“I recommend, for most ordinary players who lack extraordinary powers, to instead base their White repertoire around the John Shaw series. His lines are more likely to highlight manoeuvres and positional plans plus the inherent value of the pieces and structure. It helps us mere mortals when there is more margin for the occasional imprecision. As for the fact that the three volumes together add up to over 1400 pages, well I suppose that if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing well! Shawly!?”

GM Glenn Flear, New in Chess Yearbook

“I am highly recommending this series – I had used so many of these lines and have gotten good positions in virtually all the time where I have tested the theory coverage from these books. Shaw’s writing style is fun to read, with flecks of dry humour littered throughout the book… these books have attained ‘must-have’ status for all 1.e4 players.”

IM Kevin Goh (full review)

“Overall, this book offers a wealth of new, fresh ideas and a White repertoire against the Sicilian main variations which personally convinces me more than Parimarjan Negi’s work on this complex… Those who are prepared to work through the book conscientiously will certainly achieve many good positions… I highly recommend this book!”

IM Dirk Schuh

Review of the author’s previous work:

“A fantastic publication that is clearly the result of a tremendous amount of work by Shaw, for which he deserves immense credit.”
GM David Smerdon, ChessVibes, reviewing The King’s Gambit