I have always been interested by less theoretical Sicilians. I have been playing the Classical Sicilian for a long time and right before the covid period, I decided to find a new one. The Sicilian 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 chance to author a book about it. This came to me as a complete surprise, as I had no experience with it. In comparison with my work on the Reti and the Dutch (my two previous books), I am a newbie on the subject. But I decided to accept the challenge. I found it extremely interesting, as this gave me a fresh look at the positions. I think I managed to ask myself the questions everyone would have asked. I also work as a second for others and am accustomed to working on openings 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 to start writing!
Twenty years ago, New In Chess magazine started its own Proust Questionnaire, entitled Just Checking. In this back page column, chess players and personalities named their favourites, preferences, moods, life mottos and whatnot. One of the questions has always been: What was the most exciting chess game you ever saw?
Chess greats such as Anand, Shirov and Ivanchuk (and probably any other top player you can think of), authors and commentators such as Jeremy Silman, Jennifer Shahade, and Tania Sachdev nominated memorable games. This anthology presents the 45 most exciting of these most exciting games.
Besides inevitable ‘usual suspects’ like Kasparov-Topalov (Wijk aan Zee 1999) or the ‘Immortal’ Anderssen-Kieseritzky (London 1851), you’ll be treated to a wide variety of lesser-known gems. You’ll see Ding Liren revelling in an all-out attack, Ivan Saric juggling a knight and five pawns versus two rooks, and Sergei Radchenko chasing the white king all over the board.
Every game is a showcase of the richness and resourcefulness of chess.
Steve Giddins edited this selection, a job he immensely enjoyed: ‘I hope that every reader will find games here which bring a smile to their face and a lift to their heart’.
This book is a follow up of The Safest Sicilian. It offers a repertoire based on 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6. It covers both the Taimanov and the Kann
Do you relish the prospect of setting your opponent awkward problems from the early start of the game? If so, you should just continue reading, for in the Bg5 Najdorf, it’s every man for himself, and only the best informed and most creative resourceful player survive. The Bg5 variation gives White very dangerous attacking ideas, and Blacks really needs to know a precise defense to come out of this variation alive. This book provides weapons that are ideal choices for those who revel in forcing opponents into chaotic and uncomfortable positions. Lukasz Jarmula, a player and writer of international caliber, will be your truthful guide!
The study of well-annotated master games is the best way to improve. Acclaimed chess author Steve Giddins has assembled the most didactic examples from New In Chess. There are masterclasses by dozens of chess legends and no fewer than eight World Champions. Together they provide the high standard of instructional material that today’s club player needs.
The ambition of many chess players at various levels is to build a full and reliable repertoire against White’s major starting moves. This book is designed to provide exactly that: a complete list of variations needed to know in order to confidently meet 1.d4. The goal is to lift the burden of line selection and research off your shoulders and show you exactly what you need to know to get out of the 1.d4 openings at least equal with the black pieces.
I base the repertoire on the Nimzo-Indian and Bogo-Indian Defenses. The spirit of Indian Defenses is based on flexibility and harmony. As you will notice during the course of reading the book, the lines recommended here rarely end with huge imbalances or clear weaknesses for Black. Quite often White will get the bishop pair but will have to suffer pawn weaknesses or Black’s greater piece activity in return.
Most of the lines are positional, not tactical in character. That means that stepping out of the path outlined in the book should not get you in too much trouble, as long as your moves have solid positional foundations. While playing Black, you have to accept that occasionally you will not equalize, or get surprised or out-prepared. Learning the material from this book should sharply limit the extent of such instances, thus improving your overall results.
Finally, I have an important piece of advice: remember about color strategy! The Bogo-Indian is mainly based on dark-squared control, while the Nimzo-Indian does so on the light squares. In case you forget what to do, this may prove a very useful guideline when choosing a move.
I wish you pleasant reading and great results against 1.d4!
This book is about the Nimzo-Indian Classical line 4.Qc2 (also known as the Capablanca Variation) and the 4.Bd2-line, for which basically I could not find an established name.
As far as I know, the 4.Bd2 line has never been covered in such a comprehensive way in any book before. In the text I suggest that this line should have the combined name of Tartakower-Duchamp line because Saviellly Tartakower played it often, while to my surprise Marcel Duchamp (who was also a famous French artist) played it too in the 1930s and indeed in a very good positional fashion against strong players. Some of those games are in the book.
Now this line enjoys greater popularity than ever before. About the Classical line with 4.Qc2 there is nothing much to add, except for the fact that it has become hugely popular, but unfortunately from my point of view it involves too much engine-style chess.