Fed up with stuffy theory? SOS 9 is out!

SOS - Secrets of Opening Surprises 9 is out!

Good news for thousands of chess players all over the
world, who will be eagerly hunting its pages for early
deviations from main stream chess openings.

Because SOS is for chess players who like to get an early
advantage in the game by throwing their opponent off
balance and gaining valuable time on the clock.

All the SOS’s in volume 9 are brand new, never having
appeared before, anywhere.

“No matter what you play, you will find something exciting here”,
said ChessToday about SOS.

Please, have a look at the variations covered in SOS 9.

You can order SOS 9 here.

Save 10% on ChessBase 10!

ChessBase 10 is coming!

We are offering a 10% discount on this new version
of the most popular stand-alone chess database program.

ChessBase 10 comes with a spruced-up navigation and
a host of updates and improvements, while still containing
the Fritz and Crafty engines.

Better display, extra search boosters, new engine functions,
automatic udates and improved window management are
just some of the new features.

There are three different packages, at different prices, and
the 10% dicount goes for all three of them:
— ChessBase 10 Mega Package
— ChessBase 10 Starter Package
— ChessBase 10 Update from CB 9.0

Save on New In Chess 2007, complete

The beginning of July is always an important moment for those of you who don’t subscribe to our flagship publication: New In Chess, the magazine.

Because NOW you can get the complete 2007 year volume
at a very attractive price!

You pay only €49.95 for 8 volumes with over 800 pages of the very best in chess: Garry Kasparov’s exclusive columns, annotations by the world’s greatest players themselves, interviews, portraits, full colour pictures, essays, columns, book reviews, history, endgame studies & opening surprises, and more.

Jeremy Silman called it “the best chess magazine of all time.”

Warning: New In Chess doesn’t have any federation info, scoring tables of sub-regional competitions, kid’s puzzles, address changes of local chairpersons, and the like.

New: a combative repertoire in the French

We are very proud to announce a new book we just published, written by GM Viktor Moskalenko: The Flexible French.

In his much-praised fresh, explanatory style Moskalenko offers a combative & original repertoire in the French Defence.

The four main parts of the book present a wealth of dynamic options in the Advance, Tarrasch, Classical and Winawer variation.

To this, Moskalenko adds his “Seven Samourai Swords”: sharp surprise weapons, early deviations from established main line theory.

“Moskalenko does not dish out endless variations, but concentrates on the principal and most aggressive plans”, wrote a German reviewer about his earlier book on the Budapest Gambit (currently being reprinted).

An American reviewer called it “a model of an opening book”.

The same goes for “The Flexible French”: it sparkles with original ideas!

We don’t like to show off, but..

This is what some of the critics have to say about
Forcing Chess Moves by Charles Hertan:

“By organizing and explaining the nature of great chess moves
Hertan has brought us all closer to being able to find them.”
Former US Champion GM Joel Benjamin

“An intensive training course for advanced players (…) You will
increase your tactical striking powers a lot.”
Dr Erik Rausch, Rochade Europa

“When the clock is ticking away, and you have too many viable
candidate moves to choose from, remember Hertan’s advice.”
Steve Goldberg, ChessCafe

“The categories in this book are quite unusual (…) An ample and accurate collection of startling problems bulging with combinative surprises.”
Harold Dondis, The Boston Globe

“The price is low for a volume with so many pages and so much content.”
Stephen Dann, Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Make a great move, have a look here.

Diary of an ICC Addict: New In Chess 2008/4

“I’ll let you in on a secret”, writes English GM Danny Gormally in New In Chess 2008#4.

Diary of an ICC Addict is a brilliant but disturbing piece on serotonin cascades in the pre-frontal lobe.

Further in this issue, among much more:
— Hans Ree on the life of Savielly Tartakover
— on the spot reports from Sofia, Havana, Dagomys, Baku, Plovdiv, Prague and Malmö
— Jonathan Rowson on the beauty of chess
— exclusive annotations by Morozevich, Topalov, Mamedyarov, Radjabov, Ivanchuk, Shirov, Grischuk, and many others
— Jan Timman on opening surprises (!)
— Tiger Hillarp Persson on Arthur Rubinstein and lobbyism.

The full contents you can find here.

100 Endgames You Must Know

1. “Studying the endgame is boring”
2. “I quickly forget half (if not 90%) of the endings I look at”
3. “I can’t find a book with good explanations”
4. “My games never reach the endgame”.

Sounds familiar? Then 100 Endgames You Must Know, which arrived yesterday, may be just the book for you.

Former Spanish champion and successful coach GM Jesus de la Villa has selected only those endgames that:
- show up most frequently
- are easy to learn
- contain ideas that are also useful in more difficult positions.

De la Villa will improve your performance with simple rules, detailed and lively explanations, many diagrams and clear summaries of the most important themes.

In short, this is a complete & accessible endgame instruction book on 248 pages, for just € 21.95! Please have a look here.

New edition of “The Chess Player’s Bible”

GM Nick de Firmian and his team have just published Modern Chess Openings, 15th edition.

MCO is a one-volume reference book covering ALL chess openings. It has been the standard English language work on openings for more than a century.

The previous edition, MCO-14, was written almost a decade ago, in 1999.

MCO-15 has been completely revised and updated, often with the help of computer chess programs, and reflects the latest changes in opening theory.

This is a truely a whale of a book: it has no less than 748(!) pages. Yet its price is modest at only € 24.95.

Larry Christiansen thinks MC-15 is “a must for every tournament player”. Please have a look here.

New & full of opening novelties: Yearbook 87

Yearbook 87 has just arrived from the printers, and in this issue of The Chess Player’s Guide to Opening News you will find answers to urgent questions like:

— Was Invanchuk’s bomb 14.Qe6 in the 6.Bc4 Najdorf correct?
— Is Paul Morphy’s 5.a6 a good alternative for the Berlin Wall?
— In which line does Sergey Tiviakov have a 6-0 ‘Fischer score’?
— Has Judit found the way for Black to steer clear of Catalans?
— How has Alon Greenfeld livened up the Alapin Sicilian for Black?
— Is the Nimzo French with 3.Nc6 ready to become a main line?
— Has Stellwagen put the Two Knights Defence back on the map?
— How good is Evgeny Bareev’s 5.a5 in the Bishop’s Opening?
— Is the Marshall Opening 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d5 any good?
— Has Nisipeanu found the antidote to the Keres Attack?
— Is the Exchange Slav really so drawish after Andriasian’s 9.f3?

“Chess players who regularly read the Yearbook can save money because there will be many opening books they don’t need to buy”, is what a reviewer recently said. Please have a look here.

The easiest sicilian (for players > 1850)

Today we present a brand new repertoire book for Black based on the Sveshnikov. The Easiest Sicilian by GM’s Kolev & Nedev is aimed at players > 1850 elo.

It proposes a sound yet aggressive repertoire after 1.e4 c5, 2.Nf3 Nc6 and covers the Rossolimo, the Sveshnikov as well as some rare lines.

The authors counter some sneaky new ideas of Anand and Khalifman, and aim at getting winning chances for Black, or at least positions in which White must take considerable risks if he aspires to even a slight advantage.

The presentation is according to the trademark structure which brought us the enormously successful The Safest Sicilian and The Sharpest Sicilian. So each system is presented in 3 phases:

Quick repertoire (vital info to start playing), Step by Step (the essence of all variations, branch by branch) and Complete Games (practical examples & back up lines). Black is here in perfect shape.

The Life of Savielly Tartakower: a page turner

— “The mistakes are all there, waiting to be made”"
— “No game was ever won by resigning”
— “He wins who makes the next-to-last mistake”

Half a century after his death Tartakower lives on, not only in his beautiful games, but also in his famous aphorisms.

In Moral Victories: The Life of Savielly Tartakower, David Lovejoy brings to life the poet, gambler and world class chess master who changed nationalities four times.

Don’t let yourself be turned off by the genre: this is an historical novel, but it has ALL the available facts of the life molded into a wonderful story.

GM Ian Rogers said: “Lovejoy has you turning the pages” and Steve Goldberg commented at ChessCafe: “One of the game’s greatest has truly come to life.”

So this may well become your 2008 summer reading joy!

Aagaard’s general rules of attacking chess

Formulating general principles of attacking chess? ‘Forget it’, I hear you say.

But that’s exactly what British Champion GM Jacob Aagaard just did, in Part1 of his magnum opus: The Attacking Manual: Basic Principles.

Aagaard’s rules of chess dynamics are, briefly told:
— include all your pieces
— use your lead in development or it will decrease
— take advantage of colour weaknesses
— disregard pieces which are not involved
— strike at the weakest spot
— create weak spots by demolishing strong ones
— be aware of the evolution/revolution tide.

In seven swinging chapters Aagaard explains and demonstrates his rules, and follows this up with almost 100 pages of convincing examples and extremely challenging tests.

If your results don’t improve after studying this book, your case is lost.

Just in: Victor Bologan on the 4…a6 Slav

Elite Grandmasters will only very rarely write opening books. One great example I recall was Alexander Morozevich, in his 2007 bestseller (published by us) on the Chigorin Defence.

That is why New In Chess are extremely proud to announce today the arrival of a new and groundbreaking opening book: The Chebanenko Slav According to Bologan.

Indeed, Victor Bologan himself has written a complete monography on one of the main systems for Black today: 237 pages, 22 chapters on the 4. ..a6 Slav!

This will probably be the most important opening book of the year, not only because this variation is extremely popular (both with GM’s and club players), but also because of the happy mix of high quality and accessiblity.

Bologan pays homage to the inventor of this system, legendary coach Vyacheslav Chebanenko. With crystal-clear conclusions and dozens of tests, this book is a must for modern chess players.

Out now: Vol. 3 of Dvoretsky’s training series

Mark Dvoretsky is generally considered to be the best chess coach in the world.

The series of training books he is currently writing with Artur Jussupow, one of his most successful pupils, has reached its next stage.

We just received School of Future Champions, Vol. 3. It deals with endgame technique, and it has again the quality we are used to get from the master.

Serious chess students who want to raise their level of play are well advised to get a copy of this book, and study it.

The first two volumes in this series are also in stock:

• Secrets of Opening Preparation
• Secrets of Chess Training

Take Black out of his stride with 1.b4!

If you are interested in taking your opponent out of his comfort zone at the very first move, then the new book Play 1.b4! may be just the ticket for you.

With this aggressive pawn lunge you avoid the many theoretical landmines of main line opening theory and you force Black to think for himself.

Ukranian IM Yury Lapshun, the main author, is an expert in this rare system and the book is illustrated with dozens of high-level games.

It provides options against all of Black’s main defences, and highlights key ideas and tactics for both sides.

If you are adventurous and ambitious, please have a look here.

Kasparov’s secret laptop in New In Chess 2008/3

Garry Kasparov finally opens his laptop in New In Chess 2008#3!

In his column Kasparov reveals some stunning analysis he discovered in the Sicilian, but which he did not get to use during his career as an active player.

Further in this issue, among much more:

• on-the-spot reports from Moscow, Linares, Mexico, Nice, Istanbul and Reykajvik
• exclusive analysis by the heroes themselves: Anand, Topalov, Carlsen, Aronian, Caruana, Radjabov and many others
• Genna Sosonko on the forgotten legend Abram Khasin
• Jonathan Rowson on the downside of writing reviews: the books
• Jeremy Silman reveals his greatest fear: “to be reborn as a Siamese twin with ….”
• Hans Ree on Duncan Suttles.

The full contents you can find here.

“If a sacrifice looks good, it IS good”

“If a sacrifice looks good, then it is good”.

Sounds unfamiliar? Sounds blasphemous? It is from Blitz Theory, a book we just received in stock.

It reminded me of what Genrikh Chepukaitis, the famous SmartChip blitz legend from Genna Sosonko’s marvelous book, used to say: “Confusion is adequate compensation for a sacrified piece”.

Blitz Theory is a naughty little book, written by Jonathan Maxwell, full of extremely interesting stuff, but only for those who really want to win at blitz.

In his Endorsement of this book GM Walter Browne specifically excludes Maxwell’s “Pseudo Check”, a very nasty and unfair beast indeed!

Please have a look here, if you dare.

1.Nf3 expanded

If you play what Alexander Khalifman recommends, you will not be surprised by simple refutations.

That is why strong players (up to Masters) use his opening books. But what about club players?

Khalifman is a brilliant teacher, and points out the essence of all important positions. He explains themes and plans in a very accessible way, always summarizing conclusions.

So we can recommend the completely new and expanded edition of Part 2 of his 1.Nf3 series to amateur players, too.

This book is mainly devoted to 2. ..e6, 2. ..b6 and 2. ..c5 (after 1. ..Nf6 and 2.c4). It has a large amount of fresh analysis, but will also increase your understanding of chess in general.

New: Accelerated Chaos & other Pirc lines

For those of you who know Part1 it will suffice to know that we have just received from Sofia: Carpathian Warrior 2.

It is, as was Part 1, written by GM’s Bogdan Lalic and Vladimir Okhotnik, and covers some lesser known lines vs the Pirc and Modern.

This Part 2 resembles more an encyclopedia than an instruction manual. It has tons of well structured lines and variations.

It looks absolutely indispensable for Pirc and Modern players with an Elo of over 1850.

We are not so sure about the quality of the full-colour abstract art in this book, but this is only a minor distraction in this solid 366 pages Pirc theory bible.

New: Jose Capablanca & Johan Cruyff

What is the connection between Jose Mourinho’s defensive cunning and the principles of Wilhelm Steinitz?

How does Rafael Benitez compare to David Bronstein, and does Ray Keene in any way resemble Roy Keane?

According to Football & Chess, a book we just got in stock, there are lots of similarities between the two most popular games on earth.

I know there are quite a few footbal fans among chess players, and they will love what author Adam Wells has to say about psychology and tactics, space and timing, initiative and prophylaxis.

This is an amazing and fun book, as you can see here.

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