-32.6 in Tallinn! Marin on 1.c4 c5.

Our warehouse has informed us that our books will not arrive today as scheduled. A bit of detective work shows that between the – 32.6 (“I am no eskimo” – our printer) and the -22 in Poland, apparently DHL has suffered a problem. It looks a bit like this:

Hopefully the books will arrive tomorrow…

Marin said the following about the 1.c4 c5 repertoire, which a lot of you have asked about:

Here is a draft plan for the 1…c5 part: White plays 2.g3 (as in all the lines of the whole repertoire, with the exception of 1…b6), thus avoiding the hedgehog. Against the reversed Maroczy I will analyze a system based on a2-a3 (You will find a couple of games of mine in the database). In the closed line, I recommend d2-d4 against e7-e6 (planning Nge7). In the lines classified under A39, starting with Qd4-d3, I will examine other lines than Khalifman (for instance, I prefer Be3 over Bd2).

79 thoughts on “-32.6 in Tallinn! Marin on 1.c4 c5.”

  1. Abramov Anjuhin

    Lucky 1c4 and 1d4 “duffers”, they have their repertoire!

    But how come that you Jacob couldn’t carve 1e4 repertoire in year 2010?

    Since you’re in management/editorial of Quality Chess I could afford to be skeptical even about 2011 for when you promised to launch 3 1e4 books. I’m also concerned about a qualitative choice of given repertoire: since you have published Experts vs Sicilian, and new Cutting Edge, what will left for e4 player for dinner?

  2. Ponting is a Legend

    I didn’t know a lorry was driving the books from Poland to Glasgow…that is quite a journey. Hopefully the books are not destroyed based on that picture.

  3. Our main warehouse is in Poland. In the spirit of our times, I have never been there, but Ari went there in 2005, when he was our Director. I did meet the owner for dinner once, though.

    Abramov, are you bored looking at the invasion plans for Croatia and thus using me for shooting practice? Don’t be afraid, at some point you will be rewarded for your patience…

  4. Marin gives 2.g3 against 1…Nf6, transposing to other lines of his repertoire always. Avrukh’s content list will be online somewhere next week.

  5. One consequence of Marin’s move order against the Symmetrical is that Black can “force” a QG Tarrasch after 1. c4 c5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. Nf3 d5. Not that playing against the positionally suspect Tarrasch is a bad thing! But if Marin really wants to offer a complete repertoire, he may be well forced to cover the Tarrasch as well. I just find is slighly amusing that Quality Chess may be having to offer coverage of this less than optimal defence in the third book in less that two year.

  6. Positionally suspect The Tarradch maybe, but playing agianst it practically over th board and getting an advantge is much easier said than done.

  7. I thought Schandorff’s choice against the Tarrasch was quite good, and quite easy to play compared to Avrukh’s.

    Jacob, you might not be able to answer this one but per the previous posts on this blog, how will material be distributed in Marin’s final two installments on the English? Everything but 1…c5 in 4 and 1…c5 in 5? Will they be released simultaneously? Thanks again for the blog, it’s a great source of information! 🙂

  8. Hi TonyRo,

    Not willing to confirm what you are saying just yet.

    Nguyen Piotr,

    If you buy from our website, we will send the books by normal post from our Polish warehouse, of course.

  9. Hi,
    Just wondering if Grandmaster Rep. Vol. 4, English Part 2 will address what to do against King Indian set-ups for someone wanting to stay in English territory. Thanks.

    A side question, are there any plans to publish any other black defenses against 1. d4 besides the semi-slav, i.e. ones that are in favor of say the Nimzo-Indian and not a “how to beat it” book? Double thanks.

  10. When one buys let’s say GMrep1 from Amazon then it costs about 20 USD + 4 USD for shipping of this book + 4 USD for shipping generally. (So if I buy another book at the same time I’ll add just 4 USD for shipping). 20+4+4=28 USD which is about 20 EUR.http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=28+USD+in+EUR

    And on your website the price for GMrep1 is 25 EUR!!! + ? for shipping.

    This is incredible… I live in Poland, the books are being printed here, they travel to USA then go back to Poland and it’s cheaper 😉 WOW.

    It reminds me one paradox from astronomy. There’re twins, one of them is sent to space and second stays on the Earth. After many years when the second is already quite old the first comes back and is much younger than his brother – twin !!!

  11. You can always find discounts like this. However, if people only got the books from Amazon, in a few years there would be no one else, and all the publishers would go out of business.

  12. I see the point… Their aim is probably no to earn much at the moment but to kill the competition. Can’t you somehow compete with Amazon? The fact that books go all the way to USA and back and are cheaper anyway sounds like quite much, pretty big concession…

  13. I can’t wait for Marin’s GM Repertoire 4! The only thing that concerns me a little about insisting on 2.g3 in all lines is the following: 1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 c6. I’ve found it quite difficult to get an advantage in the Reti lines.

    By the way Jacob, ia anyone writing a book on the Petroff? Or, are there any plans for someone to do so? There seems to be a lack of good, recent books on this opening.

    Cheers~
    -J

  14. Hi Jules. No plans for a book on the Petroff at the moment. However, I agree that it is ripe.

    Marin is advocating the gambit with 2.g3, 3.Nf3, 4.Bg2 and 5.0-0, when play can take on c4 and defend it. It is highly original stuff, very fascinating. It almost makes me want to abandone 1.e4!

  15. And… 1.c4, c6 2. g3, d5 3. Cf3 (if 3.g3 then 3…e5!) , Ag4 ??
    In this move-order no possible 1.c4, Cf6 2. g3, c6 3. Ag2, d5 4. Cf3, Ag4 5. Ce5…
    and cd5, Da4, etc.
    this is a problem not considereded in old Kosten’s book.

    Thanks

    Benedetto… sorry for my English!

  16. Or you can increase price of the books you’re selling to Amazon…

    I think that 1.c4 c6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 is playable for White. The 3…e5 shouldn’t be a problem in view of 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.d4! I think White is for choice. After 5…exd4 6.Nf3 (6.Qxd4 isn’t bad either) White has typical play versus isolated pawn or 5…e4 can be met by 6.Nc3 followed by Nh3-f4, 0-0 and maybe f3 or Qb3 and White has enormous pressure on the d5 pawn. It looks promising to me 😉

  17. Hi Tony, Polish your Italian, you forgot a word. Anyway, my “translator” just left, so it is back to English…

    And no, I think Amazon are too clever ;-).

  18. Hi,
    I’m not trying to be obnoxious by reposting this, just wondering why no answer, but answers to others about similar things.

    Just wondering if Grandmaster Rep. Vol. 4, English Part 2 will address what to do against King Indian set-ups for someone wanting to stay in English territory. What does Marin advocate against the Kings Indian for an English player? Thanks.

    A side question, are there any plans to publish any other black defenses against 1. d4 besides the semi-slav, i.e. ones that are in favor of say the Nimzo-Indian and not a “how to beat it” book? Double thanks.

  19. No Schevenningen planned.

    Marin’s book is a complete repertoire, but I do not want to pester him for the lines before he hands them in, especially as people tend to change their mind.

    We have just agreed a Cutting Edge – Nimzo-Indian book. It is not a repertoire book,
    but an objective investigation of current trends. Obviously we cannot do everything, but are trying!

  20. Jules :
    I can’t wait for Marin’s GM Repertoire 4! The only thing that concerns me a little about insisting on 2.g3 in all lines is the following: 1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 c6. I’ve found it quite difficult to get an advantage in the Reti lines.
    By the way Jacob, ia anyone writing a book on the Petroff? Or, are there any plans for someone to do so? There seems to be a lack of good, recent books on this opening.
    Cheers~
    -J

    I’d like to see a Petroff book, too. I already own Marin’s Open Games book but finding a decent Petroff book to go with it is not easy.

  21. He is writing it at the moment. I have the list somewhere, but a quick scan does not reveal it, and we are rather busy at the moment, so I will say pass on this one…

  22. Andy :

    Jules :
    I can’t wait for Marin’s GM Repertoire 4! The only thing that concerns me a little about insisting on 2.g3 in all lines is the following: 1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 c6. I’ve found it quite difficult to get an advantage in the Reti lines.
    By the way Jacob, ia anyone writing a book on the Petroff? Or, are there any plans for someone to do so? There seems to be a lack of good, recent books on this opening.
    Cheers~
    -J

    I’d like to see a Petroff book, too. I already own Marin’s Open Games book but finding a decent Petroff book to go with it is not easy.

    I have Marin’s Open Games book too, and although he’s my favorite chess author, I’m actually extremely put off by the weird ECO style of that particular book. It makes it very hard to read/study, and certainly does not take advantage of the author’s unique literary skills. His book on the Spanish was much better.

    As for the Petroff, maybe Jacob can convince Kramnik and Gelfand to write a book together? (in my dreams…) 🙂

  23. Ponting is a Legend

    I think Jacob is busy with GM2. Since basically everyone in this blog has ordered it, we best leave him to finish it before the deadline. 🙂

  24. Imagine the horror that will overcome Jacob when he receives the 500 pages of GM2, and all that’s written over and over and over again is: “All work and no play, makes Boris a dull boy.” 🙂

    (Reference to the movie, “The Shining”)

  25. Reminds me of the Red Dwarf episode when Rimmer wrote “I am a fish” 400 times then fainted. Agreed lets leave Jacob to concentrate on GM2.

  26. White has a space advantage White has a space advantage White has a space advantage White has a space advantage White has a space advantage White has a space advantage White has a space advantage White has a space advantage White has a space advantage White has a space advantage White has a space advantage White has a space advantage

  27. Having taken into consideration the complaint about not keeping the deadlines and the fact that I have a tournament coming up in two months time, we have decided to delay the publication of GM2 till June 15th. (Editing finishes today).

  28. Ponting is a Legend

    Two days ago you said 24/02 was basically certain and no publishing schedule modifications were needed. So what happened suddenly?

  29. We decided that people were right to complain about the book being a week late, so we decided to give a date where everybody would be certain it would come.

  30. Ponting is a Legend

    A week late is fine, but 4 months? I don’t see the point other than spite or sarcasm. This came as a complete shock since 24/02 was manageable (or so it was said), and I am still hoping it is a joke.

  31. Ponting is a Legend

    My first impression when I read the notice this morning was that since people were complaining about the book being eight months overdue, the book would be pushed as far forward as possible as punishment. I do not know if this is true, or even if this whole this is just a dream or is really true, but if it is 15 June (2011 even maybe?) then I just do not know what to say anymore.

  32. Ponting is a Legend

    If it is a joke, then it is a very bad joke as I could barely eat the entire day thinking over this issue repeatedly.

  33. The book on the King’s Gambit seems to have fallen off the publishing schedule. Are you still going ahead with this book?

  34. Dear James, this is indeed what this is all about. Instead of finishing GM2, we have started analysing the King’s Gambit and cannot help ourselves. Clear the schedule, this is it for the next three months…

  35. Ok, the book is done and uploaded, all 616 pages of it. I will not return to the office till Monday, when I will upload the excerpt.

    The book should be out end February. All 1.225 kg (expected) of it.

    It is a much better book than GM1, I think, but I am not the one who should judge. The main thing is that Andrew and Colin helped a lot.

  36. Ponting is a Legend

    1,225 kg is quite a heavyweight, but that does mean more of Avrukh (good thing).

    Jacob Aagaard :
    All 1.225 kg (expected) of it.
    It is a much better book than GM1…

    Quite nice it could be better than GM1, but that makes it even better.

  37. I have good news for all of us KING’S INDIAN PLAYERS. In 2011 we will have Quality chess book on KID in 2 volumes, and another one from Everyman by David Vigorito “Attacking Chess: The King’s Indian, Volume 1”.

    That’s the spirit! I do wonder who will write the better one 🙂

  38. I like Dave quite a lot, and I like his writing. I think our author is going to be just as fascinating to you guys. However, I do not want to announce it yet…

  39. Jacob Aagaard: “It is a much better book than GM1, (refering to GM2) I think, but I am not the one who should judge. The main thing is that Andrew and Colin helped a lot.”

    Jacob, why is GM2 a lot better than GM1? Is it better analysis, better writing, better organized?

  40. Jacob I have one good question for you on which I expect sincere answer!

    It’s about BUILD YOUR CHESS series. Since these books appeared also in Yussupov publishing house in German language and with hardbound binding,
    please advise me which books to buy: yours in English or from Yussupov in German.

    The language doesn’t matter, but editing, quality of paper and
    binding counts for me.

    Thanks.

  41. Changes in GM2 from GM1:

    * We have removed the repetition of the moves before the variations. The books are too chunky and we have to make cuts. But the level in them is so high, that the readers should be able to follow the lines anyway. Also, there is a 14 page index in the back. This is probably a slightly worsening.

    * Novelty check. In the first volume we did not seriously check, and it turned out that Boris’ database was not as good as ours. GM Colin McNab checked this book thoroughly and came up with about 75 positions where the N was already played. This lead to some further analysis, especially in the Modern Benoni, where Boris found some astonishing stuff computers cannot see.

    * I think Boris did better work for this book than the first. The stuff on the KID and Modern Benoni is really deep.

    * We took our time finishing this book. This lead to a lot of really interesting chess.

    * I think Boris’ improvements upon theory are far more significant in this book than in GM1. Maybe there are over 1000 novelties. I do not want to count them, but there are a lot. Some lines are simply killed – also lines people play.

  42. About the Yusupov books. If hardcover is something that greatly appeals to you, I would choose the German books. Our main strength over Artur’s books are two-fold. 1) Our set-up inside the books (although similar) is vastly superior. We paid a good guy to create a great style for the books. 2) Our books have been through an extra check over Artur’s, so there are a bit fewer mistakes, but usually it is things such as when a game was played. Nothing that impacts on the chess tuition. Artur’s books are great from the outset, which is why they won the Boleslavsky award in front of the Kasparov books. We might have added a bit to them, but it does not amount to 1% of the value. However, this design we got for them is really nice. Check it out in our free e-books section.

  43. Is there a new edition of GM1 in the works?

    When will the 2010 catalogue come out? The first week of February is already over?

    About hardcovers, can’t you guys arrange it so that it is made when someone orders the book? I know this type of setting exists in academia. Of course this would make the book even more expensive than the usual hardcover but I am pretty sure that for some books people will pay the price (I would pay it for GM8 (Grunfeld!)).

  44. No new edition of GM1 planned at the moment.

    The catalogue will take a few weeks. GM2 was really tough on us. Now we have to catch up with other things. It will not tell much more than the website anyway.

    I shall look into the hardcover option once again, but usually it is not cost effective. Remember, for every 1 euro we have in expenses, we need to add 4 euros to the cover price just to avoid losing money. There are many mouths to feed on the way…

  45. It seems the beginning of 2010 will be full of fresh air! I am waiting for GM2 and Cutting Edge Nimzo, Karpov wins and already thinking of buying Attacking Manual 1 & 2, Genius and Reggio Emilia.
    I hope to see in the future GM repertoire for Black on the Nimzo and QID and something on the Ruy Lopez Arkangelsk, Modern Steinitz or Breyer, simple because there are no books on this openings! I hope Everyman do not hijack some Quality titles because I saw that your (Jacob) idea of a Tartakower book or two volumes on the KID beeing now on the list of Everyman! It seems mantaining a secret or doing a complete list catalogue for the year will be the best way.

  46. I am not afraid of Everyman doing titles similar to what we are doing. Not at all. We cannot do everything. They have some good people working for them as well.

    Note that some of the titles are 2011 ideas…

  47. Ponting is a Legend

    I saw the excerpt now. Apparently the blog timestamps my posts as one hour later than I actually type them.

  48. ok, so if I had waited until I got to the end of English vol. 1 I would have realized lines concerning King’s Indian set-ups have been covered. Forgive me. :p

  49. Not quite. If Black plays an early …e5, yes, that it can transpose to the Botvininik. But White must be careful about commiting to a Botvinnik setup when Black has not yet played …e5 or indeed …Nc6.

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