Editorial Reviews:
The Alekhine is arguably the most forcing and aggressive reply to 1 e4. Black immediately forces the pace and drags the game onto his own favoured territory. This strategy is not without risk, but those who specialize in the Alekhine find that the opening has a real practical sting and quick-strike potential.
This book describes the main positional and tactical themes unique to the Alekhine, and the principal directions of play in modern practice. The coverage is even-handed, and there are abundant ideas presented to both sides, including ways for White to seek to consolidate his space advantage, or else to try to blast Black off the board.

Editorial Reviews:
The Stonewall Dutch is a traditional favourite amongst club players, as it offers Black ready-made attacking plans on the kingside. As Grandmaster Bent Larsen has noted, the Dutch also has the tendency to 'bring out the coward' in opponents, giving it an added practical sting. However, up until the late 1980s, the Stonewall wasn't fully trusted at grandmaster level, despite its earlier use by Alekhine and Botvinnik. Black's attacking plans were too one-sided, and White's methods too well worked out. The change came when a new generation of players, including Nigel Short and Simen Agdestein, showed that Black could handle his position in many other ways, including play on the queenside and in the centre, with the 'Stonewall' structure stifling White's attempts to generate play of his own. Agdestein in particular has continued to experiment with many new set-ups and move-orders for Black, and this book contains a wealth of new recommendations and suggestions based on this work.

Editorial Reviews:
The Modern Benoni is a perennial favourite among players looking to create winning chances with Black. It is one of the few openings where White has no easy way to force drawish simplifications or deny Black any dynamic counterplay. Both players need to understand the imbalances in the position and pursue their plans with great vigour. In this book Franco shows how Black can seek to create the kind of mayhem that has attracted champions such as Tal, Kasparov and Topalov to the Benoni, and also demonstrates how White can seek either to put a positional clamp on the game, or else to storm Black's position before his development is complete. A special section deals with the vital question of move-orders.

Editorial Reviews:
The English Opening is a flexible and dynamic choice for White, which avoids a great deal of sharp and well-mapped opening theory. It is popular with all levels of chess-players, and has been used to good effect at world championship level by Kasparov, Korchnoi, Botvinnik and other greats of the game. The English gives rise to an immense variety of structures, ranging from reversed Sicilians to Hedgehogs and fluid or locked central structures. It is an opening where strategic mastery of typical positions is of immense benefit, and where Black needs to combine circumspection and vigour to obtain a viable game.

Editorial Reviews:
In this book, one of the most enthusiastic adherents of the Classical Dutch explains the workings of his favourite opening, and provides Black with a complete repertoire against 1 d4. Few opponents will be ready to take on the Classical Dutch, since it has received little attention in chess literature in recent decades. Simon Williams shows how Black can obtain counter-chances against each of White's main options. He also provides recommendations against all of White's alternative approaches against the Dutch, including a variety of sharp possibilities after 1 d4 f5.

Editorial Reviews:
The Leningrad System of the Dutch Defence is an interesting hybrid of the Dutch and the King's Indian. For many years, it was viewed with some suspicion in view of the slight positional weaknesses created in Black's position. However, in the 1980s dynamic new approaches were introduced by such players as Sergei Dolmatov, Evgeny Bareev, Mikhail Gurevich and especially Vladimir Malaniuk. These players showed how an active approach could compensate for these defects, and offer Black excellent winning chances. Since then, the Leningrad has been a popular and effective opening choice for players of all levels.

Editorial Reviews:
The Modern Benoni is one of Black's most swashbuckling openings, used to devastating effect by such players as Tal, Fischer, Kasparov and Topalov. From the outset, Black creates extreme imbalance, setting his piece activity and queenside play against White's spatial preponderance and central majority. However, during the 1980s and much of the 1990s, the Benoni fell under a cloud as a result of some very direct attacking systems by White. In this book, John Watson particularly focuses on various subtle move-orders by which Black can try to avoid White's most dangerous systems and direct the game into more palatable channels. King's Indian players will also find this book invaluable, since Watson covers many lines that can arise from King's Indian move-orders.

Editorial Reviews:
The Symmetrical systems of the English Opening constitute a large and important area of modern opening theory. The strategic variety to be found within this book is staggering: from the sedate Symmetrical Variation to the wild gambit lines of the Anti-Benoni, and almost everything in between! The book provides detailed coverage of the theory of all lines stemming from 1 c4 c5. It includes many variations that often arise from different openings entirely, such as the Semi-Tarrasch, or when White avoids a Benko or Benoni.

Editorial Reviews:
The 1...e5 systems of the English Opening lead to positions rich in tactical and strategic subtleties, making them suitable for players of all standards and temperaments. These lines have not been properly covered in chess literature for twenty years, and this thoroughly-researched book fills a gaping void. The main systems covered include the Reversed Dragon, where the position is balanced on a tactical knife-edge; the tense Closed lines, where Black adopts a King's Indian set-up; the fashionable lines with a very early ...Bb4; and the main lines of the English Four Knights, as used in many top-level games.

Editorial Reviews:
Grandmaster Tony Kosten concentrates on aggressive treatments of the English - an approach that has brought him great success in tournament play. His book provides everything you need to start attacking with the English Opening, supplying players of the white pieces with a set of weapons that will equip them to challenge any opponent they face. There is an ideal balance of explanation and analysis, and practical examples illustrate the key themes.

Editorial Reviews:
The Benko Gambit has enormous appeal to those who like to take the initiative with the black pieces. Black boldly sacrifices a pawn in the opening, and in return gets a secure position, and attractive prospects both in the short term and in the long term. This book provides complete and even-handed coverage of this popular gambit, using the unique Gambit 'Quick Summaries' system, introducing the main themes and where appropriate suggesting a coherent repertoire of reliable lines.