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CHESS OPENING BOOKS
The first phase of a chess game is known as the Chess Opening. It is during
this phase of the chess game that the initial moves are made. Similarly, those
moves are commonly referred to in the chess world as the “Chess Opening”.
While there are literally billions of possible positions after the first 4 moves
have been made in a game of chess (288 billion to be exact), only a small number
of these chess openings have been studied by chess professionals and chess
computers and deemed to be sound for practical play.
To help differentiate one chess opening from another, each chess opening is
given a unique name to identify it. While it is common for a chess opening to be
named after the player/s that introduced them to popular play, including the
Benko Gambit (after Grandmaster Pal Benko), the Sicilian Najdorf (named
after Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf) and the Philidor Defense (named after Francois-Andre
Danican Philidor), this is not always the case Some chess openings are named
after the locations and/or cultures in which they originated, including the
London System, the French Defense, the Sicilian
Defense, The English Opening and
the Vienna Game. While others are named after the pieces that are moved during
that opening, including the Queen’s Pawn Gambit and the King’s Indian
Defense.
There are 6 basic objectives during the chess opening. They are Piece
Development, Control of the Center of the Board, King Safety, Prevention of Pawn
Weakness, Piece Coordination and to Create positions in which the player is more
comfortable than the opponent.
Play the 4. f3 Nimzo-Indian
The Most Aggressive Response to the Nimzo Explained by One of it's Leading Exponents
The Most Aggressive Response to the Nimzo Explained by One of it's Leading Exponents
The Nimzo-Indian is an extremely popular and reliable defence, upon which most world champions have relied at some point in their careers. Black controls the vital e4-square with his pieces, and retains total flexibility with his central pawns. By playing 4. f3, White challenges Black's idea head-on. Either Black grants White control of e4, or else he must commit his pawn to d5, whereupon White can begin concrete action in the center.
Play the 4. f3 Nimzo-Indian
The Most Aggressive Response to the Nimzo Explained by One of it's Leading Exponents
Catalog Code: B0035GB
Our Price: $14.95
The Meran System
Unravels the Mysteries of a Rich and Complex Chess Opening
Unravels the Mysteries of a Rich and Complex Chess Opening
The Meran is an opening rich in both strategy and tactics, making it ideal for players seeking to win with either colour. It occupies an important place in the repertoires of many of the world's top players, with Anand, Kramnik, Kasparov and Karpov regularly taking one side or the other.
The Meran System
Unravels the Mysteries of a Rich and Complex Chess Opening
Catalog Code: B0006GB
Regular Price: $21.95
Special Price: $8.78
Play the Open Games as Black
What to Do When White Avoids the Ruy Lopez
What to Do When White Avoids the Ruy Lopez
his book fills a gaping chasm in chess literature. For years, those who wish to take on the black side of the Ruy Lopez have had to muddle their way through against the variety of alternative openings at White's disposal. This book gives a choice of systems for Black, to counter anything White might try in order to avoid the Ruy Lopez - the Scotch, King's Gambit, Italian Game, Four Knights, etc.
Play the Open Games as Black
What to Do When White Avoids the Ruy Lopez
Catalog Code: B0015GB
Our Price: $23.95
Easy Guide to the Nge2 King's Indian
Winning with the Hungarian Attack
Winning with the Hungarian Attack
This book guides you through the main themes of the Hungarian Attack and presents you with a well-organized repertoire, which also includes lines against Benoni. The co-author Forintos is the world's leading expert on this opening and this guide contains a complete and potentially deadly system against the King's Indian and has the first thorough coverage of an aggressive system with surprise value.
Easy Guide to the Nge2 King's Indian
Winning with the Hungarian Attack
Catalog Code: B0045EM
Regular Price: $18.95
Special Price: $7.58
Modern Defence
The Modern Defence leads to sharp and dynamic positions from the very first few moves. Black concedes space in the center with a view to launching a counterattack based on his powerful bishop fianchetto. As leading grandmasters such as Alexei Shirov, Mikhail Gurevich and Jon Speelman himself have shown on numerous occasions, when it works, the Modern Defence is truly a spectacular weapon. This book will show you how to put it to use in your own games.
Modern Defence
Catalog Code: B0165EM
Our Price: $19.95
Improve Your Opening Play
Grandmaster Chris Ward explains the important ideas behind every major opening, unravelling among others the secrets of the Sicilian, the mysteries of the Modern and the fundamentals of the French. He emphasizes the need to understand the key elements of each opening rather than simply memorize a series of complicated variations which leave you stranded if the opponent varies from the expected route.
Improve Your Opening Play
Catalog Code: B0214EM
Regular Price: $14.95
Special Price: $5.98
Accelerated Dragons
Many players are attracted to the Dragon Sicilian, but are put off by the fierce mating attacks that White can launch. In the Accelerated Dragon, Black aims for an improved version, saving a move with his queen's pawn. If White tries to ignore the difference, Black's instant detonation of the centre will come as an unwelcome cold shower! The authors show that White's main reply, the Maroczy Bind, is not so fearsome as was once thought Black has many ways to break out, while quite often it is possible to manoeuvre around White's 'binding pawns' and show that they imprison White's pieces as much as they do Black's.
Accelerated Dragons
Catalog Code: B0145EM
Our Price: $19.95
Complete Defense to Queen Pawn Openings
Essential Opening Moves
Essential Opening Moves
This aggressive counterattacking repertoire covers Black opening systems against virtually every opening except for 1.e4 (plus most flank games), based on the exciting and powerful Tarrasch Defense, which helped win Kasparov and Spassky championships.
Complete Defense to Queen Pawn Openings
Essential Opening Moves
Catalog Code: B0001CZ
Our Price: $16.95
Gambit Opening Repertoire for White
Essential Opening Moves
Essential Opening Moves
Chess players who enjoy attacking from the very first move are rewarded here with a powerful repertoire of brilliant gambits. Starting off with 1.e4 or 1.d4 and then using sharp weapons such as the Goring gambit (accepted and declined), Halasz Gambit, Alapin Gambit, Ulysses Gambit, Short Attack and more, you'll learn how to put pressure on opponents.
Gambit Opening Repertoire for White
Essential Opening Moves
Catalog Code: B0040CZ
Our Price: $14.95
English Defence
Grandmaster Daniel King explains the basic elements, strategies and tactics of the popular English Defence, on which he is a renowned expert. This book, the first on the English Defence for many years, provides everything you need to know to start playing the opening straightaway. It focuses on explaining the key themes and provides a backbone of essential theoretical knowledge. This is an ideal battle manual for club and tournament players .
English Defence
Catalog Code: B0108EM
Our Price: $19.95
101 Chess Opening Traps
A Collection of Deadly Traps, New and Old, to Catch Opponents of All Standards
A Collection of Deadly Traps, New and Old, to Catch Opponents of All Standards
101 Chess Opening Traps
A Collection of Deadly Traps, New and Old, to Catch Opponents of All Standards
Catalog Code: B0127GB
Our Price: $14.95
Queen's Gambit Declined 5. Bf4
The Orthodox Defense to the Queen's Gambit is an extremely resilient system for Black, and a solid favorite of many world champions. As Black's main ideas are easily grasped, it is also a very popular option at club level. In this, the first major work on the subject, the flexible and powerful move 5 Bf4! is explained. While far less hackneyed than the standard systems in which the bishop goes to g5, the move denies Black the standard simplifying maneuvers and sets an entirely new set of problems.
Queen's Gambit Declined 5. Bf4
Catalog Code: B0131EM
Our Price: $19.95
Semi-Slav
The Semi-Slav Defense (1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6) has been one of Black's most reliable defenses to the queen's pawn since the 1920s, having withstood decades of scrutiny at the highest level. Nowadays it is very popular at grandmaster level (it is used regularly by such imaginative players as Shirov and Kramnik) as well as with club and tournament players.
Semi-Slav
Catalog Code: B0171EM
Our Price: $19.95
Fianchetto Grunfeld
By choosing the Fianchetto System against the Grunfeld, White aims to stifle Black's normal piece play. White avoids presenting Black with a target and instead looks to probe Black's sensitive queenside. White's strategy has been used to good effect by Karpov and Kasparov, reason enough to adopt it in one's own games. This new title offers the first complete coverage of this important chess opening and is ideal for King's Indian players looking for a way to meet the Fianchetto. It also includes up-to-the-minute theory from two top-class theoreticians. Grandmaster Adrian Mikhalchishin is a well-known Ukrainian writer and player, and arguably the worlds' leading expert on the Fianchetto Grunfeld. Alexander Belyavsky is also a Ukrainian grandmaster, who became World Junior Champion in 1973 and won the USSR Championship on many occasions. He has competed regularly and successfully in countless super-grandmaster events.
Fianchetto Grunfeld
Catalog Code: B0176EM
Regular Price: $19.95
Special Price: $7.98
Easy Guide to Queen's Gambit Accepted
The Queen's Gambit Accepted is one of Black's most trustworthy and yet dynamic ways of facing the Queen's Pawn Opening. Black immediately accepts the invitation to open the position, leading to positions rich in positional and tactical complexity. Now, for the first time, Graeme Buckley uncovers the secrets behind the opening which has become a firm favourite amongst many of today's top players. Everyman's new Easy Guide series represents a new approach to chess opening books: just enough detail and just enough explanation to enable readers to play an opening with confidence, without months of memorizing theory-the easy way to master a chess opening. Graeme Buckley caused quite a stir in his first year as a professional player, securing his International Master title in a matter of months, quickly followed by his first grandmaster norm. More recently he has also been involved in some major coaching projects.
Easy Guide to Queen's Gambit Accepted
Catalog Code: B0237EM
Regular Price: $18.95
Special Price: $7.58
Colle System: Zukertort Variation 5. b3
The variation is named after Johannes Hermann Zukertort, the first player to deminstrate the wonderful attacking potential of the white bishops lined up on the b1-h7 and b2-g7 diagonals. As we will see, there are many move orders by Black in the Colle-Zukertort, but white usually gets by with a single sequence: 1.d4, 2.e3, 3.Bd3, and 4.Nf3 - although in this book we will see a lot of other orders. The center is usually closed or semi-open in the Colle-Zukertort and this enables white to perform some elaborate maneuvers and execute long-range plans denied him when the center is open. Positional play is supreme. The chapters are: 1)Zukertort 5.b3 vs. Koltanowski 5.c3, 2)How White Wins, 3)How White Loses, 4)Common Strategic Mistakes, 5)Main Line Zukertort Vatiation 5.b3 Analysis.
Colle System: Zukertort Variation 5. b3
Catalog Code: CB0040CD
Our Price: $7.95
French Defense - Classical System
French Defense - Classical System
French Defense - Classical System
Catalog Code: CB0053CD
Our Price: $12.95
How to Play the Belgrade Gambit
After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nd5 the author examines both the accepted and declined. This gambit has been reinvigorated by some new ideas and is fully playable. An excellent edition to your fighting arsenal.
How to Play the Belgrade Gambit
Catalog Code: CB0072CD
Our Price: $4.95
The Colle System Koltanowski Variation: 5. c3
1.d4 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.Bd3 e6 4.Nf3 c5 5.c3 and other moves where Black does not play c5. There aren't as many strategic plans and positional themes as in the Queen's Gambit; but there are still quite a lot - and that's enough for 95 percent of serious players. Against an amateur opponent, the Colle is a deadly weapon, a quick killer. Edgar Colle and his fellow Belgian native, GM George Koltanowski, registered a string of sparkling victories, many of them in less than thirty moves, with this system. He even had the great Alekhine on the ropes with it.
The Colle System Koltanowski Variation: 5. c3
Catalog Code: CB0079CD
Our Price: $12.95
Four Gambits to Beat the French
Four Gambits to Beat the French
Four Gambits to Beat the French
Catalog Code: CB0086CD
Our Price: $12.95
The Slav
The Slav Defense (1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6) has been one of Black's most reliable defenses to the queen's pawn since its adoption by World Champions Alekhine and Euwe in the 1930s. Nowadays it is very popular both at grandmaster level (it is used regularly by Ivanchuk, Lautier and Short) and with club players. In this book, Grandmaster Matthew Sadler explains the strategy and tactics of this perennial favorite. Through the use of model games for both sides, the author provides a thorough grounding in the key ideas so readers can quickly and confidently start to use the Slav in their own games.
The Slav
Catalog Code: B0113EM
Our Price: $19.95
The Complete Najdorf 6. Bg5
The Definitive Guide to Fischer and Kasparov's Favorite Chess Opening
The Definitive Guide to Fischer and Kasparov's Favorite Chess Opening
The Najdorf Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6) is the most important, popular, and talked about opening in chess. Its name is synonymous with such luminaries as Tal, Fischer, and Kasparov.
The Complete Najdorf 6. Bg5
The Definitive Guide to Fischer and Kasparov's Favorite Chess Opening
Catalog Code: B0012BT
Our Price: $26.95
Leningrad Dutch
Strategy and Tactics
Strategy and Tactics
This book arms the reader with a dynamic counter to White's 1. d4 and includes up-to-date game references along with fresh analysis and numerous original suggestions. Many 1.d4 players have a secret dread for the Leningrad Dutch and rightly so! Discover why increasing numbers of serious players are turning to the Leningrad Dutch in answer to White's solid 1. d4.
Leningrad Dutch
Strategy and Tactics
Catalog Code: B0014HY
Our Price: $9.95
Beating the King's Indian and Benoni
Shock Your Opponents with the Four Pawns Attack!
Shock Your Opponents with the Four Pawns Attack!
It seems unfair that Black gets all the attacking chances in the normal lines of the King's Indian. Readers can now take a tip from the World's leading expert of sharp systems and shock their opponent with the Four Pawn Attack! Black has countless ways to go wrong, while White is risking little if well-prepared. Vaisser's hitherto unpublished analysis will give readers the edge they need to send Black's King to the guillotine.
Beating the King's Indian and Benoni
Shock Your Opponents with the Four Pawns Attack!
Catalog Code: B0051BT
Our Price: $9.95
The New Classical King's Indian
This book focuses on the King's Indian variations that have undergone the most dramatic change in the 1990's: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0. The system with ..Na6 receives full coverage, together with the traditional main lines of 7..Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 followed by Ne1 or Nd2.
The New Classical King's Indian
Catalog Code: B0067BT
Our Price: $9.95
Queen's Gambit Accepted
The Queen's Gambit Accepted is one of the oldest and most dependable ways for Black to meet White's queen's pawn opening. It leads to dynamic positions with free piece play in which the more enterprising player is likely to prevail. When Nigel Short used the QGA in his match with Anatoly Karpov in 1992, the opening became highly fashionable and it currently features prominently in the repertoires of grandmasters Joel Lautier and Matthew Sadler, among many others. This book provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of the Queen's Gambit Accepted available. With an emphasis on currently fashionable lines that readers are likely to encounter in their own games, it provides everything you need to know to play the opening with White or Black. Iakov Neishtadt is an international master at correspondence chess and author of numerous books, including Winning Quickly with White and Winning Quickly with Black.
Queen's Gambit Accepted
Catalog Code: B0178EM
Regular Price: $24.95
Special Price: $9.98
Caro-Kann Advance
The Advance variation of the Caro-Kann (1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5) is a highly aggressive method of countering one of Black's most solid defenses. White immediately seizes ground in the center and lays the basis of a middlegame attack. Over the past few years Alexei Shirov, Nigel Short, Veselin Topalov and Gata Kamsky have made major contribution to update the theory of this variation and their example has inspired thousands of club and tournament players to adopt it into their own repertoires. In this book, International Master Byron Jacobs explains the strategy and tactics of this highly fashionable variation. Through the use of model games for both sides, the author provides a thorough grounding in the key ideas, so that readers can quickly and confidently start to use the Advance Caro-Kann in their own games.
Caro-Kann Advance
Catalog Code: B0180EM
Our Price: $19.95
Dutch Leningrad
The Dutch Leningrad (1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6) is one of Black's most dynamic responses to the queen's pawn opening. From the first move, Black stakes a strong claim on the kingside, laying the groundwork for a potential attack on the white king. The Leningrad variation is a popular choice at club and tournament level as well as amongst grandmasters; it is a regular feature in the repertoires of Vassily Ivanchuk, Veselin Topalov and Mikhail Gurevich.
Dutch Leningrad
Catalog Code: B0235EM
Regular Price: $19.95
Special Price: $7.98
500 Sicilian Miniatures
Sicilian miniatures of games 20 moves or less. They are arranged by Encyclopedia of Chess Openings classification system. Light notes are added at critical positions.
500 Sicilian Miniatures
Catalog Code: CB0005XX
Our Price: $9.95
Nimzovich Attack: Norfolk Gambits
This is Volume 1 in the author's new series Chess Openings For Hustlers. "You will find similar lines of attack and similar combination situations in several different lines. These can be either very useful (if you take the time to learn them) or very treacherous. The one thing the Norfolk Gambit should not do is bore you"-author. "Be warned: If you are a `bean counter' obsessed with saving pawns for an extended end-game, do not play these gambits! However, if you are willing to commit to an attack which will decimate the 'bean counters' of the chess world, this book is for you"- Phillip A. York.
Nimzovich Attack: Norfolk Gambits
Catalog Code: CB0018CD
Our Price: $4.95
King's Indian Defense: Yugoslav Variation 6 ...c5
There is no reason that the variation 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.Nf3 d6 6.0-0 c5 fell out of fashion. Soltis proves this by giving you excellent analysis and strategy in this variation. He brings back a 1950's variation to surprise your opponents. This system has a bit of a Benoni feel to it by attacking white's center with 6..c5 instead of 6..e5. This should be called the Gligoric system since it was the veteran GM Svetozar Gligoric who first demonstrated Black's resources most successfully. This system is a dangerous surprise weapon in the King's Indian that can be employed at all levels.
King's Indian Defense: Yugoslav Variation 6 ...c5
Catalog Code: CB0029CD
Our Price: $9.95
Black Defensive System for the Rest of Your Chess Career
Many top flight chess players do well with an armory of different completely unrelated openings. But they are, as we said, top flight players. For the player who is stil learning, we propose an opening repertoire that forms an organic whole using Black's ..d5 and ..c6 in the Queen's Gambit Slav Defense and the Caro-Kann Defense. We give defenses to all other White openings using the same moves(such as Reti, English, King's Indian Attack, Catalan, etc..). The point of this book is to develop an opening system for playing the Black pieces. What we present is not just a series of random variations - which taken individually may be good - but a system that forms a cohesive whole based on common ideas.
Black Defensive System for the Rest of Your Chess Career
Catalog Code: CB0078CD
Our Price: $9.95
