotronias and Ivanov are renowned as leading theoreticians and chess trainers. They offer a unique and world-class repertoire based on 1.d4! They advocate an ambitious approach for White, with the aim to fight for an advantage in any position. This is their first joint effort; they tackle the ever-popular Queen’s Gambit Accepted and their sidelines in Volume 1A and 1B.We at Thinkers believe their job could not have been done any better.

In this book on the 3.Nc3 French, Harikrishna offers practical ideas from White’s perspective to make your preparation more effective. At times, this means suggesting the 2nd or 3rd choice of the engine. He builds on the material from his earlier French course (Chessable, May 2019) and has expanded it with new analysis in all the lines, especially the 3...Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 variation. Harikrishna analyzes both 5.Nce2 and 5.f4, so that the reader may make an informed choice about their personal preference. The driving force throughout is to keep the book clear-cut and practical. A good example of a practical weapon is the deceptively simple 3…Bb4 4.exd5 line. There are also fresh and interesting suggestions against the sidelines you are likely to encounter, especially at shorter time controls. The entire Thinkers Publishing team joins with the author in wishing you enjoyment and success from this exceptional book

In his new endgame series, Boroljub Zlatanovic shows a profound understanding ofthe most common material imbalance in chess: that of the bishop against theknight. The didactic concept of the book is admirable as well as the detailed explanations of the typical characteristics of this endgame. Despite the importance ofthis subject, it has received very little detailed coverage in chess literature and thisencyclopedic work will definitely fill this gap and offer a lot of useful tips for practical play.Grandmaster Alexander DelchevMarch 2021

Grandmasters Kotronias and Ivanov are renowned as leading theoreticians and chess trainers. They offer a unique and world-class repertoire based on 1.d4! They advocate an ambitious approach for White, with the aim to fight for an advantage in any position. This is their first joint effort; they tackle the ever-popular Queen’s Gambit Accepted and their sidelines in Volume 1A and 1B. We at Thinkers believe their job could not have been done any better.

In his next book for Thinkers Publishing, Milos Pavlovic, took a fresh look at the relatively unexplored but most dangerous Colle-Zukertort attack. Drawing upon his considerable opening experience and using plenty of illustrative games, he reveals the secrets how to pose Black serious problems using different subtle move orders. Milos created a comprehensive repertoire for White and highlighting the many tactical and positional themes this dynamic opening contains. The author is keen to show how easily White can obtain a strong attack against a classical sub-optimal black development. Pavlovic preferred along the way to delve quite deeply in to the theory and possible important transpositions to other openings.

The book before you is a product of what happens when two chess players start a relationship (which started over six years ago) and enter a dialogue about how to get ready for the next tournament. The content of this book is a training program for players who plan to play an over-the-board tournament a few weeks from the time they start training with this book. This book, unlike other similar books in the field of improvement, does not have a central theme. In other words, we are not focused solely on openings, middlegames or endgames. Moreover, the book does not only concentrate on specific themes (calculation, positional decisions, or other strategic aspects), though many of these concepts are addressed throughout the book. Instead, this book offers a holistic view on how to approach every single position in it, regardless of the phase of the game or the nature of the position. We try to teach players how to identify types of decisions in various positions, while pointing at the trade-off between a hardcore calculation and a heuristics judgment.

Gata will share in his first volume how he became one of the world elite class players and contender for the title of World Chess Champion. Why and how he used different styles of play and will reveal how this learning process helped him to become a chess professional.

This book invites the reader to enter the wonderful elite chess world with one of the most creative GM¿s of all time, Alexander Morozevich. It tells about his approach to the core of fighting, about his strongest points but also about his weaknesses. It presents masterpieces and painful losses. However, the author not only shows a panorama of his creativity but also offers the reader to think over the problems together with `Morö. You can simply take place in his seat, look through his eyes and finally play like Morozevich!

The Richter-Rauzer is one of the most complex and rich battlegrounds in the Open Sicilian. This book is the distillation of the authors' decades-long experience in this variation, offering a practical approach based on understanding and knowledge of typical ideas. Do you wish to explore something double-edged and sharp, this book will leave you confident and fully armed to play for a win. For this second revised edition, Grandmasters Kozul and Jankovic teamed up to present you a way to even throw your most experienced opponent off balance!

The Berlin Defense is one of the most popular openings for Black against 1.e4 for the last two decades in the higher echelons of the chess world. In this book, the critical ideas are explained in a way that even Club players will feel the confidence to add this evergreen opening to their repertoire by explaining the opening concepts lucidly in such a way that anyone who reads this Book will have the courage to play Berlin in their games. In this book, GM Priyadharshan Kannappan has chosen some off-beat tracks on the Berlin endgame and also has considered 4.d3 as the mainline of Berlin, the 1st for any Berlin book, but is a modern necessity due to the increasing popularity of 4.d3.The book packs enough punch in novelties for the opening aficionados, and this up to date book presents new ideas and variations that were previously never shed light on in the Berlin. GM Priyadharshan has given equal importance to the various sidelines that lead up to the Berlin endgame, and also in the Berlin endgame, and has suggested options where Black actively fights for dynamic positions, and not just gets satisfied with equal positions.The book also has 100 games suggestion that one must study to improve their overall understanding of the various pawn structures and ideas involved in the Queenless endgame.

The advantage of ¿our¿ Benoni is based on a waiting approach. Black would like to choose a perfect moment to play ¿e6xd5, waiting for White to adopt some piece setup that turns out to be inconvenient for him after this exchange. At the same time, we would like to avoid some dangerous or deeply explored variations like the Flick-Knife (a.k.a Taimanov) or systems where White can place his bishop on the optimal f4-square. A lot of variations in this book can also be useful for King¿s Indian players, as a main or alternative way to play. My own journey in the world of the Delayed Benoni started when I was a King¿s Indian kind of guy!As every rose has its thorn, so White can annoy us by answering our ¿e6xd5 not with the routine c4xd5 but rather with e4xd5. This produces a completely different pawn formation, with an open e-file. White enjoys a space advantage but Black has his chances. And just as White can depart from the well-trodden path with e4xd5, so Black can dispense with the almost automatic ¿e6xd5 and instead play ¿e6-e5, producing a sort of King¿s Indian formation. In the Main Line, covered in Chapter 4, White has already played h2-h3 and this pawn can become a target when Black gets his kingside attack moving.Our opponent can force us into a Modern Benoni, by playing f3 (Sämisch) or f4 (Four Pawns). I think that I have succeeded defending Black¿s case, even finding some important nuances improving on the existing theory.From my personal experience, the only way for White to achieve some advantage is the h3 and Bd3 variation with e4xd5, the Main Variation covered in Chapter 4. The problem for White, though, is that Black can answer that line in many different ways. So White must be thoroughly prepared and acquainted with all the nuances of our system. And even then, White¿s advantage is just a ¿normal¿ one.I give a different approach to this variation, three (!) different ways for Black to respond. The reader can also, through the game commentaries, see the development of the variation in my practice.In my opinion, the Delayed Benoni is a kind of mystery for White also, since it has not been covered deeply enough in chess publications. So I think that this work could be useful for White players, too.

Club players love to study openings as so much material is available. However, it has often been shown that results do not match the amount of study invested, as in practice it is much harder to navigate your way around an opening when the opponent deviates from theory. That is why Herman treats the study of openings in a completely different way. He focuses on increasing insight. In this book he discusses the backgrounds of openings, provides guidelines and explains in an instructive and accessible way the basic principles of a position. This book, the third in its series, provides an overview of the positions and corresponding plans arising from our beloved Sicilian Defense, being in this case `Part 1¿, The Najdorf and Scheveningen Structures. Three more parts are being written as we speak.

After his first two most successful volumes of Chess Middlegame Strategies, Ivan Solokov explores in his final volume ideas related to the symbiosis of the strategic and dynamic elements of chess. He combined the most exceptional ideas, strategies and positional play essentials. These three volumes will give you a serious head start when studying and playing a middlegame.A book and series that cannot be missed in any serious chess library!

In his sixth book for Thinkers Publishing, Milos Pavlovic has taken a serious look at the recent developments within the Scotch Game. Drawing upon his considerable opening experience, he investigates the most interesting and dynamic lines for White and Black, making this book a complete repertoire one. He found many novelties and highlights the most important positional and tactical themes this opening provides.We are quite convinced this 'complete repertoire book' will give you an extra boost to play this fascinating opening being one of the old-time favorites of Garry Kasparov.

These three volumes contain the most memorable games of five-time US Champion Gata Kamsky. Volume 1 covers the period before his early retirement. Volume 2 and 3 cover the period after his return to the game and will be available in the Autumn of 2019 and 2020.The annotations are an attempt to search for the truth and reveal the workings of a Grandmaster's mind. The introductions are designed to show the reader what he thought, felt and experienced at the time and during each game. In addition, he sometimes shares his personal opinions on subjects like politics and his philosophy of life.

The Royal Chess Couple in Action introduces the dominant leadership of the royal game. The King is its most significant piece while the Queen is its mightiest one. Following a brief historical overview the reader is met with the wealth of tactical abilities characterizing the main heroes, their strengths and weaknesses in attack and defence, while acting on their own or collaborating with other pieces. The authors, both are experienced players and tutors, offer to the improving player a selection of almost 500 instructive positions he may choose to use for training, just as fun read...or both!

In his usual flamboyant style, Alexander Shabalov explains how he battled in the many tournaments he played in his long career. How he prepared, how he picked the sharpest lines and how he created totally new ground and theory in chess. He also does not neglect the mental and physical factors a player needs to have. Anything that makes the chess warrior stronger and better, Alexander highlights using his own huge experience as a chess player and coach.

For all chess players, beginners to professionals, one thing is crucial: any ending knowledge will bring you the key to success. In this area of the game, many points are given away through the lack of adequate knowledge of these endings. Alexey Dreev continued his journey, after his first in the series 'Practical Play in the Middlegame', he provided an unique and practical guide, logically and clearly organized by theme. On top of that he also included many fascinating exercices to test the reader's understanding. This endgame book should be in anyone's library if you want to acquire the correct knowledge of the final part of our Royal Game.

The Modernized Dutch Defense leads to unbalanced structures and dynamic play. White must be well prepared to understand this most aggressive defense which we might even call an 'attack'. Adrien Demuth delivered a fighting repertoire for Black starting from move one!