Publication dates

We hope we have a solid publication date for Positional Decision Making in Chess, Python Strategy and Learn from the Legends – 10th Year Anniversary Edition. June 17th.

The books will now be available for sale. Also, PDMiC will be available on Forward Chess from June the 10th.

As said earlier, holidays and general busyness with the printer is the main reason for the delay.

Excerpts should be up now.

A new publishing schedule will be up in 1-2 weeks.

93 thoughts on “Publication dates”

  1. I am really looking forward for Positional Decision Making, and although I hate the delay, you have timed it very well for me to be a self birthday present!

  2. Gollum, you were supposed to correct yourself with, “…very well – for us.”

    “Yes, yes…I meant for us.”

  3. I am not sure only one additional chapter makes the “legends” new edition worth buying.If there was an additional chapter say for Anand or Kramnik next to the one for Carlsen I would buy it but now ..

  4. Is Lars new book on semi slav finished? I will order it with Gelfands and Petrosian book so I d like to know. Thanks.

  5. Thanks for more great books :-). All three are must-buys for me, and the added excerpts look great. I’m especially looking forward very much to Gelfand’s book. Rubinstein is also one of my hero’s 🙂

  6. GM repertoire books (or playing the …) on the Dragon (so much fun there!) the classical Sicilian, the Benkogambit and the English with sharp variations (non fianchetto lines) from whites perspective are on my wishlist.

    Any chance any of this will happen during 2016?

  7. The Soltis variation in the Dragon really is a treasure for fighting chess. The fight is so uncompromising with sacrifices in almost every variation. A pity that White can play 9.0-0-0 when 9.-d5 is the best with simplifications. If black is looking to win (or loose) he can play 9.-Bd7, but this is considered better for White.

  8. @Jacob thanks, I will rather order Gelfands book now than wait for 2-3 month for Lars book. Lars is greate writer. His writing is great for amateur players cause he explains ideas. Have 3 of his books from quality chess and they are really excellent.

  9. Just out of curiosity, did that Mikhalevski book for Black against 1.c4, 1.Nf3, 1.f4 etc. get scrapped? Will anyone else be writing something similar? It’s a hole in my repertoire that needs patching.

  10. Jacob Aagaard

    @JohnG
    No, it is moving forward (slowly).
    A dragon book sounds like a good idea.
    The next Negi book will come in the summer. It is touch and go if we will do the Sicilian in two or three volumes. My guess is three. It is just too big…

  11. I love the Dragon more than most, especially the Soltis, but I just can’t find a reasonable way to combat 9.O-O-O in a way that doesn’t depress me. I’m sure Black is equal, but it’s of the type that is practically not that fun to play, and not that easy to win from. The last time I looked at 9.g4!? things were relatively similar there too.

    I do agree that coverage in literature has been scant lately, but that’s likely due to the fact that few want to play it these days!

  12. In would prefer a book on the Classical Variation. Kozul has recently written a tome on the Kozul Variation, but it’s so badly organised it’s almost impossible to read. And then there’s the Sozin and Boleslavsky as well of course. Coverage of this opening is also quite scant.

    And then there’s of course the ‘old’ wishes of Nimzo and QGD :-). Plenty of options for new GM Rep books I guess.

  13. @Jacob Aagaard
    Great! And I do understand there are more wishes out there than can be catered for 🙂 By the way – Kotronias would be my dream author for a book on the Classical Sicilian, maybe after he has finished his epic series on the KID…

  14. Here is my dream list of GM rep books

    1. NID/QID Catalan Maybe in 2/3 volumes
    2. Open Games for Black
    3. A Closed Ruy Lopez
    4. Classical Sicilian (I’ve said this for years there is virtually nothing good on this published for years)
    5. Anti Sicilians (I know this is supposed to happen)

    I’m also curious about the Minor Openings book as to what will be suggested against the English/Reti, I’m guessing he’ll suggest either 1…e5 or 1…c5? But maybe I’m wrong.

  15. Good excerpt of Gelfand’s book, already ordered!
    Will it be the best seller of qualitychess books?
    @Jacob, do you think so?

  16. I hope the Dragon book will happen. I’m sure that it will be a success if you keep your normal very high standard.

  17. 9.-d5 can be somewhat dull with a small White advantage. This is the worst black can expect. I would like to see somebody to resurrect 9.-Nxd4 10.Bxd4, Be6 11.Kb1 which is under a cloud right now.

  18. @Bebbe
    Indeed this is what I used to play with white when I still played 1.e4. Maybe it’s not much for white, but in my experience Dragon players don’t like this variation. I have never lost with white in this line (as a matter of fact I have a score of 5,5 out of 6 with 9.0-0-0 🙂 ). Usually they start acting ‘irresponsibly’ because the typical Dragon player is used to playing razor-sharp chess, fully booked up for the crazy lines after 9.Bc4, and patience usually isn’t their strong point 🙂 .

  19. Friend of mine, who is dragon player and worked on dragon with one of the biggest expert on dragon from ex yugoslavia had no difficulties against 0-0-0, I remember how he showed me some crazy variation where black can play ending with a piece or quality down and win. But Im more caro kann or french player so wasnt so interested in his enthusiasm on dragon.

  20. @k.r.
    Me too. I recently bought Berg’s 3rd volume on the French and it is absolutely fantastic! I really love his recommendations, especially against the Tarrasch. Yesterday I also bought Kotronias’ books on the Mar del Plata, Negi volume 2 and Avruk’s book on the Catalan – now my backlog of QC has vanished 🙂 . Kotronias’ books are absolutely brilliant again! I’m really looking forward to the rest of the series. By the way, they had a good review in the most recent NIC magazine by Sadler 🙂

  21. @Ray

    You explain the problem very well. 9-d5 is holding up quite well thoretically but do not really suite the normal dragon player. How is black doing after 9.-Nxd4 10. Bxd4, Le6 11.Kb1, Qc7 12.Nb5? The games I have seen look pretty onehanded whith white having a clear advantage.

    12.h4, Rfc8 13.h5 is no picnic either.

  22. I have recently discovered how good the Forward Chess App is.
    Are there any plans to but some older books as e-books like the Yusupov Series, Attacking the Spanish or The Open Spanish for example?

    Cheers

  23. David Adamson

    @TheDoctor I think Jacob or John have already said that the Yusupov Series will not be on Forward Chess as they don’t have the electronic rights. I too would like to see Mikhalevski’s Open Spanish plus Schandorff’s Caro-Kann on Forward Chess.

  24. @Ray

    I took a look at the position after 9.0-0-0, Nxd4 10.Bxd4, Be6 11. Kb1, Dc7 12.h4, Rfc8 13.h5, Qa5 14.hxg6, hxg6 15.a3, Rab8 16 Bd3 which is critical and fun to analyze. Here 16.-Bc4! is the strongest move which ends in a small advantage for white.

    After 16.-b5 17. Qg5! is whites best option. This is fun but is not really holding up for black. I looked att all kind of things but nothing really works for black. One interesting line is:
    17.-Rc7 18. f4, Bg4! 19.Bxf6, Bxf6 20. Qxg4, b4 and the board is on fire.
    Unfortunatelly white dont need to so cooperative and can just strengthen the position with 18. Rh4. What should black do?

  25. Jacob:
    Any chance that the other books in the list above will be added to Forward Chess, e.g. the Legends one.

  26. Jacob Aagaard :
    @Gerry
    Gelfand yes, the two others not. It is based on the probable demand.

    There’s nothing probable. I definitely demand the Legends book on FC. I’m not allowed to buy printed books anymore by my wife.

  27. Thanks for the reply. Bummer. Despite my old age I have taken to the ebook format and like that one can play through a game on the couch/throne, etc.

  28. Wallace Howard

    Two quick questions:
    (1) when will a pdf sample be up for Shaw’s 1.e4 book? I’m curious which lines he picked. Does he go for the Spanish against 1…e5 or the Italian, or Scotch? I’m very curious about this.

    (2) will there ever be a GM repertoire book on the QGD? This classic defense deserves the “Quality Chess” treatment. I’d love to see Matthew Sadler write one. His old book on the QGD was absolutely brilliant.

  29. I echo some of what the doctor said above in his “dream list”.

    I would love to see Avrukh do a 1.e4 e5 repertoire from the Black side as his next project, perhaps opting for the Breyer on move 9 as he has some experience in this line. There’s a gap in the market for the Breyer and it’s been the go to variation in the closed Ruy lines for several years now.

    Nimzo, Queen’s Indian, Queen’s Gambit Declined and the Catalan deserve to be in the GM rep series from the Black side as well.

  30. “Nimzo, Queen’s Indian, Queen’s Gambit Declined and the Catalan deserve to be in the GM rep series from the Black side as well.
    I also hope for this selections ! 🙂

  31. @James
    @alessandro

    If they do that with their usual quality, I cannot see how it would not be a resounding success in sales. Two years ago I searched for a good nimzo book for the black side and couldn’t find anything half decent.

  32. Luís Bacelar

    “Nimzo, Queen’s Indian, Queen’s Gambit Declined and the Catalan deserve to be in the GM rep series from the Black side as well”.

    I really don’t understand why these projects aren’t even planned…. even im the long run.

  33. I would imagine that the QC would love to produce these books, but I suppose it maybe an issue of finding an author willing to take on this job.

    I agree with James about the Breyer, I think this would be a great GM Rep book, however I remember Jacob saying a while back there were no plans on a Closed Lopez any time soon 🙁

  34. Couldn’t you get Morozevich to write a Grandmaster Repertoire on the Chigorin? I think it could be revived again. Would be a very nice thing I guess.

    But what I would really like to see is a closed Ruy Lopez book, maybe on the Chigorin again? 😉 Or something like the Smyslov. It wouldn’t be that easy to beat Bologan with his Open Games and (I think) upcoming Breyer Repertoire.

    Keep up doing the good work!

  35. Bologon’s book is okay on the Open games but it’s style is not to everyone’s taste.

    Also he gives a very broad repertoire giving lots of choices and the depth of analysis suffers a bit.

    I will probably purchase his upcoming book on the Black side of the Ruy Lopez (which I have heard will cover the Breyer, how much depth I am unsure).

    However I think I speak for lots people when I say that the production/editing etc. of Quality chess books makes them the standout company producing chess books at this moment in time, hence although books on the NID, QID and Open Games might have been done by other companies we would like to see how the best tackle books on these subjects!

  36. Jacob Aagaard

    We are not shying away from anything or being deaf. But I also would never announce something unless I had something concrete and reliable to base it on. I have done that mistake way too often!

  37. @Jacob Aagaard
    🙂 I like this approach! And besides it’s not that there has been a shortage of new QC books lately… In fact it’s rather asthonishing how many books with consistently high quality are published by QC year after year 🙂 . Whatever your future plans are, please don’t do any concessions to quality, e.g. by going for a lesser author. Rumor has it Lakdawala has some spare time left to write a GM Rep book on the Nimzo…

  38. I have it, bought it several years ago, but dont like it. The most interesting thing in it is introduction and how Morozevic prepaired this opening. 🙂

  39. I agree. Bronznik’s book is far better than Morozevich’ book. But either way, white has more than one path to an advantage i.m.o. Just look a the various reportoire books for white.

  40. @James: I don’t think there’s a gap in the market for the Breyer (at least not as big as for some other main-line openings such as the Classical Sicilian). Kaufman’s reportoire book covers the Breyer and though of course QC would do a better job, I still think it’s not so bad.

  41. Do you have a more accurat prediction of when the 1.e4 books by Shaw will be out? I really like the books published by Negi, and Quality Chess as a publisher, but I find it very annoying that this precise title is delayed by what feels like at least a couple of years. Thanks in advance.

  42. @ElSnajso

    I will choose to interpret that as a compliment. I am neglecting many other things to work on ‘Playing 1.e4’, and (more importantly) I am getting a lot of help from Jacob, so I guess a book will appear in a couple of months. But that is a guess – not a prediction or a promise.

  43. Ray :
    @James: I don’t think there’s a gap in the market for the Breyer (at least not as big as for some other main-line openings such as the Classical Sicilian). Kaufman’s reportoire book covers the Breyer and though of course QC would do a better job, I still think it’s not so bad.

    Given that comment I find it hard to believe you have read Kaufman’s book. The part of the book that covers the Breyer is 16pgs long. The analysis is superficial at best with meaningless assessments throughout the book such as “the computer says Black is equal here”.

    Nico’s comment above about Bologan doing a book about the Ruy from the Black side is interesting, if his recommendation is either the: Berlin, Breyer or Marshall Attack I’ll purchase it.

  44. John Shaw :
    @Thomas
    Yes, but don’t get annoyed while you wait for your Playing 1.e4 opening repertoire. Go work on your endgames.

    That’s a very good idea, but I noticed too many tactical mistakes in my recent games, so I’m currently working with Tactimania (yes!) and Volokitins book.

  45. @James
    I have actually read it (though I have to admit since I don’t play the Breyer I didn’t look into that chapter thoroughly). But I was wondering whether the Breyer isn’t more about ideas than about concrete variations? Anyway, I still think 16 pages is more than 0 🙂

  46. @Thomas
    There’s also plenty of opening books still too read… Berg volume 3, Negi volume 2 or Avrukh volume 1A, Kotronias on the KID volumes 2 and 3… No need to waste time on endings in this world of increments 🙂

  47. @Ray Well, I’m quite far with Berg 3, just as good as the other two volumes. Recently I had a Winawer poisened pawn, 20 moves of theory, where I missed a one-move-win and had to be content with a draw. That wasn’t the books fault!

  48. Bebbe :
    I hope the Dragon book will happen. I’m sure that it will be a success if you keep your normal very high standard.

    How would writing another book on the only opening already figured out all the way to a draw be a success? It would be like writing a book on Checkers.

  49. Hi Jacob,

    Glad to see that you are coming out with Petrosian’s book. Just wondering how different is it from the most Keene’s Petrosian vs. Elite, which covers his games between 1946-1983.

    Thanks,
    Eddie

  50. Or maybe Nielsen. His dragon DVDs for that Hamburg based company were pretty good. Although it’s not clear how much Nielsen can tell, since he is always under contract by some world champion or the other.
    Or maybe you can convince Eddie Dearing to write a new 2000-level dragon book?! His old one was superb.

  51. @Patrick
    Are you serious? This is in my opinion about the same as stating that the Najdorf has been worked out to a draw (look at the final chapter of Negi volume 2).

  52. @Ray
    I never liked 7..0-0, so I don’t know too much of it, but I love the poisened pawn.
    Especially the lines with d5-d4. I also think that Negi’s Bd3 is not such a big problem for black.

  53. What about the others books scheduled?
    In the coming section, we see the GM Semi-Slav repertoire and it is only stated “summer”, i.e. July or august or later?

  54. Jacob Aagaard

    @Tobias
    Time is indeed relative at Quality Chess. I was waiting for some decisions to be made, as we have some things we want to share with you, but only the moment we knew exactly how we were doing them.

  55. Jacob

    Finally got GM1a catalan- excellent as usual but what is the schedule and format of the follow up volumes and what do they cover as GM1 was based on 1.d4 d5 2.c4 rather than the 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6. 3. g3? Are all the 2..g6 stuff and 1..d5 varieties that don’t transpose to the Catalan such as QGA/Slav split into separate volumes or together? I know GM2 was published over a year after GM1- are we looking at a quicker turnaround as it is more of an update rather than a brand new title?

  56. some german guy

    @Jacob Aagard and John Shaw: What do you think will be the main audience for the two books 1. e4 repertoire?

  57. some german guy :
    @Jacob Aagard and John Shaw: What do you think will be the main audience for the two books 1. e4 repertoire?

    Hi, I missed this question until now. I hope the Playing 1.e4 books will appeal to anyone looking for a serious 1.e4 repertoire. The idea is to have lines that are effective at GM level, but present them in a way that is accessible for many players.

    Of course we also have Parimarjan Negi’s 1.e4 books for the intense GM Repertoire experience.

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