We have been so busy working away that it has taken us until the 7th of January to wish our readers a Happy New Year.
We recently announced two new books:
Experts on the anti-Sicilian will be edited by Jacob and me, and we will also a write a few chapters. Many other authors are also sharing their Sicilian wisdom including GMs Peter Heine Nielsen, Boris Avrukh, Tiger Hillarp Persson, Milos Pavlovic, Christian Bauer and Matthieu Cornette. Only one IM is involved in this project – Andrew Greet, who was allowed in as Scottish Champion. The topic, of course, is Sicilian lines except the Open variations. Please note, this is not a repertoire book, but it will offer many new ideas for both sides.
In The Grandmaster Battle Manual Greek GM Vassilios Kotronias shares the lessons he has learned as a highly competitive 2600+ player. We are delighted Vassilios has started writing for Quality Chess as we admire his previous books and know him to be a tremendous analyst.
On the website you can also download our brand new 2011 catalogue which, among other things, gives a complete list of our titles.
A very happy new year to everyone at Quality Chess; I wish you every success in keeping up your tremendous work.
The 2011 catalogue includes a new title on the QGD Tarrasch – can you tell us some more about this?
On the cover of the Tarrasch book, White 3rd move is 3.Nc3 will you be covering liners with 3.Nf3 and other 3rd moves and English-Reti lines when Black plays the Tarrasch?
Good choice foe a GM rep I think it willl sell really well!
We will also cover 3.Nf3 c5 and lines where the Nb1 is not out soon. I refer to them as “Catalan” or simply Nf3 lines. No English-Reti lines, no d-pawn lines (as London etc). Personally i believe that it is easy to prepare a repertoire against those lines using the “Tarrasch structure” with e6-d5-c5-Nc6-Nf6 but what we call Tarrasch Defence (and the Doctor’s original idea) is only after 2.c4 and 3…c5.
And only a small correction for Kotronias’ book. Vasileios is no longer a “former Greek Champion”. He won again (for the 9nth time!) the Greek championship about a month ago.
John also want me to be the ex-British Champ, which sounds like a has been! In reality I am still the champion as the English made it a de facto English Championship from 2008.
It’s updated to “9-time Greek Champion”. Here’s a reference page, for those of you who read Greek?!
http://www.chessfed.gr/history.htm
First Greek Championship won from Vassileios at 1986! I was only two years old back then.
Mr. Ntirlis,
Please tell us something about your Elo strength or role in making a GM Tarrasch. Perhaps you’re a new “chess format”: a GM author + Rybka analyst 🙂
Fun aside. Can you please said to us something about Tarrasch and why to play this line of QGD as Black, and what about IQP positions.
In my copy of GM 1d4 Avrukh states the he hasn’t found nothing special against Tarrasch so this is indeed a thumb up for your project.
I do expect that you shall cover all White deviations starting with move 2, otherwise the book can’t justify a title GM Rep.
First of all i’d like to say that i usually write in this blog under the nick name “Ametanoitos”. I’d rather let Jacob answer the spicific questions about his decision to write with me this book under the GM Rep series. All i can say is that there is a lot of fresh material in the Tarrasch Defense and many exciting new possibilities are deeply analysed.
It is a really old opening (about 130 years old) and has been played by chess giants as Tarrasch, Rubinstein, Lasker, Capablanca, Euwe, Keres and of course Spassky and Kasparov who have used it in World Championship matches and Candidates matches. As you correctly noted Avrukh expressed his doubts about how White can achieve an advantage after the 9.Bg5 c4 main line. The same did Euwe in the 30’s when he expressed similar doubts even though the reputation of the Tarrasch Defense back then was probably worse than it is today. So, we have an old, classical opening examined with respect to its great past but with a “fresh look”, introducing new exciting possibilities and correcting the theoritical status of many variations (for both colors) but with the main aim to provide a viable repertoire for Black that can be used even at the highest level.
Mr. Abramov
please stop taking yourself soooooo important…
Never mind. Just a good advice for the new year…
Abramov, Nikos is indeed not a GM. However, I am. And this book is not switched 50/50 with half written by each, but 100/100 with everything carefully checked by both of us. Nikos is a young man, but experienced as a trainer already, and quite successful as well. Beyond this he is a fantastic work ethic and is excellently organised.
It is quite natural for me to revisit this opening, and to do so with a partner with great expertise in it is quite natural. We have done a lot of work already and I am quite sure that Grandmasters will find the content highly interesting. Many of the ideas comes from Nikos – you could say – all the best ones.
Excellent news. When can I expect hardcover copy of GM Tarrasch in my mail box?
May/June I would think. But please don’t think I will keep this deadline :-).
No more old publishing schedules in the old fashioned way with dates and everything?
hahaha.
Not today. Soon.
Can somebody, sincerely and at last, comment or answer from his perspective/experience, on the following:
“@ chess resurrection 🙂
Freinds, did someone of you, editors/writers of Quality, make shift from 1.e4 to 1.d4 openings? My Elo is 2100 and I abruptly started to study Avrukh’s GM Repertoire 1.d4, and to my surprise I like the Catalan bishop very much. I’m also working with recent Yussupov’s books and I’m very thrilled when I can test my positional knwoledge in practice. Also I noticed that playing 1.d4 I tend to win more games and get more draws! Is this normal, as all famous trainers suggested, to shift openings and to play 1.d4 when players brakes Elo 2000? Please post your opinions.”
Thanks 🙂 for kindness
I personally cannot answer this.
I have ELO 2300 and I made that shift 5-6 years ago. Expect a lot of hard work, especially if you will base your openings on Avrukh’s repertoire. It’s demanding repertoire in which sometimes you have to play on tiny positional advantage, for example with pair of bishops against bishop and knight, and sometimes you have to sacrifice material and play on initiative or attack.
The big advantage of 1.d4 versus 1.e4 is that you are much more flexible in the type of positions you can choose. If you are in an attacking mode, you can play sound attacking positions, and if you are in more positional mood you can play more timidly and still have good winning chances. With 1.e4, you really have to play Open Sicilian or Spanish if you are seeking theoretical advantage, and that can be quite demanding.
Can you upload the new covers, such as the GM9 cover? (So that we can all pre-order) 🙂
To be honest, I am very busy and I don’t have a text for it yet; which is why it is not there. As I guess you want to do a three book order, I shall make it a priority over the next few days.
Very good news about the repertoire on the Tarrash, really looking into that.
I am developing withdrawal symptoms on QC books- it must be 3 months since you last published! Are we only a few weeks away from your inaugural publication of 2011 (know you said Jan/Feb, but was wondering know we are in that window if we are only a couple of weeks away– though I know full well “good things sometimes take time”).
I believe we will have Boost Your Chess 3 and Cutting Edge 2 out in four weeks. I am hoping to have a publishing schedule ready in 1-2 days.
Finally someone has the ballz to publish on the Tarrasch. I also appreciate the fact that QualityChess is written by practical/ACTIVE players– not by retired “Scholars” of chess who have not played a real tournament game in 20 years. Thank you Jacob and Quality Chess! Can’t wait for your future masterpiece publications!
How strange Qualitychess! 6 years old and more than 20 opening books but still not one on the French!! I hope I won’t wait more Mr Aagaard. (excuse my englich please)
Hi QC team ! Happy new year & make QC books from 2011 even stronger than ever!!
Concerning “Experts on the Anti-Sicilian” I note that : “The topic, of course, is Sicilian lines except the Open variation” so any Rossolimo, Basman variation (2.Nf3,d6 3.c3,Nf6 4.Be2), 2.c3, wing gambit, Morra, etc. Just to know if we can hope any contents soon as the book should come not too early. Thanks !
I want a book on the French as well. We have tried to work on many people with no success. Even had a contract signed, where the author decided to pull because of old age :-). We don’t want a sub-standard book on the French, so I don’t know exactly what will happen over time.
Obviously we will be bashing the French in our GM 1.e4 book, but I guess that does not qualify ;-).
We don’t do content discussions before the books are put together. It warps energy. However, with the Experts book I can say that not every line will be covered, but most will. Think of the Cutting Edge series – but with many writers.
Hopefully all the major lines, or what I like to call “The Big 4” (Closed, c3-Sicilian, Grand Prix, Rossolimo/Moscow) are included. The Rossolimo doesn’t really impact me as I play 2…e6 when I play the Sicilian, but the other lines outside the “Big 4” are nothing to be afraid of. Practically any book on what to do against say, 2.b3, should suffice. The Wing Gambit is trash. The Morra Gambit I love the Chicago Defense, but you don’t “need” a line against the Morra as you can decline and go into a c3-Sicilian. Hopefully this book will be as well written as the 2nd edition of Experts vs the Sicilian.
Could you please publish the new publishing schedule for these upcoming books? I assume after GM8 and GM9, the 1. e4 series of five books will be GM10-GM14? Unless GM KID is published before…
Also which do you think will be published first, GM8 Grünfeld or GM9 Tarrasch? I hope both are out by May though 🙂
I’ll get a new publishing schedule up later today or tomorrow.
We don’t have a Morra chapter – but we do have a 2.c3 Nf6 chapter, so this would cover it.
Can’t we put Korchnoi on some energy-giving drug or something?
Just long enough so he can write a good french defense book.
Off subject a bit (If there was one in the first place), but is there any more news on getting Schandorff to round out the 1. d4 repertoire?
Lars is warming to the idea. We have to do something to entice him – such as win the Danish team Championship and threaten not to play next season unless he signs on!
‘Tis a good day….a good day indeed.
Publishing schedule? 🙂
Gilchrist, if you feel that nothing is being published because there’s no schedule, and not much has come since October, I’m sure I can try to apply to write a book for the publishing company.
I consider myself one of the best ever players of the game, and have NEVER been beaten, and never will. I would title the book “The Ins and Outs of Tic Tac Toe”. The chapters included would be:
Chapter 1: X goes in the center, O goes in a non-corner, X wins
Chapter 2: X goes in the center, 0 goes in a corner, Draw
Chapter 3: X goes in a corner, O goes in the center, Draw
Chapter 4: X goes in a corner, 0 goes in a corner, X wins
Chapter 5: X goes in a corner, O goes in a non-corner, non-center square, X wins
Chapter 6: X goes in a non-corner non-center square, O goes anywhere in the same row or column as X, Draw
Chapter 7: X goes in a non-corner non-center square, O goes anywhere not in the same row or column as X, X wins
The book will contain about 30 pages. 100 sample games included. Sells for $39.95 in paperback, $49.95 in hardcover.
Think I can get Jacob to publish? 🙂