The Dutch starts 1.d4 f5. Black stakes a claim to e4 from the side and accepts a slightly loose king in return for an unbalanced game. It has never been a main line against 1.d4 and is rare at elite level, though it has had serious users: Botvinnik and Bronstein both played it in their 1951 world championship match, and Magnus Carlsen beat Anand and Caruana with the Stonewall in 2015. There are three main systems. In the Leningrad, Black fianchettoes on g7 and usually plays ...d6. In the Stonewall, Black sets pawns on c6, d5, e6 and f5 to...
The Chess School series: a guide to the books
Russian Chess House publishes a run of books under the name Chess School, numbered 1a, 1b, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. The numbering suggests one ladder from beginner to master. It is only partly that. Four of the books form a single tactics course, one is an endgame manual, and the other two are separate tactics collections by different authors.So the useful question is not which order to read them in. It is where you should start, and which of the books you need at all.The books at a glanceBookAuthorWhat it isPublisher's level1aSergey Ivashchenko700+ tactics problemsabout 900 to 12001bSergey...
The Slav and Semi-Slav: a guide to the books
The Slav starts 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6. When Black adds ...e6 and ...Nf6, it becomes the Semi-Slav, with its own large body of theory: the Meran, the Moscow and the Botvinnik. Most books choose one or the other, so the first decision is which of the two you want to play.If you are new to the SlavStarting Out: Slav & Semi-SlavGlenn Flear (Everyman Chess, 2005). An introduction to both, with chapters on the main-line Slav, the gambit lines, the Exchange, the Chebanenko (4...a6), and the Semi-Slav's Botvinnik, Moscow and Meran. The publisher pitches it at improving players. The ideas still...
The Ruy Lopez: a guide to the books
After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5, the Ruy Lopez branches into several quite separate openings, and Black chooses which one. The Berlin with 3...Nf6. The Open with 5...Nxe4. The Marshall Attack, a pawn sacrifice with ...d5. The long Closed lines such as the Zaitsev. Or the Arkhangelsk, with ...b5 and ...Bb7.That shapes the books. White needs one repertoire that answers all of them. Black only needs a book on the defense they actually play.Playing the Ruy Lopez as WhiteThe Modernized Ruy Lopez, Volumes 1 and 2Dariusz Swiercz (Thinkers Publishing, 2021). A complete White repertoire in two books. Volume 1 (520...
The French Defense: a guide to the books
After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5, White chooses the kind of game: 3.Nc3, which allows the Winawer (3...Bb4) and the Classical (3...Nf6); 3.Nd2, the Tarrasch; 3.e5, the Advance; or the Exchange, 3.exd5. A French player needs an answer to each of them, and the books below differ mainly in which answers they give and how much they expect you to memorize.So before choosing a book, it helps to know two things: which side you are buying for, and whether you want the sharp Winawer as your main line or something quieter.If you are new to the FrenchFirst Steps: The FrenchCyrus Lakdawala...
The Grünfeld Defense: a guide to the books
In the Grünfeld, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5, Black lets White build a big pawn center and then attacks it. White's main replies are the Exchange Variation (4.cxd5), the Russian System with Qb3, the bishop moves 4.Bf4 and 4.Bg5, and the Fianchetto with g3. There is also 3.f3, which avoids those main lines and prepares e4, and which has books of its own.Grünfeld books differ less in which lines they cover than in temperament: how much risk the author is prepared to take with Black, and how much theory he expects you to carry.Learning the ideasChess Explained: The GrünfeldValentin...
The Sicilian: a guide to the books
The Sicilian is not one opening. After 1.e4 c5 there are a dozen systems that share almost nothing beyond the first move, and a book on one of them will not help you in another. So the question is never which Sicilian book to buy. It is which Sicilian you are playing, and that decision comes first.The part that catches people outA Sicilian repertoire is two purchases, not one. In roughly a third of games White declines the Open Sicilian and plays the Alapin, the Rossolimo, a Grand Prix setup or something quieter. Your book on the Taimanov or the...
Chess tactics: a guide to the books
Almost every chess player owns a puzzle book, and most of them are not getting much out of it. The usual pattern is to solve twenty positions in a sitting, get most of them, and improve very slowly. The reason is that a puzzle book has already told you the most valuable thing, which is that a tactic exists here. In your own games nobody tells you that.So the useful question is not which puzzle book has the most positions. It is which stage you are at.If you do not know the patterns yetBefore volume there has to be vocabulary....
Chess endgames: a guide to the books
The endgame is the part of chess everyone agrees they should study and most people do not. Part of the reason is that the standard recommendation is a reference work of several hundred pages, which is the right book for the wrong moment. What you need depends entirely on whether you are learning the basic positions for the first time, keeping a reference on the shelf, or trying to convert endings you already half understand.Your first endgame bookSilman’s Complete Endgame CourseJeremy Silman (Siles Press, 2007). Organised by rating band, so you read only the section for your strength and stop....
The King’s Indian Defense: a guide to the books
After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 Black hands White the center on purpose, castles, and then attacks it. In the main lines that means a kingside pawn storm while White plays on the other wing, and both sides are usually racing. It rewards preparation and punishes drift, which is why it stays popular at club level and why unprepared White players dislike meeting it. One clarification first, because we sell both and the names are nearly identical. The King’s Defense is what this guide covers, Black against 1.d4. The King’s Attack is a different opening, White setting up the...