A few points about the sliding schedule. And this is really to the authors. 3-400 pages does not mean when exported from ChessBase! It means once we have diagrams put in and formatted the text!!!
Yeah, we are working through a number of tough ones. But they will be worth the wait. First the list, then a few comments below.
| Mauricio Flores Rios | Chess Structures – A Grandmaster Guide | Summer |
| Parimarjan Negi | Grandmaster Repertoire – 1.e4 vs The French, Caro-Kann & Philidor | Summer |
| John Shaw | Playing 1.e4 – A Grandmaster Guide – Caro-Kann, 1…e5 & Minor Lines | Summer |
| Vassilios Kotronias | GM Repertoire 18 – The Sicilian Sveshnikov | Summer |
| Ilya Maizelis | Chess from Scratch | Summer |
| Esben Lund | The Secret Life of Bad Bishops | 28 July |
| Judit Polgar | A Game of Queens – Judit Polgar Teaches Chess 3 | Olympiad |
| Tiger Hillarp-Persson | The Modern Tiger | Summer |
| Ftacnik | GM6B – The Najdorf | Summer/Autumn |
| Emanuel Berg | Grandmaster Repertoire 16 – The French Defence Vol 3 | Autumn |
| Vassilios Kotronias | Kotronias on the King’s Indian – Vol 2 – Mar del Plata I | Autumn |
| Vassilios Kotronias | Kotronias on the King’s Indian – Vol 3 – Mar del Plata II | Autumn |
| Victor Mikhalevski | Grandmaster Repertoire 19 – Beating Minor Openings | Autumn/Winter |
| Lars Schandorff | Grandmaster Repertoire 20 – Semi-Slav | Autumn/Winter |
| Tibor Karolyi | Mikhail Tal’s best games 2 – World Champion | Autumn/Winter |
| Parimarjan Negi | Grandmaster Repertoire – 1.e4 vs The Sicilian I | Autumn/Winter |
| Jacob Aagaard | Grandmaster Preparation – Thinking Inside the Box | Spring |
One obvious questions is: Whatever happened to Grivas’ THE GRANDMASTER PROGRAM. We were working on the book and we felt it had certain issues that we wanted to address in one way and Efstratious wanted to address in an entirely different way. We found it hard to find a compromise and decided that the best solution for all parties was for Stratos to publish his book with another publisher. I am personally disappointed about the way things went; it is quite an interesting and enjoyable book and I am sure it will do very well for another publisher. But Quality Chess has certain internal ways of doing things that might be a bit rigid, but have served us well. I am sure the book will come out on another publisher – I see no reason why it should not – and you will be able to enjoy it like I have.
To Book Shops Our lists are very much guess work and just keeping in touch with our readers. We put a date on the list when we think a date is prudent only. Otherwise we are guessing. Books over the empty lines are being edited. Books under have not yet been delivered – with the exception of ever-reliable Tibor Karolyi, of course. The official release date of The Secret Life of Bad Bishops will be the 30th July or the 6th August. But I hope we will have a presentation of the finished book at Politiken Cup on Monday the 28th July by Esben and it will be on pre-sale there of course! Quality Chess are proud to once again to sponsor this open, which is one of the top tournaments in Europe in respect to pleasure to participate in.
About order This is close to what I believe will happen. Of course there will be a few additional titles popping up along the way, but essentially, this is the order we currently believe things will happen. Up close this is definitely the case. Two months down the road – who knows.
Impressive set of books there!
Very ambitious, looking forward to the Najdorf book and how it differs! Also the 1.e4 Repertiore books.
GM Aagaard:
Could you please describe “Chess Structures – A Grandmaster Guide”, by Rios?
Thanks
No title for this post?
Is the first 1.e4 book GM rep 21? I remember the books will be continous, so before the last (GM 25) appeats we may have past 30 in total already 🙂
@Chris
Yes, this is an issue, but one we will have to live with 🙂
@Jeffrey “notyetagm” Hall
Not really. Search our blog and find it elsewhere.
The second Playing 1.e4 disappeared?
@Jacob
Doesnt matter. I am used to, i already have a gap between 15 and 17;-)
@Remco G
No, just went beyond the horizon.
@Jacob
What happend to “Grandmaster Repertoire – Beating the Anti-Sicilians”?
@Jeffrey “notyetagm” Hall
Hi everybody.
I was interested in this topic, too. I did a small google search. Following the link
Chess Structures
you find a discussion about thr book with a few postings by Mauricio Flores.
Best regards
Frank
@Reini
Yes, that’s what I would like to know, too.
Disappeared again. Oh well, used to it by now. Sigh.
The Kotronias books on the Mar Del Plata is a must buy!
What will he recommend against the Bayonett attack?
Maybe the Negi book on the sicilian will shed some light
on why the Scheweningen is not popular anymore due to
the Keres Attack . Is it that bad for black? If white dares
to play 6.g4 black will have winning chances as well.
Could be a good choice when trying to win as black against
a weaker opponent.
@Bebbe
I looked at it with the intention to play it as Black. Looks very dangerous and unsafe.
@Jacob Aagaard
I know that 6. -e5, 6.-Nc6, 6.-a6 and 6.-Be7 are all very risky for black in the Keres.
But I thought 6.-h6 to be quite reliable and solid. But if you say it is not very good for
black I trust you. I guess you will save the details for the Negi book.
I did not like it at all. I felt I was worse and under attack. Parimarjan will have to find his own way.
@Jacob Aagaard
I have been playing the Najdorf Scheveningen style for more than 25 years.
Lately the amount of theory on 6.Bg5 has increased in a way that I find it
hard to keep up with the latest developments. This is just my subjective feeling.
I thought it could be practical to switch to the pure scheveningen and be prepared
to face 6.g4 which require less memory work than 6.Bg5.
Yermolinsky had some old analysis on 6.g4, h6 (or 7 .Rg1)7.h4, Be7!? (7.-Nc6 is the traditional main line) in his book “The Road to Chess Improvement” that looked ok for black. Maybe this variation has been busted by now?!
Besides 7.-Nc6 8.Rg1,h5 9.gxh5, Nxh5 10.Bg5, Nf6 has not been refuted. Black aim is to have a solid position after castling queenside.
It occured to me that a good way to avoid too heavily
analyzed positions after 6.Bg5 against the Najdorf is
to play 6.-e6 7.f4, Qb6 8. Qd2 (or 8.Qd3, Nc6) 8.-Nc6.
The critical choice then is 9.Bxf6, gxf6 10. Nb3, Bd7 11.0-0-0, 0-0-0
with interesting middle game play more based on understanding
than the “fritzy” variations after 8.-Qxb2.
@Bebbe
As said, I seriously dislike those positions. I do not think they are anywhere close to equal. Also notice that people stopped playing them 25 years ago and no one is wanting to defend them…
9…Rxh5! is a better move order than 9…Nxh5. At least, it used to be. 9…Nxh5 10.Be3!? is poisonous.
### Chess Strategy from Scratch ###
Jacob,
Few days ago I bought “Chess Training for Post-Beginners, A Basic Course in Positional Understanding” by Yaroslav Srokovski. Today I went trough first chapter and I found book to be good.
Do you have any plans to publish something similar with more examples and exercises? We expect another top-seller like “Chess Tactics from Scratch” 🙂
Go for it!
I have had lots of time to kill in the last several weekends while my wife is on a course near Baker Street. As often as not I go to the Chess & Bridge shop and as often as not I end up buying a Quality Chess book or two. I now have 39 if I counted correctly and there are lots more on the list that I want, if I can find shelf space. Thanks for the great books.
I had glanced at Livitsky several times in the shop without seeing what was so great about it. Now I bought it and read it and realise how important it is and how much I can learn from it if I go through it a couple more times. Now I am tempted by the other Soviet Classics. Does the Suetin book have any overlap with the old Pergamon Press book called Three Steps to Chess Mastery or something like that?
I have a question. Is it less profitable for QC if I buy from Chess & Bridge than if I order direct?
Thanks also for the great blog. One minor niggle: at the top of the page, clicking on Quality Chess Blog takes me to the QC home page and clicking on the home symbol takes me to the blog. This seems the wrong way round to me and catches me out every time.
@Steve
Lipnitsky, not Livitsky!
Nice to see Sweshnikow in summer, and a lot of other titles in summer. Hopefully soon is summer–it was 26 degrees in Manchester this past week..
Jacob, don’t become too full of yourself for what I’m going to say.
I confess I have to buy all QC books. Yes, all of them, even the ones I know I’ll never read. One book I thought I’d never read was GM12 repertoire on the Benoni…come on – I said to myself – who’s going to convince me the Benoni is good against GM opposition? Everybody knows that “God against God” in the Benoni is 1-0.
Yesterday I had nothing to do and opened the GM12 book. Well, I have to admit it is FANTASTIC, I have no words to describe how much I enjoyed reading it. How could this book go unnoticed by me (and I’m afraid by most people) till now? If you like QC books do yourself a favour and buy immediately that book. Tal would have been proud to see his favourite opening explained and analyzed in that way. Thanks QC.
@garryk
As I had nothing to do with those two books, I am entirely unaffected.
Obviously we have a lot of discussions about approaches and how to deal with issues in the office. There is always a fine balance to be struck between making the books brilliant and actually publishing them. We probably tend to run over because compromising does not come easy to us.
I think John and Andrew dealt with those two books. Especially Andrew.
@Jacob Aagaard
Two books? Which is the second one? I was speaking about GM12 (Modern Benoni)…
Even if you had nothing to do with that book, I consider you the “leading exponent” of QC in this blog…I know you are (rightly) proud of QC so I thought what I was going to say would make you even prouder…
I know it’s difficult to make books brilliant and published…you are good at that…and still improving…
@garryk
Tal, which you did mention.
@garryk
I am indeed the best known person from Quality Chess, but this does not mean that my influence on things here are greater than others. We are a core team of John, Andrew and I, who have built up the current strength over a number of years. Colin and recently Danny has come onboard and are adding their influence daily.
@Jacob Aagaard
Ah, I understand…but I was referring to Tal as a “famous Benoni player”…
@Jacob Aagaard
I understand…but I like your strong personality…and I like the way you built your destiny in the chess world…but now I have to stop praising you! Let’s return arguing on something!
Jacob, I would love to change my opening repertoire, so that it is based on 1. e4. When Shaw’s first book is published in the summer, I will immediately buy it. However, making a change to playing 1. e4 requires some books. Do you have any recommendations for a good book I can use temporarily for covering the Sicilian/French/Pirc/Alekhine with the white pieces until part 2 of the Grandmaster Guide is published?
I agree with garryk that the Benoni book is great. From the publishing schedule for the summer, I can see that I will have to buy far too many of your books…
Since I got no answer I dare to put the question again:
What about “GM – Anti-Sicilians”? I was really looking forward to this one.
Is it postphoned, canceled, …..
@pabstars
Well, as a good starting point, I would recommend Daniel King’s DVD on e4, this is based on sound mainlines and not dodgy looking variations to surprise unaware opponents at lower levels.
This is a dynamic/attacking repertoire and the lines are organized according to the various replies by Black.
Personally, I do not follow all the recommendations but I appreciated the clarity of the explanations where we find there is always something to learn.
The best of course is to seek advice from a coach who will assist/guide a player to build a personalized repertoire.
@pabstars
Being a 1.e4 player I mentioned the DVDs and not books because this is one of the few comprehensive introduction to the king’s pawn move.
Otherwise, you need to buy several books and pick there and there what you like to play and check/updates the lines.
In General there is the famous series “Opening for white according to Anand” – 14 books, starting from 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 to the darkest corners of the Sicilian English Attack in the Najdorf.
And so and so forth ….
@Alex
Hi Alex,
Thanks a million for your input. I have looked for e4 repertoire books for white but haven’t been able to do better than with your suggestions. I’d just love to have some repertoire books on e4 just like Avrukh’s and Schandorff’s on 1. d4. King’s opening suggestions just seem to be too unambitious; if you want some nice and sharp positions, I don’t think that changing quickly on d5 in the French and playing the exchange variation in the caro-kann with Ld3 and c3 are too interesting.
@Paul Brøndal
Maybe good to mention that there is no need to wait for volume 2 of Playing 1.e4 for the French, because Negi is covering that as well and his first volume will also be published this somer (hopefully!). Otherwise indeed you will have to work with different books. If you want to play an ambitious Ruy Lopez reportoire, I think Move by move: Ruy Lopez by Neil McDonald is not too bad to start with. I.m.o. his explanations of what both sides are aiming for are quite ok. Against the Caro-Kan I like Bezgodov’s book ‘the Extreme Caro-Kann’, which covers 3.f3 (it is very sharp, many Caro-Kann players might not like it). Against the Sicilian it’s tough if you dont’ want to go for the insane Opening According to Anand volumes. Maybe Taylor’s ‘Slaying the Sicilian’ is an option, but it’s shaky at places (I think he has the tendency to be too optimistic). I like ‘Dismantling the Sicilian’, but it is somewhat older. Maybe it can still be used, in combination with updates from e.g. Chesspublishing.com.
@pabstars
Of those, Greet’s Beating Unusual Chess Defences covers the Pirc and Alekhine (also other random e4 openings like the Scandinavian and Modern. Really good stuff, and a good source for backup lines even if you end up using QC material for everything.
@Ray
@Paul Brøndal
Yes, I am looking forward for the QC GM Rep’ serie on 1.e4 and the GM Guide volumes!
I believe it is much more difficult to put together a repertoire with 1.e4 than with 1.d4… So there are always chunks there and there, as of today the only comprehensive repertoire is the “Anand serie” with lines aiming at pushing Black, but it is difficult to drive a Formula1 :).
By the way, I have Dismantle the Sicilian and while it is very instructive I have found lines outdated in fact but I am not sure it will ever really matter since I don’t play 2600+ players (or only on a misunderstanding as it happened in my second ever tournament game)…
The sad thing is that, back when the King’s Gambit came out, I said I would switch to 1.e4 to play it, but I’d wait a bit for the 1.e4 Guides for the rest of the repertoire (back then they were expected this spring, or even last winter, IIRC). The main reasons I stay away from 1.e4 are the Sicilian and the French, and they’re both in volume 2, while Negi’s several books to cover the Sicilian are overkill for me.
That said, I just became a father again and don’t have time for chess whatsoever, let alone switching my entire white repertoire to a level where I’d need a book. So who am I kidding…
@pabstars
For Pirc and Alekhine, Andrew Greet’s book is great. Against the Sicilian, maybe De La Villa, though it is already a bit old.
@Reini
We are doing three Kotronias books for a start.
I would be very careful with de La Villa’s Sicilian book. When working through a couple of chapters I couldn’t help the feeling that it hasn’t been checked with the PC carefully enough … if at all. There are a couple of trivial blunders in it. Which is a shame, because I really like the book.
The Negi books are strong on track.
@pabstars
Why looking for a repertoire aginst the Alehkine and Pirc? As I understand it should be
all in the first Playing 1.e4-book by John Shaw in the summer. You only need a repertoire against the Sicilian and French.
I personally really hope that the first e4-book by John is also ‘very strong in track’……☺
‘You only need a reportoire against the Sicilian and French’. That’s quite an understatement, considering that it’s well over 50% of your total reportoire 🙂
Thanks for all the nice answers. I really believe that John will be the hero of the century when he has finished the two books. However, it must be a horrible task because expectations are so great and it sounds everything but trivial to have a nice e4 repertoire in two books.
Correct me if I’m wrong but IMO, the greatest task for an aspiring e4-player may be playing against 1. -e5 which will luckily be covered in the first volume and it is almost summer now!
Against the sicilian, I believe that you can get nice positions with Le2/Lg2 setups against many variations without having to know tons of theory. Even against the Sveshnikov, some excellent positional lines exist with 9. Sd5 and 11. c4 where you don’t have to use days to have a decent understanding.
@Jacob Aagaard
Three Kotronias meaning Sweshnikow and two Anti-Sicilian volumes, or vice versa?
@Gilchrist is a Legend
No, Sweshnikov and two King’s Indian Mar del Plata volumes!
@pabstars
I think you can go with Beating the Siclian by Jones and you habe almost a repertoire against 1…c5 and 1…e6- there are only the KIA-lines in the French without …c5 you habe to look up. And then just wait for the second Playing 1e4-book….
@Paul Geuß
Thanks, Paul. Jones’ repertoire doesn’t either appeal to me. It may sound stupid but to fight for an advantage against the sicilian, I feel that 3. d4 must be played. Sure, openings like the Rossolimo variation (Lb5) have been played by very strong players recently; however, if you want to make a change to 1. e4, I think that it is much more fun with nice relatively sharp variations. It is hardly a change going from 1. d4/b3/c4/Sf3 to the KIA I find.
It’s far from giving a complete repertoire and is more about the transition to the middlegame, but Jansa’s The Dynamics of Chess Strategy is a must read for 1.e4 players.
@Paul Geuß
It is. Both a bit behind Negi’s.
@Gilchrist is a Legend
2 Mar Del Plata volumes!
I am feeling guilty now, because I don’t remember reading that one; I have taken it down from the bookshelf.
It does remind me that Hort and Jansa’s ‘The Best Move’ is an old favourite of mine (wrong thread, I know).
Unless, you play regularly people who really play that at a top level, these are fun to play against….
I found some things there and there, but in the end this is where there is a value to “study personally” the book instead of scratching the surface 🙂 and the games are nice the explanations good as well.
I complement it with the Sicilian Attack book.
YAY !
6.Be2 (Le2) OK but the fianchettoed Bishop such an heresy :), the fun is in sacrificing on e6, b5, d5, f5 :p
Which makes me think that that there is an old book “Sacrifice in the Sicilian” that is very nice.
There are some great books coming out. Thanks for the update. As a player who went back to e4 recently after a long time playing d4 and c4, I am very excited about the repertoire books on e4 in the works. I currently do not have a repertoire book on e4 but I’ll just choose to wait for these to come out instead of buying one. I am really enjoying the Yusupov books (only have the first three so far).
@kstevens
I do not think that there has been anything both practical and serious. 14 volumes over a decade is just too much :-).
@Jacob Aagaard
Maybe not practical but so far this is the only work that tried to put together a complete repertoire. Anyway, I am very impatient to get the future books on 1.e4 from your house !
Very exciting schedule. Look forward to Vassilios Kotronias’s upcoming books on the King’s Indian and Sicilian.
I have just bought Judit’s book from GM to Top 10- it could well be one of the best books of the early part of the 21st century. Great notes to exciting games and personal anecdotes- it has it all. I really like the King’s Indian chapter. Frankly I think it is even better than classics which made the top 10 list for the best books of the 20th century such as Fischer’s book which of course is a great book.
Incidentally on the top 10 list no-one has mentioned Isaac Boleslavsky’s- Selected Games- a book which Fischer liked very much and which in my view is very much underrated.
Two questions. Are you hoping to publish a Nimzo/QI book next year and what happened to the one volume King’s Indian book which focuses on understanding rather than on detailed theory?
Some other books that didn’t make it to the top-10: Improve your chess now (Tisdall), The seven deadly chess sins (Rowson), Judgment and Planning (Euwe), the endgame series by Averbakh or Cheron (admittedly somewhat boring, but they did have a big influence i.m.o.), The Sicilian Labyrinth (Polugayevski), and a book which I liked very much as a teenager and inspired me to play the open Sicilian with white: Sacrifices in the Sicilian (Levy).
Sorry, wrong thread, but you get my point 🙂
Hi Jacob,
I hope you won’t be offended with another question on this issue, and I mean no disrespect, but I really would like to know more about GM6A – Beating the Anti-Sicilians.
This is because:
(a) I play only the Sicilian in reply to 1.e4
(b) Most of the time my Sicilian is met with an Anti-Sicilian, therefore meeting them is an important part of my repertoire
(c) I respect the quality of Quality Chess books, especially the GM series, and therefore the above book would be an event for me.
An update/revision of GM6 was first promised in June 2011, so this makes it the longest running saga since ‘The Kings Gambit’.
On 4 October 2013, you said: “We have simply pushed 2-3 projects down the line again and again. GM6 has been one of them. I hope and pray that we will have the available time early next year and that Lubomir will continue to be good on his “available whenever” promise. We are planning to this 4 guys and fast.”
In March this year, you said GM6A would be a surprise.
In April, the ‘surprise’ was revealed as being that the author was to be Kotronias (and that it would come out at the same time as, or earlier than, GM6B).
Now, it would seem that due to a clearly heavy workload for Kotronias, it has been again been put on a backburner or shelved.
I am not of course “demanding” that GM6A be done, but it would be generally useful to know:
(a) Has GM6A been more or less permanently shelved for the forseeable future? Or is it still intended to do it sometime?
(b) Is it still intended that Kotronias will be the author, or are you now looking for someone else?
(c) If there is no one else, but Kotronias might still do it, would it be the case that perhaps Kotronias will finish the other books first, and then see how he feels about this?
(d) Also, is it intended to also cover lines versus all Blacks second moves after 2.Nf3 such as 2…e6 and 2…Nc6; or will only 2…d6 for the Najdorf move order (as in GM6) be covered? (In my view, a full Anti-Sicilians book should cover all the second move possibilities).
(e) Re GM6B: I notice that now only Ftacnik is given as the intended author, whereas before it was given as him and yourself. Does this mean you have removed yourself as taking a large part in producing this book now?
Again, I am not intending to offend you; it would just be nice to know.
@Maxwell Smart
Hello Maxwell, I would like to share my thoughts on the points you raised.
To me, it makes more sense to treat the anti-sicilian from a Najdorf move-order when it is the main system featured in the book (or in a 2 volumes “book”), and in fact if I buy a repertoire book on the Najdorf I am not really interested in 50-100-125 pages on “what-to-do” when you play the classical or the Kan or a crafty move order to get the Scheveningen without keres…
I feel that there is more value in getting first the books from Kotronias on the KID and on the Sveshnikov rather then the anti- when their exist already a valid coverage in the current literature…If he is indeed the planned author for GM6A.
Best,
@Alex
Hi Alex, thanks for reply.
That’s fine if that’s the formula Quality Chess wish to adhere to, and in that case possibly GM6A should be titled something slightly different.
However, if they are going to allocate an entire GM Repertoire book to just the Anti-Sicilian (whereas it was a lot less than half of GM6), then one would think there would be room for the other Anti-Sicilians. I sure other Sicilian players would thank them for it, and it would have a bigger market. Besides it could be in the future that one might need to switch to another Sicilian if eg 6.Bg5 becomes too much of a problem against the Najdorf, and it would be nice to have the option.
Again, I’m not saying Quality Chess “have” to do this; it would just be nice to know. Then I can have some idea right now how intensely I have to do my own work on these lines.
The Anti-Sicilian stuff available is at least 3 years old and in any case is not done with the thoroughness, and probably the standard, that an entire GM Repertoire book would do it. Also, I’m not particularly keen on the lines that are given [for winning purposes – of course decent ones for this purpose may not exist], and was hoping for some different ones.
Obviously the value to someone of which books Kotronias does depends on your repertoire. I’m not saying that Kotronias shouldn’t do the KID and Sveshnikov books first. But he was previously announced as the intended author of GM6A, so it would just be nice to know what the situation is. That way I can have an idea of how much effort I need to expend myself in the near future without possibly having it wasted.
Cheers.
@Maxwell Smart
In my opinion ‘Experts vs. the Anti-Sicilians’ is a great book, and still largely valid. It’s just a matter of updating the lines yourself with material from e.g. Chesspublishing.com. And you can also combine it with GM Rep 6, which also contains anti-Sicilians. The theory in most Anti-Sicilians is not progressing at the speed of light, is it? Just to be clear: I am very much looking forward to GM Rep 6A as well of course! On the other hand, the 1.e4 books have been delayed much more, so I think these ‘deserve’ priority 🙂
@Ray
Yes, that is undoubtedly the best Anti-Sicilian book currently out there. Though a quarter of it is devoted to 1.e4 c5, 2.Nc3 Nc6, 3.Bb5 which is hardly the most critical Anti-Sicilian.
We were first promised revised GM6 in June 2011; it’s just a bit frustrating being left continually dangling for so long.
Again, I’m not saying Quality Chess have to do this or that, I can perfectly accept if something is not done.
I would just like to know if something is going to be done, or if it’s not going to be done. That is all.
@Maxwell Smart
On my side, I read the publishing schedule with the filter : one day we will have a great book on this topic.
Sometimes it is an early day and sometimes a laaate one ! Better late than never though :).
@Alex
Well, that’s what I used to think. But it’s been delayed so often now, and Kotronias now looks so busy that I now seriously wonder if it will ever happen (by him, anyway). In 2017, maybe? At any rate, I will be putting my own work in.
@Maxwell Smart
The book is planned as it has been for a while.
Bonus: We are currently working on 6A, but it is not going as fast as I would have liked.
@Maxwell Smart
I think you need to understand something quite important: The book is not promises, it is planned. Please appreciate the difference. We owe no one anything, we have not promised anything.
In some earlier discussions, you mentioned that in John Shaw book, the weapon against 1…e5 will be the scotch. What will be Nagi’s recommendation?
@Jacob Aagaard
I apologise for not discerning the difference between ‘promise’ and ‘plan’; bad choice of word by me. No, you do not owe anyone anything; an announced plan does also create a hope.
Thank you for advising that 6A is still intended – it will certainly be at the top of my ‘to buy’ list whenever it should be completed.
You say ‘we’ are currently working on it, so I presume that this implies that Kotronias will no longer be the author, or at least the sole author?
Given that work has started on it, are you in a position to inform us if it is intended to cover all the main second move alternatives after 2.Nf3, or just 2…d6?
Thank you.
It has to be the Spanish.
@Maxwell Smart
Generally the “we” refers to the publishing team. There might only be one author but multiple people work on the book.
Jacob, I told my girlfriend that I would propose marriage as soon as I get my hands on GM6a. She is threatening to move on with her life. What should I tell her??? (lolz)
@katar
She will find someone better….
@Jacob Aagaard
I am slightly confused, but why is GM6A being worked first? Or is GM6B already close enough to completion that GM6A can be started already? Or are they both being started simultaneously? Also is Ftacnik the sole author of GM6B? Like Maxwell said, I also recall that GM6B was a team of four authors, or has that changed?
@Darko_B
Ruy Lopez I expect.
@Maxwell Smart
No, it does not imply anything. I am a blunt guy; don’t infer.
@Ben
I refer to we although it might only be one person working on a book. We are indeed a team.
@katar
You can always have kids before you marry. It is the 21st century.
@Gilchrist is a Legend
I like keeping you confused :-). I have done something right this week then!
i cant see John Shaw’s book against sicilian and french? it wont be published?
It will be published. The list above does not include every book we intend to publish ever. It is just a list of the ones likely to be published next.
I have a question about something that to me always seemed annoying for a publisher of opening books: how do you deal with the “best for white vs best for black” confrontations? Say we now have 3 volumes on the french defense written from a black perspective; and later this year Negi will propose a line against the french from a white perspective. Naturally, those will be compared and either its equal (with lots to play for :)) or one of the books needs an improvement, but wait…in that case the other book also needs an improvement again. An endless circle! You can always disagree on an evaluation ofcourse, but I wondered if QC has a standard way of dealing with this issue.
@Indra Polak
We ask our authors to look deeply. In the end all problems will be solved anyway. Chess is a draw; but not always so in practice…
Not to mention that each chess player must solve that problem as well when confronted with his own repertoire…but then he can get away with equal.
Well if GM6B somehow is published first before GM6a, that is also good…
@Indra Polak
I guess there’s no way around this – opening theory constantly develops – it’s dynamic. The only thing you have to take care of as a publisher (I guess) is to avoid inconsistencies if two books (one from white’s and from black’s perspective) are published practically simultaneously. But you can plan for that of course – it might be one of the reasons Berg’s volume 3 has been postponed, so that it is not published at the same time as Negi’s volume 1 🙂
What is the current status of 6.-e5 against the Keres attack? I recently noticed that Suba (and others) have played 7.Nf5, Nc6!? (instead of the more common 7.-h5) recently and won the game. Is this a viable alternative?
@Bebbe
No idea :-).
Well if they win with it it was viable for them 🙂
@Jacob Aagaard
Ok, but I guess that Negi will include this in his 1.e4 repertoire book covering the scheveningen (if he recommends the Keres Attack). You can give him a hint that this needs to be covered.
@Bebbe
What?? I think I will allow my author to do his job without feeling invaded by micromanagement :-). We check afterwards if they have covered all lines. It is not a job you can do to perfection, but it has its time, which is not in advance…
@Jacob Aagaard
Ok, I see your point. Better to check afterwards if all relevant lines are covered.
I dont like micromanagement on my work either. It hinders creativity and makes the
work less enjoyable. Better to have constructive critique in the review.
@Bebbe
Sorry for being a bit sarcastic. I hope the smiley brought the jest across :-).
@Jacob Aagaard
No problem. Your comment had much truth in it and the smiley suggested that you wrote it both as a joke but with a point as well.
Any chance we’ll get a sneak peak into Emanuels 3rd volume on the French ? 🙂 I am dying to read this last book having finished with his 2nd one just today.. I am running into trouble now everytime I encounter someone who sensibly chooses to play the tarrash variation with White against me 😐
That would be a good book to have this year, although I use Playing the French 3…c5/4…Qxd5 for the Tarrasch. I have a feeling that it might have more than 500 pages though..
@Alexander
Playing the French was partly meant to deal with this gap for a while!
What books will be publishedvfirst?
Are there new books published end of may
I have just published a publishing schedule. I think that is answer enough.
@Aagaard
Give us back the swedish chef 😀 I need his recipe. No, point taken. I imagine wrapping up everything ELSE than the winaver must be a tremendous and huge job.. say, do you have any idea how many pages roughly Mr. Berg will land on in his 3rd volume ?
@Alexander
No idea, sorry. But I know that he is quite far advanced in the writing. Andrew will once again be the editor. I think we are looking at an autumn publication. We just have a lot of stuff we need to finish!
@Aagaard
“..have a lot of stuff we need to finish!” ..which is HIGHLY appreciated from us readers 🙂 Keep up the good work. Today I can’t think of a better publication house than QC (honestly!).
Do you also have already scheduled “endgame” & “attack&defence” in paperback versions?
Regards
Is there any reason the Classical Slav has not been released to Amazon US? Several months wait seems excessive. Can you please explain why? And will this be the case on other books mentioned here?
I am very eager to see what Ftacnik has prepared for GM6B. I have studied some games from Big Database 2014, together with some updates, and the popularity of 6. Bg5 Nbd7 in the Najdorf is come to a seriously high level, I would say that maybe even a 10000% increase in popularity, now you see everyone playing it. The Poisoned Pawn Variation was, is, and always shall be great and reliable, the problem is the amount of theory is become completely ridiculous, and just to study that is more than the rest of all of the other alternatives for White in the Najdorf. 6. Bg5 Nbd7 is probably my new Najdorf repertoire move, hopefully Ftacnik expands on what he wrote in 2010.
@Keith Hayward
No. It should be out there.
@Fer
It will not be before 2015.
@Jacob Aagaard
Thanks for the info Jacob 🙂
@Keith Hayward When I get impatient with Amazon, as I often do, I get books from Chess Books from Europe. The prices seem close enough, for me, to justify not waiting. It is a nice book!
Three weeks ago i received my (signed !) copy of endgame play. Thanks for a great book , so far i have not solved any exercises as i still work on the calculation book (am i to slow ?) but the introductary texts are excellent and i think it is just the best series to improve your chess for the aspiring player!
And thanks again for signing the book, jacob ! Looking forward to the coming qc-books
@Boki
You will not be disappointed, I hope.
I thought of perhaps for GM Guide books, a book for GM Guide “Playing the Caro-Kann” like how the French has both GM Repertoire and the GM Guide “Playing the French”. Same with the Sicilian, maybe “Playing the Sicilian” with the Kan, Taimanow, Classical, or something, “Playing 1…e5” with either the Petroff or Berlin, like an accompaniment to the GM Repertoires for those openings. But I know that the schedule looks busy, but just was an idea.
Also it looks like the 29.08.2014 prediction for GM16 that is on De Beste Zet and 31.08.2014 for Schachversand might be accurate, but hopefully it releases sooner.
How much exchange of information is there between different authors? For example, does Negi know what Berg recommends in his 3rd Volume of the french and try to find an advantage there for white? Same vice versa of course too.
Evidently, Shaw has been lazy.. or very carefull 😀
Certainly all seems top have quiet on the publishing front (with regard opening books at least).
Yes indeed – lazy, careful, slow but also working on other books and business.
I can’t wait to hear more about Chess Structures – A Grandmaster Guide. A famous GM I know once said that he thought you could teach high level chess through structures and how to play for each given structure (He called it Bone Structure Chess) and I am hoping this forthcoming book by Rios does just that, assuming his theory is sound.