The Trompowsky Attack

The Ruy Lopez (or Spanish Opening) is one of the oldest and most important chess openings, popular with amateurs as well as professional players. Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov presents bold, but very playable, off-beat weapons for Black, as well as dynamic new ideas and refutations in many main-line variations, for both Black and White. An accessible and inspirational book book by world-famous Ivan Sokolov who, in his rich career, has beaten world champions Kasparov, Kramnik and Anand. Much useful material for aspiring club players, said British Chess Magazine about Sokolov's previous book - 'Winning 132,'.

This book takes a detailed look at a system that has been favored by Karpov, Spassky, Portisch, and Gligoric, among others. The rerouting of black's queenside knight from c6-b8-d7 and sometimes to c5 aims to put pressure on white's center, particularly the e4 strongpoint. This books offers a solid system for Ruy Lopez players.

The Schliemann Defense is one of the most difficult and dangerous defenses in chess that Black has available. It starts with 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 !!!!

This is not considered a Gambit because it would be useless for White to take the pawn with 4. exf5. Passive Defense is likely to give White a bad game. So, White must counter with 4. Nc3.

There are now two main branches. This book was previously published as a two volume work. However, most players of the Schliemann prefer the second and more risky line, so the two volumes have been combined into one book here.

This is an update with the latest new games and analysis on the two main branches of the Schliemann Defense. These branches arise after the moves 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Nc3 fxe4 5. Nxe4. The more conservative move favored by most strong players was 5. …. Nf6. The more dangerous and risky line is 5. …. d5, allowing 6. Nxe5 dxe4 7. Nxc6 Qg5. This was thought to have been refuted but now grandmasters and others have proven that it is perfectly playable.

Understanding an opening is more important the knowing a mass of variations. For no opening is this more true than for the Spanish. The most famous of chess openings leads to a deep strategic maneuvering battle. Experienced GM's seem almost clairvoyant when handling the positions. It is not a sixth sense, but a knowledge of the typical maneuvers and themes that enable them to have their pieces where they need them, when they need them. This book provides a complete course in helping the reader to understand those themes.

Grandmaster Repertoire 13 – The Open Spanish provides a complete repertoire for Black after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6, based on the Open Variation which occurs after 5.0–0 Nxe4. Black’s system is built on the principles of fast and active development, and fighting for the initiative whenever the opportunity arises.

The Spanish Exchange Variation lets you play one of the major chess openings, the Ruy Lopez, without the risk of drowning in the huge flow of information now available to the modern chess-player. White's play in this opening is often very thematic, thus an understanding of the typical positions is more important than concrete knowledge of variations.

Former US Open Champion Timothy Taylor presents weapons for Black against the hugely popular Spanish Opening, with a repertoire based on the Modern Steinitz Defence. This has justifiably earned a reputation as an important alternative to the main lines, and it's easy to see its appeal. The Modern Steinitz can lead to razor-sharp positions, such as in the Siesta Variation, where one slip by either player could prove to be fatal. But a major attraction of the Modern Steinitz is its flexibility, and Black can also choose to play in a more positional manner.

The Ruy Lopez is incredibly common at all levels of chess, and everyone who plays 1. e4 e5 as Black needs to have a reliable antidote to this powerful opening. In this book, Milos Pavlovic provides the answer, devising a sound and yet ambitious repertoire for Black, the basis of which is provided by the legendary and ever-popular Marshall Attack.