Editorial Reviews:
The Marshall Attack is a chess opening like no other. Rather than subjecting himself to the 'Spanish torture' so typical in the Ruy Lopez, Black simply gives away a centre pawn. But in return, he gets long-term attacking chances and activity that can persist well into the endgame.
It is almost a century since Frank Marshall invented his sensational gambit, but it is still controversial, and more popular than ever amongst the best players in the world. In their hands, the Marshall Attack looks remarkably solid - even if White neutralizes Black's attacking chances and remains a pawn up, Black often achieves full positional compensation.
However, the Marshall appears a forbidding opening to ordinary club players, who feel that the theory is too difficult to understand and much too complex to memorize. Many simply avoid it with both colours. That, argues David Vigorito, is a shame. He shows that many typical Marshall positions can be broken down into elements that we can all grasp, and so build up an intuition to guide us. Then we are able to tackle this incredible opening and develop a feel for why pieces go to the squares that they do, and when Black has sufficient compensation, and when he does not.
Of course, the Marshall remains a highly sharp and concrete opening, even to those who are versed in its unique brand of black magic. Vigorito provides detailed, cutting-edge theoretical coverage of all its main lines and the most important Anti-Marshall systems.

Editorial Reviews:
Chess Explained books provide an understanding of an opening and the middlegames to which it leads, enabling you to find the right moves and plans in your own games. It is as if you were sitting at the board with a chess coach answering your questions about the plans for both sides, the ideas behind particular moves, and what specific knowledge you need to have.
The French Defence is one of the most important chess openings. Its qualities are such that it appeals to a wide range of chess temperaments: it is solid yet uncompromising, and with a variety of chaotic variations to appeal to the most bloodthirsty of players, but also offering more tranquil lines to those seeking a quieter existence. While it is hard for White to avoid at least some imbalance in the position, he also has a wide choice. In some of the most critical lines, he accepts major structural weaknesses in return for piece-play and dynamic chances, while he can also seek to establish a modest space advantage without such heavy positional commitments.

Editorial Reviews:
The Ruy Lopez (or Spanish Opening) is one of the critical chess battlegrounds. It has long been recommended as an excellent chess opening for training purposes, as it leads to a wide variety of structures and strategies. This book is a complete guide to handling the black side of the Lopez, based principally around the Zaitsev Variation, upon which Anatoly Karpov relied during much of his career. This line leads to sharp play, often in open battles where Black gains active counterplay and challenges White to seize the initiative on the kingside. The authors explain in detail how Black can weather the storm.

Editorial Reviews:
With the Advance Variation, White establishes a space advantage, and will often seek to exploit this by creating attacking chances on the kingside, or a bind on the queenside. Both sides have a variety of systems at their disposal, and the player who is better acquainted with the intricacies of these lines will tend to come out on top. It is a perennial favourite among players with a direct aggressive style: Shirov has played the Advance many times in recent years, while it has been employed by Sveshnikov and Kupreichik throughout their careers.

Editorial Reviews:
The French is a sound and resilient defence, which also provides abundant opportunities for counterplay. As a result it has been favoured by such great fighting players as Lasker, Botvinnik and Korchnoi. Current adherents include Short, Shirov, Morozevich and Khalifman. By playing 3 Nc3, White confronts the French head-on. The upshot is often a ferocious battle as Black tries to destroy or damage White's central pawn phalanx. Some of the variations, such as the notorious Winawer Poisoned Pawn, are among the sharpest in opening theory. However, both sides have quieter, more positional, options at their disposal, so there is truly something for everyone in the Main Line French. This book, the first of two volumes by Pedersen on the French, covers all lines after 3 Nc3, including the Winawer (Nimzowitsch), Classical (including the Steinitz), MacCutcheon and Guimard Variations. There is also a full discussion of 3...dxe4, a move that has found favour among those seeking to avoid theory.

Editorial Reviews:
The Tarrasch Variation provides a stern test for the French Defence, and has always been a favourite of strategically minded players, such as Michael Adams and Anatoly Karpov. By putting his knight on d2, White seeks to give his opponent little scope for counterplay, and in many of the traditional lines ends up with a slight positional advantage that can prove extremely difficult to neutralize. This has led to Black developing various sharper approaches, which complicate the play considerably at the cost of greater risk. Notable among these lines are systems with 3...Nf6 where Black sacrifices material to gain the initiative, and the modern main line 3...c5 4 exd5 Qxd5, where Black keeps his pawn-structure healthy at the cost of some tempi. To get the most out of these lines as either colour, thorough up-to-date knowledge is essential, and this book supplies it in abundance.

Editorial Reviews:
The Petroff has for a long time been regarded as a very solid defence. Black avoids the perils of the Scotch, the Italian Game and above all the dreaded Ruy Lopez, and instead opts to neutralize White's initiative with active piece-play. In the Petroff, it is quite common for Black to launch an early counterattack, often gambiting a pawn to do so. For many years, the Petroff enjoyed a steady following, with Karpov, Ivanchuk, Timman, Anand and in particular Yusupov among its supporters at the top level. Since 1998, however, the Petroff's popularity has soared, following its adoption by Vladimir Kramnik, who has played it regularly and considerably reinforced its theoretical standing. In this book, Janjgava gives a complete and detailed picture of the Petroff, taking recent developments fully into account. Readers will be fully equipped to take on either side of the Petroff with confidence in their own games.