1...b6 is a dynamic defence which allows Black to steer the game into relatively unchartered territory, where White players are unable to relax and rely on their 'opening book' knowledge. A major attraction of 1...b6 is that it can be employed against all of White's mainline openings, including 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.Nf3 and 1.c4. In this book, International Master Cyrus Lakdawala examines all the important variations after 1...b6. Using illustrative games, he explains the main positional and tactical ideas for both sides, provides answers to all the key questions and tells you everything you need to know about successfully playing 1...b6.
In what way is this book special? How can it make someone a better player? These are perfectly legitimate questions and whenever I buy a new chess book, I essentially ask the same ones. The short answer is that this book will give you a comprehensive understanding of the chosen openings. Unlike many other books with a similar profile, it goes beyond pure theory and in addition to giving a great deal of practical advice, it touches on issues such as sample games, typical tactical strikes and, in the last chapter, endgames. On top of all this, a homework section enables you to immerse yourself in a given topic and achieve an in-depth understanding of it in your own time. We follow this structure because as a coach, I know how important it is to receive as much guidance as possible on a new opening. Only this can lead to true mastery. Let me recommend this book to any player who wants to learn more about closed openings, adopt a new approach to chess and build up a thorough and sophisticated repertoire. I have tested these openings with my students with good results, so I believe this book is suitable for anyone with an Elo rating from 1600-2500. This book aims to provide a complete overview of a 1.d4 repertoire against five main openings (King’s Indian Defense, Grünfeld Defense, Slav Defense, Benoni Defense, and Catalan systems after 1.d4 d5), offering analysis of classical games and typical tactical motifs to provide an in-depth understanding of the associated middlegames. A concluding chapter explores typical endgames that are likely to arise from 1.d4. Each chapter includes a thorough discussion of a particular opening, answering questions such as what types of players choose it, which world champions played it, or how games typically proceed afterwards.
Volume 2A provides a world-class repertoire against the Grünfeld and King’s Indian, two of Black’s most popular and dynamic defences.
This ebook is a part of Bundle: Avrukh Grandmaster Repertoire
Having covered the Catalan in the first installment, Volume 1B supplies a top-class repertoire for White with the Queen’s Gambit, covering defenses such as the Slav, Queen’s Gambit Accepted, Chigorin, Tarrasch and various others.
I have chosen 1.e4 for various reasons. First and foremost, it is the move I have played for the entirety of my chess-playing life. In the database, I have recorded approximately 400 white games, of which 350 began with 1.e4! I have also heavily researched the openings covered in this volume, through my column ‘1.e4’ for ChessPublishing. Secondly, I believe that Black has a wider margin of error in the closed games than in the open games. Even if they do not know all the details of a certain line in the former case, they will end up with only a slight disadvantage in the majority of cases. The same cannot be said about the defenses to 1.e4. In this book you will find that Black must tread carefully if they play an offbeat system, as I have discovered several refutations to the most popular and widely accepted lines within them. For every opening, I have adopted the same method of research. Firstly I undertake a detailed examination of human games, alongside correspondence/email games, with particular regard to the highest percentage of White wins and the number of games played. The human games allowed me to gain a natural feelings for the practical elements of the opening in question, while the correspondence games (essentially human-assisted engine games) covered the necessary element of objectivity. The next stage consisted of my own engine analysis, using the Chessbase Engine Cloud to examine critical but unexplored positions. Finally, I engage as critically as possible with the existing literature, as I hope others will do with my work in the future. At the beginning of every chapter is an overview of the opening, which serves to give the reader some basic foundations and highlights the general concepts, extracted from the analysis section. If the reader is in need of a brief summary of a particular opening, I suggest you focus on the overviews. The analysis section contains the main body of work. The reader is not expected to memorize everything by heart; in fact, that is probably not a productive exercise. When going through a variation, it is best to stop at a point you think is appropriate, and that should always be the point at which you find that you have fully understood the position. Each subchapter ends with a model game, which gives the reader a simplified picture of the variation at hand. Similar to the overview chapter, this section is largely illustrative.
In the Grandmaster Repertoire – 1.e4 series, Indian superstar Parimarjan Negi presents his own world-class repertoire. Building on a foundation of tried-and-tested main lines, the author shares a wealth of his innovative analysis to chart a course towards an advantage for White.
This ebook is a part of Bundle: Negi Grandmaster Repertoire
Ever since its inception in 2008, the Grandmaster Repertoire series has produced some of the world’s best opening books, but an elite repertoire with 1.e4 has always been missing – until now.
In this, the second volume of the Grandmaster Repertoire – 1.e4 series, Indian superstar Parimarjan Negi tackles the fearsome Sicilian Najdorf, presenting his own world-class repertoire with 6.Bg5. Building on a foundation of tried-and-tested main lines, the author unveils a wealth of new ideas against the Poisoned Pawn and other critical variations, making this an essential addition to the library of every ambitious player.
Parimarjan Negi is a former child prodigy who is the second-youngest player of all time to obtain the Grandmaster title. He was Asian Champion in 2012, and played on Board 1 for the Indian team which won bronze medals at the Tromsø 2014 Olympiad.
In this, the second volume of the Grandmaster Repertoire – 1.e4 series, Indian superstar Parimarjan Negi tackles the fearsome Sicilian Najdorf, presenting his own world-class repertoire with 6.Bg5.
This volume of the Grandmaster Repertoire – 1.e4 series provides a top-class repertoire against the Taimanov, Kan and Scheveningen systems, plus all the other Sicilian lines that were not covered in the previous volumes.
In blitz and rapid it is important to make the right decisions quickly and almost instinctively. That is why world-famous opening expert Grandmaster Evgeny Sveshnikov and his son, International Master Vladimir Sveshnikov, have created a chess opening repertoire for club players that is forcing, both narrow and deep, and aggressive.
What is the best way to improve your opening knowledge? Memorizing variations? Not really. In the first volume of the two-volume set, Dariusz helps you to understand the instructive patterns that arise from the immensely popular Nimzo-Indian Defense. Packed with plenty new ideas, his methods consider the different ways White has at his disposal. His unique approach shows Black has nothing to fear, on the contrary! Thinkers is convinced you will enjoy the read!
For many chess-players, opening study is pure hard work. It is difficult to know what is important and what is not, and when specific knowledge is vital, or when a more general understanding is sufficient. Tragically once the opening is over, a player is puzzled what plan to follow, or even understand why his pieces are on the squares on which they sit.
Our author GM Dariusz Swiercz, continued in the second Volume of his series, and explains in a methodological way how to solve these issues when White proceeds with 3.Nf3 and g3.
He picked some aggressive options with the Ragozin and brings the ever popular Catalan to a stand still. Any chess player being Black would be much interested to find out how Dariusz decided on his final choices. We are convinced you won’t be disappointed with his second and final volume of this series.