Publishing Schedule – November

We have uploaded the Judit Polgar book From GM to Top Ten, which is at least as good as the ECF book of the year How I Beat Fischer’s Record. Also, we have a delivery date for Playing the French. The date given (and from here on) will be the day it arrives in the shops. (Websales are sent out 2 days earlier in general, but not always). Note also that we will have GM 15 – The French Defence 2 ready just before Christmas.

Maybe there will be an additional title ready in 2013. More on this later!

Ntirlis/Aagaard Playing the French 27th Nov
Judit Polgar From GM to Top Ten 18th Dec
Emanuel Berg GM 15 – The French Defence Vol 2 18th Dec
2014 Publications
John Shaw Playing 1.e4 – Caro-Kann, 1…e5 & Minor Lines Winter
Danny Gormally Mating the Castled King Winter
Jacob Aagaard Grandmaster Preparation – Endgame Play Winter
Tibor Karolyi Mikhail Tal’s best games 1 Winter
Tiger Hillarp-Persson The Modern Tiger Winter
Emanuel Berg GM 16 – The French Defence Vol 3 Winter
Boris Avrukh GM Repertoire 17 – Classical Slav Winter
John Shaw Playing 1.e4 – A Grandmaster Guide – Sicilian & French Winter
Jacob Aagaard Grandmaster Preparation – Thinking Inside the Box Spring
Tibor Karolyi Mikhail Tal’s best games 2 Spring
Vassilios Kotronias GM Repertoire 18 – Sveshnikov Spring
(Secret Author) Grandmaster Repertoire 21 – 1.e4 French, Caro-Kann & Philidor Spring
Victor Mikhalevski Grandmaster Repertoire 19 – Beating Minor Openings Spring
Ilya Maizelis Russian Chess Primer Summer
Ftacnik (Aagaard) GM6a – Beating the Anti-Sicilians Summer

204 thoughts on “Publishing Schedule – November”

  1. Paul :Did Jacob get fired by John on the 1e4 GM Rep project?

    Yeah, you didn’t hear? Now instead he’s writing a book on King and One Pawn Versus King. It will be a database dump with every possible legal position featuring the three said pieces, a diagram following every possible legal move, and will be 4800 pages long.

    It will be available at Amazon in the Summer of 2014, and due to the extra weight, shipping will be an extra 60 Euro or 80 Dollars! 😀

  2. Paul :
    Did Jacob get fired by John on the 1e4 GM Rep project?

    Not guilty. It is fairer to say that Jacob replaced himself with someone he thinks will do an even better job on sharp 1.e4 lines.

  3. Can we already know what lines the GM 21 book will recommend? I’m especially interested in the the Caro-Kann recommendation. I’m definitely buying Shaw’s book on that, if it is indeed true that it will treat the the advance Caro-Kann. If GM 21 also goes in that direction, that would be great.

  4. GM 18 – Sveshnikov is about the Sicilian I presume. Interesting to see Kotronias writing about it. I always thought of him as a Classical Sicilian player though a look in the database reveals that he has played a number of different lines in this opening.

    Kotronias is a fantastic author and so I am sure GM 18 will be a very interesting read though I stopped playing the Sveshnikov some 15 years ago.

    By the way, Kotronias would surely be an ideal author for the GM Repertoires about 1 e4 😉

  5. Nice pdf, Polgar’s book.

    That chapter on the French (and how easily it can be crashed), I hope for you tha after reading that one, that someone still want to buy these French Defence books……

  6. Gilchrist is a Legend

    Excellent news for a confirmed date for Playing the French and GM15. I had a feeling November was likely. The dates are both Wednesdays, so that means that the websales are on Mondays (25/11 and 16/12, respectively). It looks like this winter will be very good for French Defence players. I am not even finished with half of GM14 yet, so I shall have much French material soon then.

  7. It seems the secret author will need to write 3 vols, because it is doubtful that volume 22 of Grandmaster Repertoire will have 1…e5 and 1…c5, am I right? (I hope) 🙂

  8. Trying to guess the number of pages in Katronias’ book on the Sveshnikov. After a book on ONLY Fianchetto takes 720 pages, what would all variations combined take! 🙂

    But it is great that he works so hard.

    And of course Avrukh’s book is a must buy!

  9. Gilchrist is a Legend

    Also I wanted to indicate that I never expected the GM18 book. Kotronias as the author on one factor, and the other that the Sveshnikow is in a GM Repertoire. I used to play the Sveshnikow during its peak around 2004-2007 or so, when I remember that the top 20 seemed to use it quite frequently, and subsequently it was extremely popular around 2200-2500 level, probably below as well. But then slowly the popularity seemed to fade. Now I very rarely see this compared to several years ago. I have an impression that with computers increasing in strength, the weakened kingside position ceased to attract players to this opening. I also did not expect Kotronias to write it, because I am not sure if I remember his games with it so much. He is a very good author as proved by the King’s Indian Fianchetto book. But QC have a habit of regenerating what were previously unpopular openings with the surprising and revolutionary analyses, c.f. GM10 Tarrasch, GM13 Open Spanish. I shall definitely but it.

    I actually shall buy all of these forthcoming GM Repertoires; it seems that my budget consists of food, water, electricity, bus pass, and QC books. But still extremely anticipating the “prize” of 2013, Playing the French. I already have a space reserved on my chess table for it, and the bookshelf free for new GM Repertoires.

  10. What a great line-up! Looks like I’m going to buy most of these books, even though I don’t play all these openings :-). I’m especially anticipating the books on the French, the Slav, and ‘minor’ white openings. And of the non-openings books I’m looking forward to the Polgar book and the book on Tal :-). Maizelis also sounds interesting by the way – another chess classic translated!

  11. Ray :What a great line-up! Looks like I’m going to buy most of these books, even though I don’t play all these openings . I’m especially anticipating the books on the French, the Slav, and ‘minor’ white openings. And of the non-openings books I’m looking forward to the Polgar book and the book on Tal . Maizelis also sounds interesting by the way – another chess classic translated!

    I couldn’t agree more. There is only one wish left on my side. After you established your company as the leading source for books on openings and chess training methodology. How about expanding that to game collections? You already had a great start with the classics on Karpov and various other books. I sincerely hope that the Tal books will live up to the same standard and I really would be pleased to see much more of this type of books coming up. E.g. how about a “games you have to know” type of book series. I was thrilled to see that part of Carlsen’s world championship preparation consists of recognizing important positions from classical games. A collection – and explanation – of the most important “canonical” chess positions from the rich chess history would be fantastic.

  12. @wok64
    That test with the positions was clearly for the camera only. Carlsen knows a lot of famous games, but this is not how they train it.

    Besides the Tal books, then Judit’s book is also a game collection – and then we have a secret little project that I hope will come to fruition quite soon.

    By the way, Thinking Inside the Box will to some extent be my best games as well. And I think you will find that my best games are sensational – though my worst games are rather awful…

  13. @Gilchrist is a Legend
    Sometimes you forget that we do not decide what people want to write about; it is a discussion mostly and sometimes a writer will just say – I want to write about this, will you publish it. And when it is Kotronias, you just say, yes, of course!

    By the way, I was not surprised about his choice of the Sveshnikov. I know that when Cox published his book 5 years back, Kotronias spent a lot of time checking everything and had great results with both colours.

    Also, concerning the popularity of the opening: I think Gelfand did a lot for it. If the refutation is 3.Bb5 I am not worried!

  14. What’s the current theoretical status of the Sveshnikov? Is it still an almost forced draw with minimal winning chances for white in a few calmer lines?
    And how theory intense is it?

  15. @Andre
    I think this is one for debate and not for us to say anything. My opinion is not surprisingly to trust Kotronias. And his opinion will soon be for sale :-).

  16. Whilst I am very excited by a lot of the forthcoming titles I would love to see another book by Marin (sequel to Learn from the Legends?). I recently watched a number of videos he has done on Fischer’s strategic play and they were just fantastic (even given the limitations of the format).

  17. The Sveshnikov is definately still very popular at corr chess. I have faced it 3 or 4 times already (i am a new corr player and this is the opening against 1.e4 i have faced the most) and despite having found a good way to challenge it (i think) i haven’t managed more than to draw these games. In fact, i believe that the Sveshnikov is an easy Sicilian to learn and play (not English Attacks, just two big main lines and not especially dangerous sidelines) and in club level you are going for the kill in every game.

    Kotronias has many games with the Sveshnikov and very important ones i’d say from a theoretical perpsective. Also, he is well known as a man that has tried hard to kill the opening from the White side as well. So, it is definately one of the few openings he knows very very deep (others he just knows them deep 🙂 )

  18. @Matt
    I second that! By the way, I was wondering if there is any chance that Learn from the Legends will be printed in hardcover? Would be very nice! But maybe you’re still left with tons of paperback format…

  19. The more the GM series grows the more noticeable it becomes that the: Nimzo, Queen’s-Indian and QGD are yet to be honoured with a book.

  20. I used to play the Sveshnikov but finally switched to the Taimanov because I like to start the game early. As I see it, the Sveshnikov is more a sort of ” highway to the middle game” than a real opening were you must chose your path to build your position. There are very few opening choices to make. You know in advance what will be the central structure, the pieces exchanged etc. There will be no surprise for you nor your opponent on the kind of middle game you will get. This can have a good practical value in some situations and I may try it again in the future. But not as my main choice.
    Well, even if “highway openings” are not my cup of tea, I may buy this one.

  21. By the way, I hope some coverage of the e6 move order will be included in Kotronias book. It makes the transition from one sicilian repertoire to an other easier 😉

  22. @Matt
    Marin is publishing a book with us in December. Remember he is helping Judit with writing her books (though he is not writing them for her, it is her words, just with an assistant working with her).

  23. @crossroads
    Long term we have a book on the way, written by Petrosian. But we are talking more than a year down the line. They first have to be ready with the 21st century edition in Russian.

  24. Jacob Aagaard :@wok64 That test with the positions was clearly for the camera only. Carlsen knows a lot of famous games, but this is not how they train it….

    Sigh, another illusion destroyed 🙂

    The point I was trying to make is that you read everywhere about studying the classics as the definite way to build a proper foundation for chess improvement. But a collection of games considered as crucial for study just doesn’t exist. Why not? What is the advice “Study the classics!” worth if the question “What classics?” remains unanswered? Of course, studying any game may improve your chess but some games just teach you more than others and a game collection of these particular gems would be highly appreciated.

    1. The thing is that these games are well documented. Read about the World Champions, read game collections where the players annotated the games themselves. Include strong players like Bronstein, Korchnoi, Gelfand and anyone else that have written about their own games.

      Of course there are good books written by players about other people’s games, but there are also a lot of bad ones. If you study the classics, but no one points out what’s to learn from them, you will get much less out of them.

      Obviously Carlsen has studied these games, but remembering where a game was played is of no relevance to what we can learn from it. Carlsen knows this, but to be honest, I could have named all of these games as well, with the exception of the Carlsen game from when he was 10!

  25. Is it petrosjans strategija nadeznosti ? This would be great !! I read it in russian after a 2600 player ( and very good chess author) recimmended it to me and i was
    Fascinated by the games ! Petrosjan is completly underrated! Od i remember i already asked about this book year ago in this Blog

  26. “Marin is publishing a book with us in December”

    Jacob, is your “additional title ready in 2013″a Marin book or are you referring to the Polgar book?

    For me, the highlight of Marin’s books on the English were the in-depth explanations on underlying strategy behind the adoption of various structures/piece placements. I do see that coming through in the Polgar book (judit always succinctly explains what is going on in each starting position in the book) and it very much adds to them.

  27. Any idea what the “Secret author” will suggest against the Najdorf? I am hoping Bg5, although I currently play Be3

  28. Jacob Aagaard :@Mathijs We have changed our minds so many times on that issue that any predictions will be hilarious .

    You change your mind so many times because of the power of the Caro-Kann! Why waste all your time and money on manual after manual of the Najdorf Sicilian? 🙂

  29. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Jacob Aagaard
    Of course, I never mind really any project in the GM Repertoire series, it seems like all attention is devoted nowadays to the Najdorf within the Sicilian, so Sveshnikow is a fresh project from that. I always felt that 9. Nd5 was more annoying whereagainst to play, as 9. Bxf6 gives Black quite many attacking chances, and I particularly enjoyed playing these lines as Black. 9. Nd5 annoyed me, and I switched continuously between 11…0-0, 11…Ne7, 11…Bg5, 11…Rb8, etc.

    I am around 2330 ELO, and I plan to use Playing the French and GM14, GM15, GM16 as a grand combination for a new French repertoire–would you think that this is a good idea? Mixing both Winawer and Classical simultaneously, perhaps even mixing 3…c5 and 3…Nf6 against Tarrasch.

    Also I prepare for 25th November: websales day (and I suppose 22nd November is publication day).

  30. I’m wondering, will the “Play The French” book give two repertoires against 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 as 4…Be7 and also the McCutcheon? If that is the case, I think that’s great news 🙂

  31. Gilchrist is a Legend

    Yes, it is in the excerpt. Four chapters for 4…Be7 and three chapters for 4…Bb4. The excerpt looks seriously good.

  32. @wok64

    There was a small work by Rashid Ziyatdinov entitled GM-RAM where he gave 253 positions from 59 games that he considered essential knowledge. The games are given in the back of the book.
    It was unusual in that it contained no analysis or descriptions whatsoever.

  33. @Neil Sullivan

    Thank you Neil, indeed I own it and it comes closest to what I’m wishing for. Having the same type of book with explanations would be great. Of course the idea of Rashid’s book is to get you working on your own right in the sense of “Active Learning” proposed by Axel Smith. Still, being able to look up the explanation afterwards would be of great value.

    Of course there are plenty of instructive and entertaining positions to be found in the existing books from quality chess but a book on selected classics is sorely missed.

  34. Neil Sullivan :
    @wok64
    There was a small work by Rashid Ziyatdinov entitled GM-RAM where he gave 253 positions from 59 games that he considered essential knowledge. The games are given in the back of the book.
    It was unusual in that it contained no analysis or descriptions whatsoever.

    I have that one and it was quite okay, although there was almost absolutely no explanation

  35. wok64 :
    Of course the idea of Rashid’s book is to get you working on your own right in the sense of “Active Learning”

    Another idea might be to write a chess book with minimum effort.

  36. Thomas :

    wok64 :
    Of course the idea of Rashid’s book is to get you working on your own right in the sense of “Active Learning”

    Another idea might be to write a chess book with minimum effort.

    I’m not sure if you’re being facetious or not, but I can tell you from experience that writing a book does indeed help your chess. You might have to put in more than minimum effort though! 🙂

  37. Gilchrist is a Legend

    I have noticed that the Polgar book with the shops date of 18/12/13 has an excerpt but GM15 not despite having the same date, or is the latter not finished yet?

  38. There is an Estonian book by Keres and
    Nei called 4 x25 which has 25 games each of Larsen Fischer Spassky and Korchnoi.
    I have the Estonian version but that looks like an excellent book to be translated into English.it has lots of verbal commentary on the games.

    To be honest I would love to see that rather than yet another book about Tal ( please Forgive me Lord) when there already are so many good Tal books.

    What is the copyright situation as regards publishing translated material from the Former Soviet Union or Eastern Bloc?

  39. SovietSchool :
    There is an Estonian book by Keres and
    Nei called 4 x25 which has 25 games each of Larsen Fischer Spassky and Korchnoi.
    I have the Estonian version but that looks like an excellent book to be translated into English.it has lots of verbal commentary on the games.
    To be honest I would love to see that rather than yet another book about Tal ( please Forgive me Lord) when there already are so many good Tal books.
    What is the copyright situation as regards publishing translated material from the Former Soviet Union or Eastern Bloc?

    The Keres book is available in French if that’s of any use to you.

  40. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Jacob Aagaard
    Very nice to hear that GM15 is one week to the printer. I did not expect it that early, but I suppose these months the printer takes slightly longer. I look forward to the Table of Contents, especially Berg’s recommendations on 7…0-0 8. Bd3.

  41. Gilchrist is a Legend

    It has been mentioned several times that both the Poisoned Pawn and 7…0-0 are offered. Also on p. 257, he mentions 7…0-0 8. Bd3 f5.

  42. Neil Sullivan :

    SovietSchool :
    There is an Estonian book by Keres and
    Nei called 4 x25 which has 25 games each of Larsen Fischer Spassky and Korchnoi.
    I have the Estonian version but that looks like an excellent book to be translated into English.it has lots of verbal commentary on the games.
    To be honest I would love to see that rather than yet another book about Tal ( please Forgive me Lord) when there already are so many good Tal books.
    What is the copyright situation as regards publishing translated material from the Former Soviet Union or Eastern Bloc?

    The Keres book is available in French if that’s of any use to you.

    Have you read it in French Neil? if so what did ou think of the book.
    I saw Korchnoi praise it on one of his Chessbase DVD s he thought it was a political gesture to not have Karpov as one of the 4. Though it may just have been the top 4 at the time it was published.
    It would be interesting to see a good book on Spassky in addition to GreatPredecessors 3

  43. Looking at Grandmaster Repertoires, we saw 5 books on General Reperoires for white, d4, c4 (and e4 to come). Then rest so far and to come is specific openings for black (2 moregeneral). Will we see a Repertoire book for a specific opening for white someday?

  44. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Jacob Aagaard
    That sounds even better–8…Nbc6 and 8…f5 will be a nice update from Kindermann and Dirr from eleven years before, a detailed book on these lines has been lacking for a very long time, with almost all French books concentrating on Poisoned Pawn (which is not very useful for those who never play this line).

  45. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Ray
    Yes, and also as you can see above, now announcements of two main lines for 7…0-0 8. Bd3. 8…f5 definitely and the only plausible one currently is 8…Nbc6, so this is excellent news. I have been waiting for such a book for almost one decade, since Watson’s 2003 3rd Edition of Play the French. “Prima”, must I say.

  46. With Kotronias writing the Sveshnikov book I suppose get means we will have to wait a while before we get another KID book from him 🙁

  47. Kostas Oreopoulos

    Sveshnikov is far from drawish. There are really good positions to play for a win , even in corr chess.

    For example i had analysed sometime ago the sac at b5. Although i did not find a line that white can consistently play for a win in corr chess, there were ton of positions where white can easily press for a win at no cost (and probably get it)

    Also a good thing with Sveshnikov is that engines are not very good at it. Wrong evaluations and missing tactical motives happen all the time (those Kh8, Rg8 and King attacks or other motives are missed frequently by engines). This is another reason that Sveshnikov is a frequent visitor in corr chess

    I am currently analysing (for a game) another line (6.Ndb5 Nf6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.Bd3 Be6 12.O-O Bxd5 13.exd5 Ne7 ) and there are many interesting variations both explored and unexplored.

    I would really be interested in Kotronias book, since he is very very thorough at his books and strives for the truth

  48. Will Kotronias’s book the Sveshnikov deal with Anti-Sicilians?

    Yes there is a forthcoming GMR 6a on Anti-Sicilians, but they are for Najdorf players, e.g. not including the Rossolimo (at least that was the case in the first GMR 6 version). Or will the new GMR 6a be more complete than the old?

  49. Gilchrist is a Legend

    The line 7…0-0 8. Bd3 Nbc6 9. Qh5 Ng6 10. Nf3 Qc7 11. Be3 c4 12. Bxg6 fxg6 13. Qg4 Qf7 14. Ng5 Qe8 15. h4 is probably one of the most critical lines in the Winawer, I wonder if Berg chooses this or the 13…Bd7 like Watson.

  50. @SovietSchool

    I have read it in French. (I’m in Montreal) It was a while back, and I can’t say I was all that enthused. Perhaps it was the price I had to pay colouring my viewpoint as French-language books from France are ridiculously expensive.
    A new book on Spassky would be wonderful!

  51. If a “Repertoire” for Black in the Fianchetto is 700 pages (meaning not complete Fianchetto), then a repetoire in the Mar Del Plata is probably over a 1000 page book!

    Boy am I glad I quit playing this opening. I’ll stick with the Fianchetto from the White side and be happy! 🙂

  52. I was looking through the Sokolov book on sacrifices and initiative, and I noticed what I thought was a glaring omission in the bibliography. There was on citation of the Suba book, I don’t see how you could write a book on sacrifices and not give some attention to Suba’s book. Which brings me to the point; when or if is he going to do another book for QC. I thought his first QC book was great, and would very much like to read more.

  53. @John Johnson
    I really liked a number of Sokolov’s recent books, but I think this one is a miss, sadly. He seems quite passionate in it, but he has not put in the work needed to write a good book. If he should have looked at Suba’s book is debatable. Also, maybe he did look at it, but choose not to use anything from it and thus did not include it in the bibliography. I have other problems with it, but I think people should not listen to competing publishers :-).

  54. Hi Jacob/All,

    I read some time ago (can’t remember where) there will be a sequel to The Open Spanish by Victor Mikhalevski covering the Open games and the Exchange Variation of the Spanish. Is this still the plan in the future or has it been pushed back or even cancelled since Mihail Marin wrote an excellent book on the Open Games already?

  55. Always been the plan for Marin to do an update after finishing the Polgar books, where he is the technical assistant.

  56. Gilchrist is a Legend

    The excerpt of GM15 is excellent. I checked everyday and today there it was, and 7…0-0 with 8. Bd3 f5 and 8…Nbc6 covered, with five chapters for the latter. That is quite a lot, but the detail is quite necessary. Then there is the Poisoned Pawn of course, so three systems. From the Introduction, it seems that there are at least 23 chapters, so it should be very good.

  57. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Jacob Aagaard
    Given how the main positions basically start at move 16 in 8…Nbc6, theory lasting past move 30, I imagine that the 8…Nbc6 section of Part II in GM15 could enter extensive detail. 8…f5 I was happy to see Carlsen’s new plan alluded in the Introduction, which I prefer rather than the …Qf8 lines. But 8…Nbc6 I feel has had an undeserved reputation as trying to be a “stonewall” strategy. Quite excited to see what Berg analysed in this line, it deserves better.

  58. Interesting excerpt indeed! It seems like black is hanging on by a thread though, judging from the introduction – Berg recommends rarely played / new systems against both 8…f5 and 8…Nbc6 since he is unsatisfied by the main lines :-). A narrow path indeed :-).

  59. Gilchrist is a Legend

    I think that the Carlsen set-up is something with 10…Nd7 and then following with …Qa5 and …Nc6 to play …e5. Usually in 8…f5 black plays …Nbc6 instead of …Nd7/…Nc6 as a combination.

    But in 8…Nbc6 I doubt anyone knows what Berg would recommend. There are five chapters for 8…Nbc6, which seem to me would be 19-23. Probably one on 9. Bg5, and then most would probably be 9. Qh5. I would guess it would be the principal main line with 13…Qf7 14. Ng5 Qe8 15. h4 h6 16. Nh3. But that is only the starting point of the complex…

  60. @Ray
    It really did not feel that reading it. Sure, you are Black and in tactical territory, so you need to be a bit careful and know what you are doing. But they are decent lines with exceptional analysis (I hope that means good, but only time will tell!).

  61. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Ray
    HAving played the NAjdorf for at least ten years, facing kingside attacks, viz. in 7…0-0 Winawer lines, is basically as commonplace as brushing my teeth, so it does not worry me. But if you play the Winawer Poisoned Pawn, 7…0-0 8. Bd3 Nbc6 or 8…f5 in those locked positions are really not very scary. I think some of the most beautiful positions in chess arise from the 8…Nbc6 line–the game transforms into a battle of attrition, where, as whereto Berg alluded in the excerpt Introduction, strategic manouevring, combined with a high intuition to balance attack and defence, is of utmost importance. Sometimes the middlegame positions look like stalemates, but they can be as rich and exciting as the King’s Indian Mar Del Plata Variation. Herefore I really anticipate this particular volume of Berg’s French series.

  62. Gilchrist is a Legend :
    @Ray
    HAving played the NAjdorf for at least ten years, facing kingside attacks, viz. in 7…0-0 Winawer lines, is basically as commonplace as brushing my teeth, so it does not worry me. But if you play the Winawer Poisoned Pawn, 7…0-0 8. Bd3 Nbc6 or 8…f5 in those locked positions are really not very scary. I think some of the most beautiful positions in chess arise from the 8…Nbc6 line–the game transforms into a battle of attrition, where, as whereto Berg alluded in the excerpt Introduction, strategic manouevring, combined with a high intuition to balance attack and defence, is of utmost importance. Sometimes the middlegame positions look like stalemates, but they can be as rich and exciting as the King’s Indian Mar Del Plata Variation. Herefore I really anticipate this particular volume of Berg’s French series.

    This might sound ridiculous, but the French lines are similar to KID lines. Just that in French its a queenside attack..and with a similar break ..c5 (just like …f5 in the KID)
    So you are right that it can be as exciting as the Mar Del Plata

  63. Gilchrist is a Legend

    I have noticed that the order page of Playing the French has changed from “Provisional Release” to “Published” now, so I suppose it is ready tomorrow. Good news–cannot wait for my hardback order.

  64. This is the closest I could come to finding the correct area for this comment…

    I picked up the Kotronias KID book this weekend from a local bookstore, and I was reading the introduction. Kotronias talks about a cafe where he eavesdropped on two women talking. I can’t remember the spelling, and don’t have book in hand, but the name of the cafe looked incredibly odd. Is that the actual name, or was that a font problem with Greek???

  65. I hope the Tal Books will be available in harbound. All game collections for that matter should have a hardback version.

  66. I bought Playing the French today and my first impression (after half an hour in the train) is: utterly brilliant! The verbal explanations are very good i.m.o.. I also like the excersises at the beginning of the chapters. The variations also look good (at least the variations I already know, i.e. Advance Euwe and MacCutcheon with …Kf8). My compliments!! The only problem is that now I’m spoilt for choice, between the solid, positionally founded reportoire in Playing the French and the sharper, more double-edged reportoire advocated by Berg. I guess I’ll use both, depending on my opponent and the occasion :-). At least I’m very much tempted to switch from 3…Nf6 to 3…c5 against the Tarrasch…

    PS: I also finally came around to buying Kotronias on the King’s Indian last week, and it’s brilliant as well! I’m very much looking forward to the other volumes and hope sales are high enough to justify full coverage of the King’s Indian. While the book is dense in variations, I think Kotronias did a very nice job in the chapter summaries, pointing out which vairations to commit to memory and which variations can be played by studying the principles. Funny detail: Kotronias recommends not playing the King’s Indian all the time since it asks a lot of energy and suggests playing the occasional Slav, which also happens to be in my reportoire :-). To be fair, the Slav contains many sharp variations too, and I’m not sure if I would prefer the Exchange King’s Indian over the Exchange Slav.

  67. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Ray
    How do you like 4…Be7 and 3…c5 in the book in general? My order has been shipped, but not arrived yet. I think it shall arrive soon though, but still I do not have it.

  68. @Gilchrist is a Legend
    I definitely like the chapter on the Tarrasch with 3…c5, but 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 is less my cup of tea to be honest. In the main line white has a slight edge which Nikos claims will disappear within a few moves (why not analyse until = has been reached then, I wondered?). It’s probably not too difficult to draw with black, but winning is something else. I prefer the MacCutcheon, since it gives black more winning chances and unbalanced positions which are more to my taste.

  69. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Ray
    I suppose that both are included for style or depending on opponent, 4…Be7 and 4…Bb4 are almost like different openings. How do you think 3…c5 is after the big main line 12. Bb3? I think Jacob mentioned that after 12. Qe2, then 12…h6. But I felt that in this line the main trial for Black is to develop the kingside smoothly without having the wrecked kingside structure with Bg5/Bxf6, or having to play against a kingside/centre attack.

    Do you think you could play 3…c5 now? Lately have I been switching almost constantly with 3…Be7, 3…c5 (both 4…exd5 and 4…Qxd5), and 3…Nf6/11…Qc7, but I never settled on a choice.

  70. @Gilchrist is a Legend
    I think the main line with 12…h6 looks healthy for black. I’m indeed seriously considering switching from 3…Nf6 to 3…c5. The positions with 3…c5 look more solid / positionally founded than after 3…Nf6, and they look easier to play. I especially have a very bad score in the line with …Qc7 against positionally oriented opponents who avoid the lines with an exchange sacrifice on f3. The advantage of 3…c5 is that in the main line white has to attack because otherwise he ends up in a worse position (it’s like a Sicilian).

  71. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Ray
    You mean 12. Qe2 h6, but also 12. Bb3 h6 as well? I suppose …h6 is the key as a prophylatic measure in the style of Nimzowitsch to avoid the Bg5 manoeuvre with the Bxf6 idea before castling; I have not seen this before in the database, so this shall be very interesting to read.

    In 3…Nf6, when I saw 11…0-0 when I played this when I was a 1l e4 player, I knew that I would be comfortable because I play very positionally herein. Even when I was 2200 I never lost, with draws against two IMs, one where for some reason I messed up a won position–but, yes positional players will enjoy playing herewith. However, 11…Qc7 I find much more dynamic. White can avoid the exchange sacrifice line with moving the e2 knight, usually to g3 or c3, but I suppose Black can play …Nf4, which is not always possible in 11…0-0, and if it is possible, the disadvantage is that White usually achieves Bf4 to exchange the bishop on d6, a major positional goal. In 11…Qc7, try for ideas like …Be8/Bh5. I found that when playing this as White years ago, trying to create a positional advantage by preventing …e5 breaks and counterplay was generally more difficult than with 11…0-0.

    But 3…c5 definitely is like Sicilian–it basically looks like the Sozin Variation where White plays the early e5 lines and then plays exd6 Bxd6. In that line, as usual in the Sicilian, Black has good long-term prospects, and White must play for a kingside attack. Possibly this might be my new line for the Tarrasch as well. 3…Be7 is interesting, but I never know exactly how the theoretical evaluations are, especially with those odd lines where Black moves his king to f8 on move 5, i.e. 3. Nd2 Be7 4. e5 c5 5. Qg4 Kf8.

  72. @Gilchrist is a Legend
    No sorry, I mixed things up. Against 12.Bb3 the old main line with …Bd6 and some hair-raising complications is recommmended, which suits me fine :-).

    You may be right about 11…Qc7, but the fact is I have a very bad score with it (and against the Tarrasch in general, as a matter of fact). Therefore maybe some fresh air would be good.

  73. @Ray
    I am obviously astounded by the fact that someone would suggest that we did not analyse enough for the French book. We cut out about 300 pages worth of stuff! The book has everything we think is needed to play the opening for all but a handfull of players in the world. I know 2600s who have bought the book (though I have not yet received any feedback). I think it is deep enough.

  74. PS: I guess I was just struck by the wording, not so much by a lack of variations. I guess I’m of the opinion that if a position is inevitably equal within a few moves, it is also equal at this moment. Logically I think you can’t claim white has an edge on move x and it will be equal on move y. Anyway, I’m probably just rambling, sorry.

  75. Hello Ray and thank you for the great words about the book. In which place you thought that a few moves would be helpfull? Maybe at page 353 perhaps? There i mention that next the Bishop goes to c6 and the ..b4 idea is always in the air. I guess we cold insert indeed a sample line in that case but i am not sure it is a great omission either because there is not a clear line of play.

    Maybe some time soon, i’ll prepare some of the chapters that didn’t pass the final editing phase for all of you to download them for free. At least this was an idea we had discussed with Jacob at some point.

  76. @Nikos Ntirlis
    Indeed, that’s the page I was referring to. In the left column below you state that white has a tiny edge whereas in the summary in the right hand column you state that with accurate play black can minimize his disadvantage and eventually make it disappear. The latter statement i.m.o. begs for a concrete proof. But really, I’m just nitpicking an almost flawless book!

    Would be great by the way to publish the ‘lost files’ :-). I would gladly buy an addendum of 300 pages!

  77. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Ray
    True, 3…c5 I remember hearing as a young tournament player equalises, i.e. 3. Nd2 c5! =. I am not sure who exactly stated this (or probably a few people), but maybe they are right.

  78. @Ray:

    Chapter on the exchange? Which one? I see there are three of them!

    I am not sure how Jacob is counting the pages, but reffering to word pages, the cut ones are about 400-450 and not 300. Certainly many of them couldn’t have got into the book anyway (for example the many secondary choices, the intro chapter about my favorite French Defence games of all time or the “Nakamura Variation” of rhe Steinitz line which is too “professional” for my taste -too much theory and essentially Black is only playing for a draw- etc), so indeed i guess that the real count is about 300.

    In any case, shaping them up for being offered even for free, requires some extra work, so i guess that it will take some time before i get to work on them again. But i promise i’ll do some time soon.

  79. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Nikos Ntirlis
    Since my childhood tournament years, I remember hearing about the Tarrasch, “3. Nd2 c5! =”, is this your opinion too? Various people who bought the book here, like Ray, and I as well, are considering switching to 3…c5 permanently, although most of my experience with this line is more with 4…exd5 (wherewith I have insofar not lost). The main lines always reminded me of the Najdorf Sozin lines where White plays early e5 lines. It also reminds me slightly of the Rubinstein Variation, except that here Black has more counterplay.

    Also I like 4…Be7, but somehow I think that 4…Bb4 and 4…dxe4 are more popular, not sure why. Do you think the line with …a6 shall be more popular soon?

    I like 7…a6, but I have been playing 7…Be7–was this considered, or discarded due to its heavy buildup of theory due to recent high popularity?

  80. @Nikos Ntirlis
    All three of them, but especially the chapter on breaking the symmetry. Until now I used to follow Watson’s recommendation answering Nf3 with …Nc6, but I agree with you that …c5 is more positionally founded.

  81. @LE BRUIT QUI COURT
    The explanations are really top-notch I think, and typesetting is at the usual high Quality Chess standard. Throughout the book positonally sound variations are recommended, accompanied by very clear explanations of the plans.

  82. @Gilchrist is a Legend
    The Karpov-Korchnoi matched had made an impact, so yes in my childhood as well i was told that 3.Nd2 c5 (with …exd5) is equal. This was the opinion expressed in the most influential Greek book of all times, written in the 70s (which had a brief coverage of the most important openings). Also, Tiviakov, in his latest DVD expressed the opinion that only 3…c5 equalises for Black. Obviously Berg is going to challenge this opinion.

    I discuss in the book the 7…Be7 continuation and i think that Black is close to equal, but nit quite there.

  83. Gilchrist is a Legend

    Brief first impressions of Playing the French:

    I have received my hardback copy today, and I think this is my favourite book of 2013, and most likely on my most favourite list for all time–I am very pleasantly surprised with the Advance choice: 5…Bd7 6. a3 c4, with the positional, blocked positions. Not many repertoire books covered this, so this is a very fresh choice to learn.

    Skimming over 3…c5 and its chapters, I am more convinced to play 3…c5 exclusively now. Being a Sicilian player for over one decade, these positions and pawn structures are nothing difficult nor foreign for me. The novelties are very fresh as well and complement the positions.

    4…Be7 section has a mass of new material, ideas, lines, theory, etc. that wherewith I am not familiar at all, but again, the plan with 7…a6/8…Nb6 is more fresh ideas again, and 4…Be7 will feature in my repertoire again. McCutcheon Variation with both 6. Bd2 and I like one whole chapter for both 6. Bc1 and 6. Be3, and another chapter for the other alternatives. Again very good.

    The 7…a6 Steinitz is seriously detailed–slightly more than 55 pages devoted to this complex. I appreciate showing why the other seventh moves (and also other discarded choices) were not selected in a brief explanation to know why. It also helps understanding the recommended line instead.

    The Exchange Variation with 4…c5 is very interesting, and something that I have never considered before. The IQP positions remind me of the Tarrasch, and seeing who the authors are, that should not be surprising. But this is a good way to really play for a win from the start.

    Also interesting is accepting the pawn sacrifice from the annoying Wing Gambit–I usually play 4…c4, and when 4…cxb4, I usually mess up. But the lines in the book seem simple and uncomplicated here.

    Excellent, and the book probably shall never end up on my shelf–simply because I would carry it with me too often. Were it marked by university standards, I would give it a first class honours with distinction.

    But now I shall go and read Chapter 20. This book and the three Berg volumes will equal at least 1500 pages of French repertoire. Often they say too much of a good thing is bad, but not here..

  84. I don’t think anyone will memorize some of the lines by Berg (which require theory and not only plans)
    But Playing the French can be easily memorized. A nice way to build a really strong repertoire against 1.e4 is this book. I like it better than GM Repertoire of the French, because I do not have such a good memory to memorize so many lines.
    Of course Berg’s analysis is excellent as well and I do not mean to offend him in any way

  85. Are there any plans for a Nimzo/Bogoindian repertoire like the one coming up from everyman?
    Really looking forward for the GM-repertoire 1.e4 books!

  86. Bebbe :
    Are there any plans for a Nimzo/Bogoindian repertoire like the one coming up from everyman?
    Really looking forward for the GM-repertoire 1.e4 books!

    If only!

  87. Nick :

    Bebbe :Are there any plans for a Nimzo/Bogoindian repertoire like the one coming up from everyman?Really looking forward for the GM-repertoire 1.e4 books!

    If only!

    Agreed!!!

  88. Gilchrist is a Legend

    Both Berg’s and Playing the French repertoire are both excellent; the nature of GM Repertoire is always more detailed than GM Guide, so of course more memorisation would be required. But it does not affect how good the book is. And then there are two more French books by Berg to come soon, so French players have literally almost 1500 pages to read: 326 (GM14) + 464 (PTF) + 304 (GM15) + probably 300 pages at least (GM16)–basically a French Defence encyclopaedia repertoire.

  89. @Bebbe
    We have no plans of copying anything Everyman is doing. But we will publish a Nimzo-Indian GM Repertoire in 2014 I hope. This time I believe it will happen!

  90. Excellent news! I recommend starting new threads (if not entire new websites) for “author speculation”, “choice of variation speculation” and “publishing date speculation”….

  91. Jacob Aagaard :
    @Bebbe
    We have no plans of copying anything Everyman is doing. But we will publish a Nimzo-Indian GM Repertoire in 2014 I hope. This time I believe it will happen!

    Great news because I recently added NID to my repertoire! 🙂

  92. @Jacob Aagaard

    Great news indeed! To form a 1.d4 repertoire the Benoni GM repertoire could be used aginst both 3.Nf3 and 3.g3. However, in my opinion the Nimzo should be complemented with QID or the Bogo. Both these openings have more strategical and tactical ideas in common with the NID than the Benoni.

  93. I also think that it would be nice to combine a Nimzo-Rep with QID or Bogo. There is also the idea to play the Ragozin combined withe a …d5-based Nimzo…….- it would be really nice!!!
    And yes: Come on e4-books….I´am waiting for you already so long!

  94. I’m also anxious to see the 1.e4 books, even though I switched to 1.d4 sveral years ago. I’m just curious to see how the authors will keep the reportoire manageable and not 13 volumes like the Openings for White according to Anand series. By the way, Kornev states in his reportoire book on 1.d4 that 1.e4 is no sensible option for amateurs – I wonder what Quality Chess will come up with to counter that statement :-).

  95. @ Ray
    Nimzo combined with QGD is also a very good option, but I like perhaps most the idea of Nimzo/Ragozin….
    I don´t think that John have a problem to show many sensible options with 1.e4- just playing aktive and safe. But the `Secret author`have perhaps more problems to solve….

  96. @wolfsblut, ever since I came across the book, The Ragozin Complex by Vladimir Barsky, I have been interested in the Ragozin. But as you pointed out, Ragozin needs to be paired with a complementary defence to complete the repertoire. I had a look at the NID base don suggestions on ChessPub and elsewhere. But like you, it would be really good if someone can write a book combining both. Yes, I should be able to do it myself using databases etc but I guess we are too lazy!
    But the question I wanted to ask is whether you (or anyone else on the blog) know of a player who regularly plays the Ragozin combined with a NID. I guess I am looking for a chess “hero” to model my repertoire after as suggested in various books.

  97. PS I am also looking forward to the Playing 1 e4 books. My son has recently gone back to 1 e4 after dabbling with 1 d4 and the books will be good reference for him. If the books are written similar to the TKG book, I will be very happy.

    1. 2 volumes of 3-400 pages each in John’s typical style. Brutal and to the point. He is the no nonsense guy in the office…

  98. Ray :
    I’m just curious to see how the authors will keep the reportoire manageable and not 13 volumes like the Openings for White according to Anand series.

    14 🙂

  99. Gilchrist is a Legend

    I am quite anticipating the GM17 Slav book, since there are very few repertoire books for this particular variation, the 4…dxc4 line. There are books for Semi-Slav, QGD, etc., but the old, solid 4…dxc4 is definitely a good repertoire. It complements the French books well I think. I wonder if Exchange Variation and 3. Nc3 are there, or just start from 4…dxc4.

  100. @Gilchrist is a Legend
    Me too. There are Sakaev’s books, but they are quite messy / sloppy at places i.m.o. I hope the book will start at move 3, because otherwise there will be a gap that is not covered by other QC books (unless of course there will be two volumes by Avrukh). And 3.Nc3 is quite challenging. If black doesn’t want to play a Meran the best option seems 3…dxc4, but this is not that easy for black as advocated by Kornev in his recent book. Watson proposes 3.Nc3 as well, so it definitely seems something to cover.

  101. @Gilchrist is a Legend
    Many players indeed do this, but I feel the type of play in these two openings is quite different. If you like the Benoni, I think at the moment there is no reason anymore to avoid the lines without Nf3 and it seems a bit awkward to learn the Nimzo just to avoid these lines. On the other hand, if you love the Nimzo but don’t like the Queen’s Indian or Bogo, i.m.o. the Ragozin or other QDC lines are more in the same solid positionally based style as the Nimzo. But in the end it’s all a matter of taste of course :-).

  102. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Ray
    True, especially after reading GM12, I feel that the Taimanow line in the Modern Benoni is like any other line. I actually have more problems playing against the Fianchetto and the Nge2 lines than that line. Maybe Ragozin with the book by Barsky is an option with a Nimzo book. The Queen’s Indian and Bogo Indian are tremendously solid, especially the latter, but I have not seen a recent repertoire book, or many to be honest, on those two. Although for the QGD, I think it is the opposite–QGD players who want to avoid the 3. Nc3 lines can play the Nimzo via that order: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 or 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 d5, avoiding 3. Nc3 d5. If I had to play the QGD with 3. Nc3, I much prefer 3…Be7.

  103. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Ray
    It would be nice if the book starts at move three. The Exchange Slav happens quite often below 2500, and I remember in my childhood tournament years, this happened probably at least 50% of my Slav games back then. 3. Nc3 is quite annoying, and I never really know which line to play thereagainst. 3…dxc4 is a major main line, and it can lead to sometimes crazy complications (although, granted, not as crazy as Najdorf Poisoned Pawn or Botwinnik Semi-Slav), but Black’s pawns can get to c3 or b3, or both, etc.

    3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 is obviously no problem, but 4. e3 is very annoying. I was thinking to learn the Meran and transpose via 4…e6, but such a massive amount of theory into a different opening for what is not even the major main line, felt slightly excessive. 3…e6, transposing to either some sort of QGD exchange after 4. cxd5, or the Marshall Gambit after 4. e4, or basically, transposing to the Triangle Variation just for 3. Nc3, seems even more excessive than just the Meran. I think that there is that gambit line with 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 that has been analysed here as well, but I am not familiar therewith. One of the reasons that I do not play the Slav too regularly is that for some lines like these, I am not sure which line to play. And I have not studied 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nc4 Qc7, since I used to play 7…Nb6. But I suppose Avrukh might choose 7…Qc7. I also wonder what Avrukh would recommend against the major main lines like 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. 0-0 0-0 9. Qe2, then 9…Bg4 or the old and solid 9…Bg6.

  104. @Gilchrist is a Legend
    You forgot to mention 3…f5, but I’m not too fond of it myself. I play 3…dxc4, but it can indeed become quite complicated. The main lines with 7…Qc7 / 11…g5 and 6.e3 with 9…Bg6 are no problem for black i.m.o.

  105. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Ray
    3…f5 looks like a Stonewall almost, definitely not what I want to play from a Slav. 3…e6, 3…Nf6 4. e3 e6, all lead to transpositions to openings, some even more theoretical than the Slav itself, 3…e5 I would not play, so 3…dxc4 looks logical here. However, Avrukh always recommends good lines, so whatever it is, is good anyway. Probably Avrukh recommends 7…Qc7/11…g5, but I have never studied that line; perhaps it is more active than 7…Nb6.

    I am not sure if it is two volumes, but somehow I doubt it. If it were, then maybe third move alternatives, Exchange Variation, 4th move alternatives constitute one volume, then the other, 4…dxc4 and everything thereafter. A two-volume Slav repertoire would be fairly large, but he did have two volumes for the Grünfeld. But I think it was said that GM17 (one book) releases next month.

  106. @Gilchrist is a Legend
    I play 7…Qc7 / 11…g5. It’s one of my favourite lines, but unfortunately I rarely get the chance to play it (most opponents play sidelines or avoid the Slav alltogether). In the last 7 years I have had one serious game with this line and one game in a rapid tournament. I won both games :-).

  107. @Jacob Aagaard would it be possible to have a “Play the King’s Indian Defence” book as well as the Kotronias series? I would definitely buy such a book, there hasn’t been a KI repertoire book in a few years now. I think I have seen Nikolaos (Ntirlis) write in the chesspub forums that he has been studying the KI. Perhaps you could consider doing a collaboration together on it and recommending strategic lines.

  108. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Ray
    It would be nice to return to the Slav. I remember when I was younger, I played the Classical Slav exclusively. True, it was either sidelines, Exchange Slav, or sidelines within the Slav. Between 1999 and 2004 or so, I won with 9. Qe2 Bg6 and 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nc4 Nb6, but I think those were my only games with those lines…

  109. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Jacob Aagaard
    It should be a very good book, like all of the others by Avrukh. I have a feeling it would be a big book. I can see its red and beige cover from the QC brochure that I received with my order of Playing the French.

  110. Jacob Aagaard :
    We will consider this; but don’t expect immediate action!

    This is a wonderful idea. I’ve always had a soft spot for Gallagher’s book – at the time it was my bible, and I’m still studying and enjoying the KID what must be around a decade or so later!

  111. I was wondering if there is still the intention to have the Carlsen and Polgar books at the London Chess Classic, and if so what day (am thinking of going later in the week)? Any chance of the 2nd Berg book in hardcover being there too?

  112. Gilchrist is a Legend

    I notice today that GM15 and Polgar’s book changed from “Expected” to “Published”–is it earlier than expected?

  113. @Paul
    No Berg. The first two will be there on the 14th after 5pm for sure, which is when we will officially publish Judit’s 2nd book. The Carlsen book might even arrive on the 13th. As they have been so nice to us over the years, we though they got to get it at this event a bit early, although it will not be available through the shop till the 18th.

  114. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Jacob Aagaard
    I ordered a websale for GM15, but Claire sent me an e-mail saying that since I pre-ordered GM14 before it was split into three volumes, a copy of GM15 would be free–is this the same for GM16 as well, or do I have to order GM16?

    Anyway, I said that the two copies of GM15 were fine, so I was guessing that my websale purchase of GM15 was not posted yet because clarification was needed.

  115. Antic & Maksimovic recomend in “The Modern French” 4. c3 for White in the exchange variation to avoid the 4…c5-lines. Is it covered in “Playing the French”?

  116. @ Aagaard
    Any chance to get some news if Kotronias is working the next volume about the KID ?
    Reason for asking: I see Kotronias is scheduled to do a GM Rep. book, but no trace of the other one ? Did he change his mind about making a second one, or is it too much effort ?

  117. Gilchrist is a Legend

    I think that might be covered in page 134, via transposition: 4. Bd3 c5 5. c3 with a further either Nf3 or Ne2.

    It appears that GM15 is almost set to be a Christmas present–ships probably Monday, should arrive by Christmas for everyone at the latest. That 7. Qg4 0-0 8. Bd3 Nbc6 section looks quite intruiguing.

  118. @Gilchrist is a Legend
    Perhaps, but if white has a better move than 5.Bd3 after 4.c3 c5?

    I’m looking foward to studying Berg part 2 during my Christmas holidays :-). I’m currently working through Playing the French and it always strikes me how interesting the French is :-).

  119. @phil collins
    Of course it is covered, but instead of examining every legal move we have tried to provide guidlines of how to play the position. The …c5 idea is good only when the Bishop is at d6, just as the c4 idea is good when Black’s Bishop goes to d6.

    Black has two other ways to play the position with the knight at f6. The one is the pure symmetrical way, but with the idea to introduce some slight imbalance later, if wanted, and a try to leave the d6-square for the Queen by putting the Bishop at e7 after which two plans are possible: with or without the knight at c6.

    One cannot possibly force White to avoid drawish lines in all major openings, so the French Exchange is not an exception, but i believe that we have provided a good base for the Black player to seize every opportunity that will be given to him.

    By the way, 4.c3 is definately an inferior move. White’s best is 4.Nf3 and if White wants to gain anything from his first move priviledge, imho he should play 4.Nf3. I actually have played a couple of times this myself. Kasparov’s and Morphy’s games were an inspiration!

  120. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Ray
    I am not sure what else White can do except at some point playing Bd3 or Nf3 or Ne2, because something like 4. c3 c5 5. dxc5 simply looks poor, helps Black develop without forcing a waste of tempo on the bishop. 5. Qe2+ Be6, 5. Bb5+ Bd7 or 5…Nc6. I think as French Defence players, we have more to worry about lines like the Winawer 7. Qg4 or the Chatard Attack or McCutcheon 6. Bd2/8. Qg4 though, Black’s position looks fine in that 4. c3 line.

    I rechecked the publishing schedule, GM15 is for Wednesday next week in the shops, and Monday (two days before) for websales. I am not even close to finishing Playing the French though, so I suppose I have more readnig to do.

  121. The exact move order with 4.c3 is not covered, but it will certainly transpose to the lines examined in the two chapters, unless White plays a not-threatening set-up with the knight at e2 which i think that indeed is not covered. What i meant is that the IDEAS for Black are covered, so he wouldn’t mind see second-rated moves.

  122. Bought the Polgar book at the London Chess Classic at the weekend and after a day or so with it I can happily say it is even better than the first (mainly due to the higher level of the games/opponents in this one).

    Very nearly bought the Carlsen book. A very lovely piece of work about, overall, a quite dull match which effectively only spanned handful of competitive games (IMHO). Flicking through it I couldn’t help thinking that this should have been a tournament book on the much more interesting Candidates tournament that preceded the WCC final. Obviously this would have been a much more demanding project………..

  123. @Matt

    Re “Carlsen’s Assault on the Throne”: I know you said you flicked through it, so I guess it was just a quick look. Did you see that the book includes a lot about the London Candidates? I would agree that London was more dramatic than Chennai. We have many behind-the-scenes stories about the London part, as Sotiris Logothetis was right there on the stage.

  124. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Ray
    That is very fast–how did you study the notes to the moves so quickly, or did you just enter the bold moves to the database?

    Good to see also, GM15 today is now in the “Opening” section out from the “Coming Soon” section. Also the GM16 (Vol. 3) cover is out for pre-order.

  125. @Gilchrist is a Legend
    I entered all the moves in my database – not just the bold moves. It took me more or less two full days. But like I said, I already have a big database with my French reportoire. So e.g. for the MacCutcheon the amount of new material I had to enter was fairly limited. Similarly for the Advance, and with Berg’s book on the Winawer. The Tarrasch took most of my time, because I didn’t so far have 3…c5 in my reportoire. But I don’t think you can call it ‘study’ – at this stage I just entered the variations in my database. I’m only really studying in preparation for league games.

    I’m currently looking into Kotronias’ book on the King’s Indian Fianchetto, which is simply brilliant. For this book I will have to make a selection – for most chapters I will just enter the bold moves, and for some memory-heavy chapters (as indicated by Kotronias in the chapter summaries) I will enter all variations.

  126. @John Shaw

    John

    I did see that there was plenty of material on the Candidates in the Carlsen book which was really what caused me to say what I said. However, I think the authors did a great job with the material (i.e the games themselves) they had to work with.

    I also really liked (first impressions) of the Kings Indian book and Play the French but had to remind myself that I play neither opening and calmly put them down and walk away………

    Any temptation to schedule a tournament book on the 2014 Candidates?

  127. Hi, I was wondering for your future releases section, is there a difference between “expected” and “provisional” (some have “expected” early 2014, others “provisional” early 2014). I’m guessing the semantics are expected implies more certainty, but not 100% sure.

  128. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Ray
    That sounds like a massive database. I am not a very technological person despite being in my 20s, I even had a complete hardware failure two months ago, so I usually just study the book with the ChessBase board as if it were a physical board. Last year I also had one hardware failure, and my old computer system became completely kapot, so I suppose that databases are not the best for me.

    Also, just today, in Coming Soon section, GM17 Slav has been added, in addition to GM16 from yesterday. I think that I shall pre-order them both very soon…

    My websale for GM15 shipped yesterday, just as predicted–I suppose Christmas shall be spent reading Berg’s and Nikos/Jacob’s book.

  129. @Gilchrist is a Legend
    Too bad, because putting it in a database really saves an immense amount of time in keeping your reportoire up-to-date and in preparing for serious games. It’s really not that difficult if you have good software and a modern computer :-).

  130. By the way, great to see that Avrukh is making such quick progress with his book on the Slav. ‘Beginning of 2014’ sounds like january or so! I wonder what he will recommend against his own recommendations for white with 4.e3…

  131. @Matt
    Maybe you could make it your hobby to read through opening books, so you can also buy them if you don’t play the opening :-). I have the entire GM reportoire series, even if I play only half of it. I admit it may sound weird to buy these books just for fun, but I guess there are more expensive ways to go through one’s midlife crisis :-).

  132. Gilchrist is a Legend

    @Ray
    That is the problem, I have a modern computer (a new one I bought last year as well), but I seem to mess up often that the system fails. I have Windows 7, but the hardware just failed suddenly in October. In 2006, my computer lost not only its entire internal battery, five keys from the keyboard, its volume, and hardware. I could try again though this database stuff. I usually am a “typewriter” or “rotary dial” type of man…

    “Beginning of 2014” I hope means January. The Forward Chess publishing schedule has it for January, so I suppose so.

    I remember that it was said that Berg would not recomend 13…Qf7 in the absolute main line of the 7…0-0 8. Qg4 Nbc6 Winawer. The only other move that I know is 13…Bd7, but I do not know much thereabout, except from Watson’s book. I suppose I would find out next week though.

  133. Not the correct thread, but there is a picture of Carlsen’s hotel room in Chennai in the latest New in Chess. A copy of Vol 2 of Avrukh’s book on d4 is very visible.

  134. Alexander :
    @ Aagaard
    Any chance to get some news if Kotronias is working the next volume about the KID ?
    Reason for asking: I see Kotronias is scheduled to do a GM Rep. book, but no trace of the other one ? Did he change his mind about making a second one, or is it too much effort ?

    I wonder this too. I was considering buying the KID book, but no point, if only the fianchetto is covered.

  135. @Michael Nielsen

    Kotronias will cover the other KID lines in future books. We don’t have a fixed date for this, so don’t want to say too much. But it would make no sense to cover just the fianchetto and stop there.

    Re Alexander’s comment “Did he change his mind about making a second one, or is it too much effort?” For GM Kotronias on opening analysis, there is no such thing as “too much effort”.

  136. Paul Brøndal :
    A bit off-topic but the review of Pump up Your Rating is very nice and deserved IMO: http://www.chesscafe.com/Reviews/review918.htm

    That’s a bit of an odd review. At least it is from a fairly strong player (at least, much stronger than most of the book reviewers at ChessCafe). I just received the book, and after 50 pages I must admit that I do not perceive any of this joylessness that Avni seems to bemoan. In fact the writing is quite witty and Smith seems like he would be a pleasant person to have a couple of beers with (although perhaps the topic of conversation would have to be chess, I don’t know). Given Avni’s written output (which is excellent) I suspect that he occupies the other end of the spectrum of chess-as-sport vs chess-as-art, which would understandably make him uncomfortable with the way Smith approaches the game.

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