A quick updated publishing schedule for Winter/Spring 2014. There are a lot of projects down the road that have not been forgotten. Kotronias has worked a lot on the KID and we hope a Mar Del Plata book will be ready late spring, but who knows. It is a big project. Also, GM6A and GM6B will happen. We have dates and material ready for working on it. We have long term plans for books on the Nimzo and QID, but again, long term has not been a stable experience for us.As always, this is the intentions; reality might be very different. Who knows :-).
| Boris Avrukh | GM Repertoire 17 – Classical Slav | January/February |
| Danny Gormally | Mating the Castled King | February/March |
| Jacob Aagaard | Grandmaster Preparation – Endgame Play | February/March |
| Tibor Karolyi | Mikhail Tal’s best games 1 – The Magic of Youth | February/March |
| Tiger Hillarp-Persson | The Modern Tiger | February/March |
| Emanuel Berg | Grandmaster Repertoire 16 – The French Defence Vol 3 | Winter |
| John Shaw | Playing 1.e4 – A Grandmaster Guide – Caro-Kann, 1…e5 & Minor Lines | Winter |
| John Shaw | Playing 1.e4 – A Grandmaster Guide – Sicilian & French | Spring |
| Jacob Aagaard | Grandmaster Preparation – Thinking Inside the Box | Spring/Summer |
| Tibor Karolyi | Mikhail Tal’s best games 2 – World Champion | Spring |
| Vassilios Kotronias | GM Repertoire 18 – Sveshnikov | Spring |
| xxx | Grandmaster Repertoire 21 – 1.e4 French, Caro-Kann & Philidor | Spring |
Great!
It is not easy for my pocket but I hope to see the titles in the Forward Chess App at the same time, as well as the more ancient publications.
@Manuel
Most of them at more or less the same time. But the conversion does take time…
Great! Looks like another expensive year, but I’m not complaining :-). Good to hear Kotronias’ KID project is progressing well. Can you tell us when you will reveal the identity of xxx? I feel like I’m in an episode of Battlestar Galactica :-).
@Ray
When I have the book. He is a very theoretical top 100 player, but this is really all I want to say at this point.
This information is good enough for me to speculate on! Possibilities include:
PH Nielsen
Gawain Jones
Emil Sutovsky
Victor Bologan
Andrei Volokitin
Luke McShane
Judit Polgar
Alexei Shirov
Ernesto Inarkiev
Francisco Vallejo Pons
I left off a slew of Top 25 players, mostly because none of them ever write books, and because I speculate that Jacob might have said a number less than 100 if the writer was Top 25-50. A few of the above can likely be eliminated because they never write books, don’t speak English, don’t play 1.e4, or don’t fit into the “he” classification!
My guess would be between Jones or Bologan. McShane, Sutovsky, Inarkiev, Shirov or Vallejo Pons would be an amazing score for QC and their readers, though these seem less likely for various reasons!
Nice to see so many GM Repertoires, with GM17 at the top. The only Christmas presents that I receive are usually from myself, so nothing new–at least I have more presents this time though.
Are the Nimzo-QID book(s) GM Reps or GM Guides?
My guess is Peter Heine-Nielsen
Do you have any information about the lines which are covered for white in the two Playing e4 books by John Shaw? Will 3. d4 be the main weapon against the sicilian and will it be Ruy Lopez, Scotch or something else which will be the focus for white against e5? Will it be a relatively aggressive repertoire? Please tell a little bit about them!
@TonyRo
Maybe we can start a poll :-).
@Boki
I thought he was a 1.d4-player?
@Paul Brøndal
If I remember correctly from earlier threads, it will be Scotch against 1…e5, Open Sicilian, but nu the most theory-heavy / sharp lines (speculation was on lines with Be2, but that has not been confirmed), Tarrasch against the French, and main line against the Caro-Kann. They seem to aim for a reportoire with a sound positional basis, but ambitious enough at the same time. In the GM Reportoire books they will go ‘ for the kill’ (or similar words Jacob has used), i.e., Ruy Lopez, Caro-Kann Advance, Open Sicilian aggressive main lines, French 3.Nc3.
sorry, typo – I meant ‘not’ , not ‘nu’!
@Ray
Thanks, Ray!
@Tom
One of each. But let us see what happens.
@Paul Brøndal
You’re welcome!
@TonyRo
@Jacob Aagaard
I think Jacob lied at os or he fürgot the s. 😉 It’s not he it’s she. 🙂 It’s Judit Polgar. 🙂
Greetings and a nice Christmas.
@Jacob: Just kidding …
Will the classic slav gm rep 17 contain the alternatives against the colle, london, and other minor systems?
Dear Jacob and friends,
Wanted to suggest an idea for a product that you might consider. I was recently trying out a flash-card based approach to training tactics, and found that this was useful but limited because I knew in advance that every problem had a tactical answer. Really what I wanted was a mix of problems — some tactics, some endings, some middlegame, some strategy…
I ended up making flash cards out of Yusupov’s three orange books, using photo-copies of the diagrams (without chapter numbers or stars), one each of the front of cards, and photo-copies of the solution and chapter number on the back. Shuffling them up gives a great mix of problems for training. And when I get one wrong or done understand something I can also go back to review the supporting material from the book which helps reinforce the chapters.
Anyway, I think others might like to buy flash-card versions of the Yusupov exercises. I certainly would for the blue books (and green books when I get there). Is this something you’d consider producing and selling?
Thanks as always for all of the wonderful work you do.
Cheers,
D.
Just got my copy of GM15 today.
First impression: Outstanding!
Winawer with 7Qg4 is super
The chapters of the PP variation are super
Als the chapters about 7…-0-0 8 Bd3-f5 are very good
And the analyses about 8…-Nc6 are also very good and Original but i thing 9 Bg5 is simply too strong and also somehow i d ont believe in the new idea b5!! (according Berg)
@Franck Steenbekkers
Oh? I’m interested in your refutation of …b5! :-). It looks rather convincing to me. BUt if it doesn’t work there’s always 8…f5 as a fall-back option of course…
@d.
Dear D.
Thank you for your suggestion. I will think about this seriously. Don’t expect quick replies.
By the way, with my 2600 students I often do “sheets”‘ which are exercises that might be dynamic, defensive, positional, strategic or calculation. They have no idea of knowing what, except for their own judgement. I give an amount of time for each sheet, meaning that they have to decide where to invest their time.
It is quite remarkable that they don’t guess more at the positional exercises, but try to solve them with calculation often. Decision making is increasing your odds and not aiming at perfection.
Got side-tracked here, obviously, but just found this remotely relevant and interesting.
Maybe the flash card thing would work well as software, perhaps as a feature in Forward Chess? “Show a random exercise position from this book, without clues”. And a way to get to the answer afterwards.
@Jacob, thanks for the reply. One other thing I’ve been thinking of along these lines, but haven’t actually done myself, is that it would be great to have a few hundred flash-cards for some of your opening books as well. These could be just selected positions from various lines on the front, with a few moves of continuation on the back and notes to the relevant chapter / pages of the book. I would be much more likely to buy, say, Playing the French if I could also buy flash-cards or similar to go with it, since this would help me actually do some focused training instead of just spectating in studying openings.
@Remco G. Yeah, a software solution would also be fine. But there’s something nice about physical cards, at least for me. You can do a lot this way — take out cards you’ve proven to yourself that you know well, mix and match different sets, make little notes on the cards, and so on. All these things are possible in software as well, but the low-tech version may be just fine.
One thing that’s a little funny is that I wanted to add in positions from the Quality Chess Puzzle Book to my stack, but the diagrams are slightly different sizes from the ones in the Yusupov books so you can tell if one is “definitely tactics” just by the size of the diagram.
Anything on GM 17?
“GM Repertoire 17 – Classical Slav”
Hardly a surprise, as modern engines (Komodo, Stockfish, etc.) show that its very difficult to get any advantage with white. Blacks flexible paw structure guarantees good play in all lines.
One last note on this. By happy chance, Playing the French appeared under my Christmas tree the day after I wrote the above, and I was delighted to find that each chapter began with 7 or 8 puzzle / problems. As a trial of the above suggestion, I copied these onto flash cards, with the position on the front (no hints) and the page reference to the solution on the back. Shuffling these randomly and going them has been great fun and highly instructive for me. Definitely feel like I’m engaging much more with this than with the average opening book, and am getting much more out of it.
@d.
My big dream for this would be to have the 220 positions you need to know from Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual in a digital version of the flash cards. I have made my own of course, but it does not have the random element.
We will talk about this and have a discussion with Leonid to see if this can one day be a part of Forward Chess. But first he needs to turn a profit, I think :-).
GM17 I bet would be solid, a good 1. d4 choice to complement the French books. 7…Qc7/11…g5 against 6. Ne5, probably 6. e3 then 9. Qe2 Bg6 or 9…Nbd7, 4. e3 Bf5.
@Gilchrist is a Legend
Do you think that after 4. e3 it is best for black to continue along slav lines and release bishop with Bf5 or should black reply along meran lines with e6 ?
GM17 being a slav repertoire book will possibly recommend Bf5, do you think?
However e6 is a good alternative, although being semi-slav.
What are your thoughts?
I can’t wait to see what Avrukh has in store against 3.Nc3. This is the move I feel less comfy against.
About the flash Cards and software. I have been trying out this program. http://mnemosyne-proj.org/
Simply enter a lot of positions. The program will give you random positions and if you indicate that you remember them easy it will take longer before it feeds them to you aain while if you answer that the position was hard / you dont remember the correct answer, then it will feed you the position aain sooner.
I never realy entered a lot of positions because my old computer broke Down (no backup – I work with it) but i did enter some basic positional puzzles and endgame positions from an old Danish B. Larsen book (find the plan and practical end games). It worked realy well.
I have been using Mnemosyne to make chess flash cards for the last few years, during which my rating has improved significantly after a previous long plateau (although of course correlation is not causation!). I have approximately 3500 opening positions, 200 endgame positions, 900 easy tactics problems from the Manual of Chess Combinations, 250 exercises from Hellsten’s Mastering Chess Strategy, and 1100 exercises (everything through the middle of book 4) from Yusupov’s 9-book series. Because of the spaced repetition feature of Mnemosyne, I’m given only about 80 cards a day, which I can easily handle.
The bad news is if I ever somehow lose the card database or Mnemosyne stops working, I’ll have to quit chess.
I have an interesting question.
With the upcoming GM Repertoire book on the Sveshnikov,
I was wondering if you will cover Anti-Sicilian lines related to the Sveshnikov in the GM Rep 6a book on the Anti-Sicilians or will this be based on a Najdorf repertoire?
I realise that a large part of a Sveshnikov Anti-Sicilian repertoire could be used by playing lines given in ‘Experts on the Anti-Sicilian.
However there are still many lines not covered to complete a repertoire, such as 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 or 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nge2 etc.
I look forward to your response
Any idea how far away from completing the slav book?
Secondly, do you think we’re being swamped at the moment with French books. Btw I think your own recent effort with nikos is very good.
@Gilchrist is a Legend
We will include the lines very soon, when we send the book to the printer and upload a sample.
@Ed
Personally I am happy to go into the Semi-Slav. I think a Slav player should be able to switch between the two; but then I am always thinking from the perspective of a chess professional and not an amateur with limited time on his hands.
@Larsen_fan
Thank you for the hint :-).
@The Doctor
Yes
@The Doctor
To be exact; we will aim at helping all Sicilian main line players in the book, not just those playing the Najdorf or the Sveshnikov.
@andrew brett
One more weeks work.
Regarding the French: I think everyone saw a hole in the market at some point, while we just did what we felt was fun. Thus we came with books that we not necessarily that commercial; but we are not really thinking that way (when we tried, we got duly punished, so we stopped)…
Just got my first “part” of Grandmaster Preparation series: Strategic Play. Looks good!
PS. The Lipnitsky book is simply brilliant!
Pump Up Your Rating has refreshing and interesting approach but it seems to me that there are some holes. For example, positional exercise 3 (p. 26): the author believes that the right continuation is Bxf6 and b4 (i.e., accelerated minority attack). However, there is a well-known antidote Be7! Btw, the so-called Billsburys ring Ne5 and f4 does not work either, as black has strong antidote here too, namely N6d7! So the naural 0-0 seems to be the best continuation after all.
@A.Manninen
Thanks for the input. I am not personally an expert in these lines, but maybe someone else can verify this claim?
Either way, I think the possible system of improvement Axel mentions cannot be dismissed or approved based on such details. I think it is a very rich book and it has been very popular with most of those who have read it so far.
I have got a serious question about Kotronias Kings Indian-book. In the final position of B212 on page 598
(1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.Nf3 d6 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.0-0 e5 8.e4 c6 9.h3 Qb6 10.Re1 exd4 11.Nxd4 Re8 12.Nc2!? Qc7 13.Be3 a6! 14.f4!? b6! 15.Qd2 Nc5 16.Bf2 Bb7 17.Rad1 Rad8 18.b4 Ne6 with counterplay -> “chances are balanced here”
Frankly speaking i dont understand this position. The main plan b5 is hard to do. In my opinion Black is worse. Also my computer gives white a clear plus after 19.f5 Nf8 20.g4 K6d7 21.Bh4.
What should Black do?
I don’t know as i am not expert. But maybe 13…b6!? is a viable alternative to that? I may have later a deeper look at your PV.
@joflo I am not Kotronias, but to me White looks at least slightly better in the position after move 18. In addition to 21.Bh4, 21.Ne3!? with the idea of undermining the d5-square with b5 also looks reasonable, though I’m at work and I don’t have an engine on hand to check what it thinks! 😉
Black may find some way to equalize, but practically it seems difficult. If I were you, I’d heavily investigate the earlier deviations on moves 11 and 12 I think…
@joflo
Black gets the e5-square for the bishop and asks: “What should White do?” I don’t see Black as being worse, the white pieces do not flow to good squares as far as I can see. It will be a long game, where both players are waiting for a chance to change the position to their advantage.
Just my opinion.
Maybe it would be a good idea to play from this position a number of times against an engine and see if it suits you. I think Kotronias points out in his book that some of these positions are difficult to evaluate by engines, so a ‘clear’ plus after just a few moves may not be that reliable (I guess otherwise Kotronias would have noticed, since he’s also having computer assistance).
@Ray
My engine was +0.25 or so for White. Really nothing special. And the long term features were in Black’s favour (the e5-square). Also, because the position was defined by manoeuvring mainly, there is a horizon issue. I might be wrong, but I actually decided to look at the position rather than on the engine evaluation for exactly these reasons.
Your suggestions is of course great. If a position suits you is the most important issue of all…
Thank you all. I will try to understand the position with the help of your tips.
Hi GM Aagaard,
I would like to be direct to the point. When is the “Grandmaster Preparation: Endgame” going to be published? I had been waiting in vain! I had three of the Grandmaster Preparation: Calculation, Strategic, and Positional. Did not finish them yet but they had helped me tremendously! Prior to this I can’t beat Hiarcs (not even a draw) set at 1800. Now I can easily draw and missed a win against Hiarc at 2000! Heck, I even beat the expert level (2000+) computer at chess.com.
Please make it fast!
Julius
It also depends on what engine you’re using. When I got home and checked out the position in more detail, Houdini gives it around +.25 like Jacob said, and Stockfish gives it around +.8. If I recall Larry Kaufman suggested to modify Stockfish’s suggestion by 2/3 or so.
After a longer think, Houdini prefers the solid 18.a3, but I honestly didn’t find much for White in the resulting positions. I suppose the space advantage accounts for something, but with precise play it didn’t seem like Black was in a lot of trouble.
@Julius
Dear Julius. I share your pain. I have suffered and suffered and still there is a few weeks to go before we can get this book typeset and off to the printer. I promise you, my pain is not less than yours!
Meanwhile I would like to point to Attack&Defence, which is the 4th volume in the series and by no means a duffer!
All the best in 2014.
@d.
Most photocopiers above the rudimentary level allow you to increase or decrease the size of the copies. So you could adjust the size of the copies from the Yusupov diagrams to conform with the diagrams you already have.
“Either way, I think the possible system of improvement Axel mentions cannot be dismissed or approved based on such details”.
Agreed. Its a very interesting and useful book.
Is the Slav book completed? Also I saw something about GM7 (Caro-Kann) having a second print with updates, especially with 4. h4 h5 5. Bg5 on Amazon. When was there a second print and would it be advisable to purchase it if one already has the first print?
Actually the chess stores do not differentiate a first or second print, how to know which one? Do the QC webshop have the 2nd edition?
The Slav book is close to complete. Perhaps less than a week from going to the printer.
Re updates on the Caro-Kann and updates in general: we generally add all updates to a newsletter and also gather them all together in one handy file: cbv or pgn. If you go to http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/docs/16/updates/ you can download it. It even includes the annotated games from the latest blog post.
That cbv file is up to 383 games, and, for example, includes the analysis of the Caro 4.h4 h5 5.Bg5 line you mentioned. There is an e5-e6 trick that would be easy to fall for, if you have not seen the line before.
@John Shaw
Great to hear, looking forward to the Slav book (even though I’m currently also studying Kotronias’ book on the King’s Indian Fianchetto :-)). I’m also looking forward to your books on 1.e4!
John, did you see the massive review of The King’s Gambit (plus market overview plus historic sources back to Bilguer’s Handbook 8th Ed. by Schlechter) by Frank Zeller in the Schach mag? January issue I think. 10 pages, very detailed, and he thinks your book is “epochal”, whatever this means in English. 😉
@Andre
Hi Andre,
I have seen a quote or two from that review, but not the full thing yet. Thanks for reminding me. Zeller really knows his King’s Gambit, so I am interested to read his opinion.
Nice to see that GM17 is close to completion. I am not finished with reading GM15 nor GM14, nor Playing the French yet. But the Classical Slav would be a good accompaniment to the French.
The book “Mating the Castled King”.
What level rating is it targeting?
Are there exercises?
Hi John,
My improvement in chess is mostly from books written by Jusupov, Martin Wetschnik(de la maza method/Woodpecker method) and Mihail Marin. Initially I used to keep on buying books without reading them but later decided to read the books I have on hand and only buy books during christmas. This has ensured that I am actually completing and revising the books without juggling between the many books.
1) Interested in knowing what they are planning to write for QC.
2) Calculation is one part where I am very weak(kind of 1600-1700). Could you suggest, how to improve on this.
3) Also many of the books in the suggested reading list by Jusupov in his books are currently not available(Combinative Motifs, Catastrophe in the opening…). Would it be possible to publish a revised list as hinted earlier.
@88=64
Hi 88=64,
Just curious which Marin book(s) you are referring to in particular?
Thanks.
I was referring to Marin’s book on Ruy Lopez
Is there a method to open the updates file with .pdf? For some reason I cannot open neither the .cbv nor .pgn. I only have Chessbase Reader right now, and I suppose that my computer skills are as limited as someone who just started using one for home solitaire in 1986…
PDF is the file extension used by Adobe Acrobat. It’s a very comfortable portable format. All you need is the free Acrobat Reader (or one of the compatible products like Foxit Reader).
I know that the .pdf is for text and such, but my computer says that the file cannot be opened with .cbv nor .pgn. I lost my Chessbase months ago because my computer harddrive failed completely (probably another cause of my poor computer skills). So now I only have ChessBase reader. I thought that the QC updates had .pdf earlier though.
Also it looks like if the GM 17 Slav book is published this week with a release for mid-February, perhaps mid-March could be plausible for GM16 French Tarrasch/Advance/Others. Just a guess, although still I have not finished either Berg’s books or Playing the French.
@Gilchrist is a Legend
As always, you are too optimistic.
@Jacob: but those dates are quite similar to what is in your table above (you “January/February”, he “mid-February”; you “Winter”, he “mid-March”). Perhaps he’s not the only one with that habit 🙂
Was also wondering if any more Forward Chess releases are imminent?
I know there was some discussion of potential pricing structure here a while back on a discount if you bought the physical copy, which Jacob was looking into.
In terms of comparables/templates, New in Chess launched an iPad app for their magazine last week. The app (in my view) is absolutely fantastic, but the pricing structure is also interesting – I could swap my sub to electronic for free, or alternately (if I remember correctly) continue to receive the physical copy in the mail and get access to the electronic version for an extra 20 euros per year, or 25% of the sub price. If there was a way of getting the forward chess releases in a similar bundle to the physical copy with similar (or even slightly higher) mark-up would almost certainly go for it.
@Paul
It would be nice. But it seems that we would have to pay Apply 30% of the full price item and sell the book at a loss. I just cannot see a way to do it. I will maybe ask Dirk Jan how they are managing, but I am not sure they will tell us!
as far as i remember you said you would cover the scotch in the playing 1.e4 books. May i ask what line you intended to go in the g6-Branch of the Ba6-Line(at least from a statistical point of view its the mainline of the scotch). I had a lot of faith in the endgame but the more i play it the more i think its just so much nothing for white, while f4 became a bit inconvenient due to d6. greets
@Jacob Aagaard
But I am a solid pessimist–in tournament games, I analyse from my position and think that it is lost. Then if I pretend that I am my opponent with the opposing position, I still think that my position is lost…
@Larrave
d6 has killed the scotch, change your repertoire
@garryk
Or quit playing chess, Garry :-).
@garryk
PS: the Ruy Lopez is not much better than the Scotch or other white tries against 1.e4 – it’s equal as well.
@Ray
I already quit! But I left the scotch well before quitting!
@Ray
Ok…but after d6 it’s white that has to fight for equality…Dembo/Palliser said clearly in their book…Barksy omitted the line in his book…let’s see what John finds…but I doubt that line can be revived for White
@garryk
That’s true, but the endgame line that Larrave is referring to (not the f4-line with …d6!) is dead equal, isn’t it?
@Ray
I don’t know if it’s “dead equal” but it’s certainly “too equal” for my taste.
@Jacob,
maybe NiC somehow separated the price for the physical product (NiC mag) from the app content. Let’s say instead of buying 1 combo the customer is actually buying 1 mag subscription and 1 in-app item called “NiC mag online upgrade”. Then Apple gets their cut on the latter.
You could even think about physically attaching 1-use 66% off coupons to your printed books, to be used for your in-app full price offers.
@garryk
first of all, do not be so optimistic. 😉
I won the endgame many times(also lost some), however the more i play the more i think that the endgame is just like “blitz out 20 moves and make a draw against decently prepared opponent”.
Furthemore on your reference on Dembo/Palliser. The book is decent, however it has quite some holes in such a way, that it lacks own analysis and improvements(especially when they came in one line to an unsatisfactory result for white). However, you are completely wrong. They never claimed this position to be better for black ( they just dismissed a line played in a game), after giving 2 more moves rather to be very unclear and untested ( which is not satisfying at all).
@Jacob Aagaard
I think that it was post no. 60 where John said that GM17 could be finished soon, like this week.
@garryk
Both the f4 line in the Scotch and the endgame line that have been referred here are indeed something like a dead-end for White these days. But luckily, there is another way for White to play which hasn’t been mentioned in the books so far and lots of world-class players have tried with success (and where we have our ideas as well).
I see that GM17 has an excerpt, which probably indicates that to the printer it is gone. I see in the introduction that Awrukh covers 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 and 4…a6–interesting, and I had a feeling that one thereof would feature. I again expected the 7…Qc7/11…g5 line, but he also states that there is another line that is to be a surprise. I have a guess, but I suppose I need to receive the book to find out…
Excerpt shows 9. Qe2 Bg6 in the big main line, with very solid, classical positions that I remember from my childhood. Over 400 pages is this book, and it looks very good already just from the excerpt. I shall pre-order it right now.
re: gm 17
looks great and as i am just about done the KG thriller i am ready for another … suspect this question has been asked many times previously
for those of us across the pond in the states, what will be the quickest ways to get our hands on gm 17?
I think that Chess4Less are good. Alternatively I simply would order directly from QC webstore, regardless of where I am. I just pre-ordered my hardback GM17 copy. I calculated that if it is to the printer tomorrow or today, then it would be published on Friday 14th February, websales would be posted around 17th February. Regardless, even if it says “End of February” for expected release, at least this year, February has only 28 days.
I have had a look at the GM17 PDF and think it looks great. I have only one question – how does Avrukh deal with the forced draw after 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 dxc4 5 a4 Bf5 6 e3 e6 7 Bxc4 Bb4 8 00 Nbd7 9 Qb3 a5 10 Na2? Does he suggest 10…c5, accept the draw or sacrifice the pawn as Pert does in his recent DVD?
@Gilchrist is a Legend
Great, I’m happy that Avrukh analyses the Glasgow Kiss! I currently play 3.Nc3 dxc4, but that’s very complicated and difficult to play. And against the dreaded exchange variation he seems to opt for the classical main line. As to the surprise option: from the table of contents it would seem that his other option is 11…f6, or am I mistaken?
@Gilchrist is a Legend
Finished meaning going to the printer. It went yesterday.
@Daniel
There is no forced draw, but something complex instead.
@Ray
You are not mistaken about 11…f6, but the surprise move comes later. We were sneaky enough not to give it away in the excerpt.
Shurlock Chess Books from Europe always gets QC product quickly.
@John Shaw
🙂 You’re making me very curious, which is probably the idea :-). It will be very interesting to see what Avrukh found against Schandorff’s reportoire, which gives a clear advantage against 11…f6. It would be very nice indeed if he revived this classical move! Incidently, it will also be interesting to see what he comes up with against his own Slow Slav reportoire from GM Rep 1.
I’m looking forward to GM17 on Forward Chess. I have considered changing opening vs 1.d4 to something else but will read this book before doing so.
Maybe Avrukh will use the Hector idea. http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1549075
@Alias
Nice win of Hector!
Just out of interest, is there a reason why the hardcover version of GM17 is 5 Euros more expensive than other hardcover titles you’ve published (such as the larger KG book, for example)?
I was about to order the book when I noticed the extra cost and thought it curious; not necessarily unjustified (!) but it seems out of sync with your other titles.
Thanks
@Ray
I suppose that I missed that. But I am not very knowledgeable about 7…Qc7 in general, usually having played 7…Nb6. Also 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 a6 is quite good for solid play, avoiding the insanity of 3…dxc4. I see that 15. Ng5 is in the last section of chapters, so I think that that indicates that the main line where Black plays …fxg6/…Nf8. I am not sure, perhaps that is the line from Topalow-Kramnik 2006? Except definitely thete would be improvements there.
@Andy
Both the paperback and the hardback versions of this book have the same cost as GM11, the most recent Avrukh book. It is also longer than the recent books on the French.
The King’s Gambit is a special case. We set the price in 2007 and for principled reasons, we decided to stick to it.
@Jacob Aagaard
Thanks Jacob, I didn’t look closely enough at the recent titles, makes sense now. Lucky KG players 🙂
I will order GM17 shortly.
Jacob,
What is ti be expected from Mating the castled king and GM Preparation Endgame? Can you tell us briefly? I ‘m wondering how will they contribute to my training. Thx
@LE BRUIT QUI COURT
I am busy writing. Endgame Play will be like the other books in the series; nothing new under the sun.
Jacob.
I have a few questions about a few up coming books. first what will be the repertoire proposed by the 1.e4 gm rep series. 1: I am wondering what will be recommended against 1.e5 as white is struggling to get anywhere lately. 2: What will mikhailevski’s (potential miss-spelling) new gm rep be about. and last how many volumes will the new KID books take up. and when will the first new one be published.
keep the great work going.
greetings Stefan
@Ray
I especially like that Awrukh chose the solider lines after 6. e3/9. Qe2, because I usually play the Slav to be solid and play positionally. Incidentally, in the introduction he mentions the advantages of having two systems with different idologies in one’s repertoire, viz. Grünfeld and Slav like he does. I use that combination too. The last time that I had studied these lines was probably 14 or 15 years ago. What is very new to me is 7…Qc7, because I have never studied nor played it. I know that Black plays …0-0-0 and tries to attack the kingside sometimes, so it is probably the sharpest in the entire book.
@Gilchrist is a Legend
Indeed, 7…Qc7 and 11…g5 is quite sharp, but it is rather solid at the same time in my opinion. And otherwise you still have the second ‘mystery line’ as fall back option. I am intending to play the Slav (which I have played for about 10 years now) with the King’s Indian (which I used to play a long time ago and I’m n ow studying again). The only drawback of the Slav is indeed that it can be hard to win against an opponent who is satisfied with a draw.
I reeeaallly enjoyed GM12, the modern Benoni book. I’m seeking a similar defence to 1.e4 like the benoni. I enjoy very double edge positions and books published by Quality Chess. Can any1 recommend a suitable quality chess book for me?
@Pac
If you like double-edged positions, maybe GM Rep 6 (Najdorf) is something for you? QC are working on a second edition by the way. I also like the book on the Open Spanish – it’s also quite double-edged / sharp.
I dare to ask: Is there a chance for a new publishing schedule? Looking especially forward to the e4-book by John and the book by D. Gormally!
@Stefan Rosenbrand
GM 1.e4 – We are starting with the French and the Caro-Kann. Not giving details of lines till we send books to the printer (general rule)
KID – Not sure. 5-6 seems likely!? We are not pretending to be in charge :-).
Victor’s book will be about non 1.d4 and non 1.e4 openings; seen from Black’s side. A “the rest” repertoire.
@Paul Geuß
In February we will get one up. Right now we are a bit unsure about a few details.
@Jacob Aagaard
However, I would be willing to bet that the recommendation against 1.e4 will be main Ruy Lopez. The Scotch will feature in Playing 1.e4 and I don’t see any other serious options worthy of a GM reportoire.
@Ray
Yes it is the Ruy Lopez (That is the title of the book – GM Repertoire XX – The Ruy Lopez by XXX)
@KIA Fan
Yes, good point! Still very curious as to the true identity of XXX :-).
Wow 5-6 KID books we may be waiting till the. Next decade for them (well at least a couple of years).
Any plans on a 1 volume GM guide KID to tide us over? 🙂
So I thought GM 21 by xxx was reportoire for 1. e4 for French, Caro Kahn and Phillidor. I can not see Ruy Lopez in title. Will it be a complete reportoire for 1.e4?
Will there be more than 1 book for GM reportoire by xxx?
How about a new special offer: all GM-Repbooks 1- 20 for 350€
I see now that GM17 now says “Expected Release–5 March 2014”, nice to see a date. I have my calender therefore marked. It is quite uncanny how Avrukh basically writes about openings that I play–first he wrote on openings hwereto I had switched–GM1/GM2 with 1. d4, then the Grünfeld GM8/GM9, then GM11 1. d4 Sidelines, now GM17 Classical Slav..
@gewgaw
email us and we can work it out. But we still need to produce a few of these books.
@Ed
Probably 5. 1.e4 is a big topic.
We will announce the author at the appropriate date, whatever that is (maybe 22nd Feb). Don’t expect anything too exciting; we just wanted to be sure that the project went ahead before we said anything.
@The Doctor
No such plans, but we will have a general KID book in about a year; “how to play” style. What I have seen of that looks fab. I think we will have a few KID books this summer as well from Edmilson.
Is GM17 a single release for March? Also how is it going with GM16 and Modern Tiger?
Ah the ‘How to Play’ sounds interesting. Will it be similar to the old Batsford classic ‘Mastering the King’s Indian (Read and Play)’ by Bellin? That is such an amazing book for understanding the general plans and strategic themes.
@The Doctor
No, it is a top player giving a lot of his games based on themes.
@Gilchrist is a Legend
Yeah. But I hope we will have a few other books ready shortly after; not the least Endgame Play. But these days it takes an extra week to print because of the hardcovers.
I did not know that the hardcovers took longer. Anyway GM17 then GM16 are my main purchases for this time–the former for a new 1. d4 repertoire and the latter to complete the French GM repertoire.
@Jacob Aagaard
Could I ask who Edmilson is re the KID books above? Forgive my ignorance but google was no help either.
@Paul
Edmilson is Kotronias – it is a sort of nickname. If we accidentally start talking about “Bob” then that is Mihail Marin.
Maybe this has already been mentioned and I haven’t noticed, but I was wondering about the gap between GM Rep 18 and GM Rep 21 in the list above. Could we infer from this that there two other GM Rep books planned in the coming period? One book could be Mikhalevski’s book on ‘non 1.e4 / 1.d4 openings’, but I wonder what the other book could be :-).
@Ray
Semi-slav.
@Jacob Aagaard
Great news!
@Jacob Aagaard
Who is the author – AvruKh?
Many Thanks
Really sorry to nag feel free to tell me to say no comment, but a couple of questions!
1) Is there an estimate on the Najdorf GM Rep.
2) How will the 2nd edition be different from the original. I would think there is more scope for making it a bit more comprehensive with not having the Anti-Sicilian lines in it. For example 6…e5 against 6.Be2 and a more traditional lines against 6.Bg5? (I appreciate you don’t want suggestions!!)
Thanks in advance
Semi-Slav is definitely sharper than the Classical Slav. THe Botwinnik could easily occupy one entire volume. Is its related Classical Slav still on schedule for 05/03? Thanks, cheers.
@Gilchrist is a Legend
I bet the Botwinnik won’t be covered since it is too vulnerable to fatal improvements by white. The road to a draw is very narrow indeed. So that means the Moscow and anti-Moscow, which still is a lot to cover of course (and then the Meran and anti-Meran as well; I guess the book will have more pages than the book on the Slav).
Not to mention the Modern book.
@John Pugh
No :-).
@The Doctor
We start at 5…a6 and we start the work on the 22nd April, Lubo and I.
@Ray
As far as I know it is their plan to start at 4…e6 (not to repeat all the stuff from the Classical Slav), but to include both the Botvinnik and the Moscow. But of course, this is not marching orders, but just their intentions. Let us see what actually happens :-).
It is my plan to work out a 2014 leaflet over the next few weeks. This will give away all of our ambitions for the next 12 months (and the reason why we need an extra body in the office).
@Jacob Aagaard
Wow, that really sounds like a lot of analytical work :-).
@Ray
Absoluut, Botwinnik and Moscow, I guarantee, will be like writing a Master’s dissertation. I prefer the Classical Slav, because either Botwinnik and Moscow/Anti-Moscow is simply lunacy. Unsurprisingly is a move with Bg5 associated with crazy lines, like in the Najdorf. I do not feel comfortable playing that where it takes memorisation to move 35-40, sometimes in the craziest lines, perhaps even 45-50? Botwinnik Semi-Slav is probably the most insane opening in all of chess, followed closely by the Winawer Poisoned Pawn, Najdorf 6. Bg5, enz.
If I lived in Glasgow, working in the QC would be quite amazing. Working is equal to editing books, whose books I read in spare time anyway. Instead of waiting for the books, editing them one basically reads them in their entirety anyway, and even contributing to completing the books. That would be like some sort of heaven. I remember living in Newcastle perhaps that was possible, but now living a 3,5-4 hour train ride away from Glasgow that would be too cumbersome…
Two Questions:
1. You list “The Modern Tiger” here (as February/March), but not in your Coming Soon section. Has this book been cancelled?
2. If the answer to 1 is No, what is the nature of this book compared to the first? Same games with maybe a sprinkle of 5 to 10 additional games from more recent years and a couple of theoretical changes that anybody 2000+ can figure out from researching a database? Or is this a complete re-write with predominantly more recent games (2005-2013)? Just trying to figure out if it’s worth getting the 2nd edition as a 2100 player if I own the first edition. An honest, non-biased, non-money-driven opinion would be helpful.
@Gilchrist is a Legend
Besides, you would have to aquire computer skills 🙂
@Patrick
1. No.
2. A lot of original stuff. Everything has been completely re-analysed and re-evaluated. As usual, it is a serious project.
Tiger had almost finishing the book before going on a holiday. He will be back soon, so maybe late April/early May!?
Are there any plans for books on any of the openings Dutch, Benko gambit or Bogoindian?
@Ray
I still have my 1985 Intel in the basement–I think that it had a chess programme thereon.
I am very much anticipating Awrukh’s GM17 though.
Sorry for an off Topic and maybe silly question.
Jacob do you recommend setting up the Training positions in your GM-Preparation Series on a real chess board or solving them directly from the book ?
@Bebbe
Not really, no.
@boki
Yes I do.
With the fifth of march coming closer could you say a bit more about Avrukh’s choices.
He is going to have to improve on a lot of books to get equality and the content page doesn’t say a thing. His own vol 1 1.d4 , Playing 1.d4 by Schanendorf , Kaufman’s repertoire , the practical 1.d4 and 2.c4 vol 1 by chess stars. I am really looking forward to his improvements and analyses but somehow this is the first work where I have some doubt that his moves will stand the test of time (even quite a lot from before didn’t). I am just really curious if he is able to change the evaluation in an opening that is usually assessed as +/= (slight advantage).
I am debating if I am even going to buy it because I think that eventually improvement will come. Morezevisch line with g5. Ne3 just seems somewhat better for white in all lines.
just to put all of that together. If you have seen the lines do you think the are convincing enough to stand the test of time.
@Stefan Rosenbrand
It is very simple to improve on Practical 1.d4 and 2.c4 vol. 1, because Kornev doesn’t cover (!) Avrukhs’s recommendation 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5!? Avrukh’s own 1.d4 is i.m.o. too old to be relevant now; the slow Slav 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 has been defused in the meantime. Both 4…Bg4 and 4…Bf5 give equal play. Schandorff and Kaufmann both recommend the main line with 6.Ne5, but 11…g5 gives black equal chances, as was also shown in Sakaev’s book. So, no problem I think :-). The Slav is one of the most solid openings around, and most white players avoid the main lines because it’s really equal.
@Stefan Rosenbrand
We have said a lot about it already and there is an excerpt for download. I think you will have to go to previous posts for the details.
About improving on various lines. I am not sure I agree with your opinion. Many of the 1.d4 books turned out not to cover the modern lines at all! Of non-QC books, Kaufman is an exception. But he stops with a plus over equals at the time where Avrukh starts his analysis, which I guess is fair enough. Because this is really how chess starts out; it is a bit easier being White and Black has to do more and know more, in order to equalise.
@Ray
for as far as I know Bf5 is covered in practical 1.d4 and 2.c4. Although I have no idea what Avrukh’s sacrificial idea is.
@ Jacob Aagaard
I tend to evaluate the main line slav as a bit better for white. I tried to find a way to get a good game but especially after Kramnik’s novelty (Kramnik-Giri) 18.h4 I just couldn’t find a position in which black could even play for a win. I guess Avrukh has done his homework, although it still seems to me that White has the better chances in a somewhat complex position. The thing I’m scared of is something similar to avrukh’s line in the russian Grunfeld. One strong improvement and white’s edge is clear. But a well that’s more my business than yours.
Keep the good work coming. Hope you get it all done in time (really your publishing schedule looks somewhat over ambitious if that can be a bad thing).
cheers
@Stefan Rosenbrand
I remember there was a big improvement in the russian Grunfeld (read on chesspub I suppose) but – as I don’t play the Grunfeld anymore – I don’t remember what was…can you please help me to remember? Thanks
@ garry k
I know it involves g3 and Bh3 hitting the Black c8 rook
Check out it was Giri playing White
@ garry k
Giri-Swinkles
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Nc6 8. Be2 Bg4 9. d5 Na5 10. Qb4 Bxf3 11. Bxf3 c6 12. O-O Qb6 13. Qa4 Nd7 14. Rd1 Rfd8 15. g3 Rac8 16. Bg4 Nc5 17. Qc2 e6 18. Bg5 Re8 19. Na4 Nxa4 20. Qxa4 cxd5 21. exd5 Nc4 22. dxe6 fxe6 23. Rac1 Ne5 24. Be3
@Stefan Rosenbrand
Slav: as I remember that chapter, Kramnik-Giri is not a problem for us, as Boris gets in a TN a move or two before Kramnik’s.
Re the over-ambitious schedule: true. That is a big part of the post somewhere below seeking an extra editor.
@Stefan Rosenbrand
Yes, …Bf5 is covered of course, but not the Glassgow Kiss!
@Jacob
With you freed up from doing the 1.e4 GM Rep, have you any plans personally regarding writing in the near future?
That would be a great job, editing books that one wants to read anyway, and drafting the publishing schedule.
But February this year has only 28 days, so GM17 should be out in three weeks.
@The Doctor
Yes. Thinking Inside the Box is the main thing. I am really looking forward to that. I will also be involved in GM6B, helping Lubo.
@Gilchrist is a Legend
Ha! I am drafting the publishing schedule and I do not share power!
@Ray
Glasgow Kiss is covered in the Slav…
@Jacob Aagaard
Surely the editor could make some suggestions though–if I had to guess this current one, I have a feeling that if Endgame Play is 30/04, then GM16 is June perhaps joint released with Playing 1. e4 Vol 1, GM18 and Playing 1. e4 Vol 2 joint release in August, and GM6a 2nd Ed no idea…
I just looked at my calendar, 5th March is literally within three weeks (21 days). I wonder what Avrukh planned for 12. Ne3, and also 15. Ng5 in the 6. e3 line.
I wish that I lived in Glasgow…
@Jacob Aagaard
Yes, I know, but not in A practical reportoire with 1.d4 and 2.c4 by Kornev, which Stefan was referring to. So there is nothing to ‘repair’ for Avrukh versus that book.
I do wounder about GM21. Will it include Vienna also? I really hope so, and if. Then you can also hope for good variations for example 3.g3 3.Bc4 and fun gambit 3.f4
@Sir Colin
If this is the stuff you want QC is not the place to get it. they almost always offer mainlines with ambitious suggestions to get an edge with white (equality with black). as the author is a top 100 player I’m sure that he will play the ruy lopez against 1.e5. Also if I remember correctly the first volume will cover the french, caro and phillidor.
I personally see no reason why a gm rep would cover the vienna with white (black is much more likely).
@Stefan Rosenbrand
I do play Corr and i´m a IM in Corr and you now what, i have a very high winning% in vienna 3.g3. GM Tseitlin did get alot of Points with vienna. So why should they don´t wrigth about this opening? They have been doing books with modern and morra
@Ray
If the Glasgow Variation of 3. Nc3 guarantees equality (or at least very therenear or with completely adequate compensation like the Ruy Lopez Marshall Gambit) via a gambit, then 3. Nc3 could be added to the list of moves wherein White has problems proving (or at least maintaining) any advantage. Such is the Classical Slav–it is very solid and the idea of playing solidly to dissipate any += I feel is quite better here than in other openings. 6. e3 I feel that Black should equalise, 6. Ne5 can be complicated so I am unsure what exactly happens there, but it probably is most critical.
@Sir Colin
It’s a GM rep
It’s a series were they always try to get some type of an advantage with white.
it would be sad if they had to go 1.e4-e5 2.Nc3-Nf6 3.g3-d5 (Bc5 should also equalise) and conclude what the theory already says. Black has an easy game and easy equality.
didn’t know that any decent rated player used the words: “fun gambit”. It’s something a lot of 1000-1500 say just because they don’t understand what positional sound chess is.
@John Shaw
As a general remark, theory moves on of course. It will happen in any book on any opening that the ‘other side’ will find improvents in the opening arms race. Just a fact of life. But in mainstream openings like the Gruenfeld and the Slav we can be confident that they are inherently sound and counter-improvments will be found.
@Stefan Rosenbrand
Yes it is a GM rep and i have theme all and i can say they are very good . But i have found alot
not so good move in them to even in Avrukhs books. In GM guide: playing d4 QG,
Schandorff: has alot misstakes, he shows how to win but does not take up the black totally crush White exemple . S172-173 White plays 11.Nd2 now he shows 6 move for black and they all are good for White. Why does not show the move 11…Qb6!! -+
About your answer about fun gambit: Kingsgambit is also a fun gambit but Think you say it is only player around 1000-1500. Why dont you tell John Shaw that or Mister Carlsen him selv?
@Sir Colin
My last comment was just a general observation about most people that put the word “fun” in front of “gambit” not people playing that gambit (the king’s gambit was if I recall correctly even invented by the same guy as the ruy). The GM rep books do also have mistakes but so do all opening books. There just wouldn’t be any need to cover something were white just gives black the easier game (considering 3.d5).
@Stefan Rosenbrand
As i see it, we can´t expect Berliner defence then. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6= black has
already a level game either. So no more Ruy Lopez in GM rep and some other openings, IF
we are going for your line. Vienna 3.g3 is very positional play and i can accept that the gambit
is not that we will see in this books. Have an nice weekend
@Sir Colin
Certainly 1…e5 will be a very tough nut to crack, because besides the Berlin there’s also the Marshall Gambit, the Breyer, the Zaitsev, and even the Open Spanish and Schliemann. Let’s face it, basically 1.e4 e5 is just equal (but so are the Najdorf, the Nimzo-Indian, the QGD, the Slav, and a couple of more openings…), so white might as well play the King’s Gambit, which is also equal, as John has shown :-). I guess it’s therefore mostly a matter of taste from white’s point of view…