With the seemingly bulletproof Berlin Wall and Marshall Attack continuing to thwart White's best efforts to find an advantage in the Ruy Lopez, many top chess players have incorporated the Italian Game (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4) along with the related Bishop's Opening (2.Bc4) into their repertoires. GM Martyn Kravtsiv shares his insights on The Italian Renaissance from White's perspective.The first topic is the Bishop's Opening, which can be used as an Anti-Petroff move order as well as a weapon in its own right. 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 may or may not transpose to the main Italian lines, and it is useful to have it in your arsenal in order to choose the most effective sequence against each opponent.Next is the more popular 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3. Before reaching the Italian, White must be ready to deal with the Petroff Defence (2...Nf6). Kravtsiv advocates the well-regarded 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 variation, offering an array of weapons to cause problems for Black, including a large number of untested yet dangerous ideas.Join The Italian Renaissance and create your own masterpieces!

The Italian Renaissance I: Move Orders, Tricks and Alternatives

Humor & Entertainment

Kravtsiv, Martyn

Puzzles & Games

Quality Chess

In this, the second book in his two-volume work, GM Martyn Kravtsiv shines the spotlight on the Italian Game (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4). Most chess players learn the basics of this opening as beginners, yet it contains enough depth and complexity to provide the world's best players with a rich and ever-evolving battleground.Though written unmistakably from White's perspective, this work takes a different approach from that of a typical repertoire book. Rather than filling valuable pages analysing rare, inferior and generally irrelevant options, the author delves deep into the most important main lines, explaining the key move-order details and providing White with a series of well-researched ideas which will force your opponents to solve difficult problems at the board.Join The Italian Renaissance and create your own masterpieces!

The Italian Renaissance II: The Main Lines

A unique exercise book to improve your all-round chess thinking "I noticed that most of the students [at the Lviv chess school] were pretty good at calculating variations and finding tactical ideas. But when I gave them a strategic exercise they became a little confused. ... I realized that few good books of a suitable level with strategic exercises have been published." - Martyn Kravtsiv So he decided to write one! After tackling his exercises, you will have a greater understanding of which piece needs to be exchanged, whether to advance a pawn or leave it where it is, along with a variety of other strategic questions involving outposts, open lines, structures and where to attack. But there remains the problem that strategic exercises often lack clear-cut solutions, with the right course a matter of taste or opinion. Martyn has solved this by often including a tactic in the solution, but the reason it works is based on the correct strategic decision having been made. Unlocking the strategic secrets of each position will lead you to this hidden treasure! The most difficult exercises in this book will challenge even masters, so for the rest of us there is a helpful hint provided. Full and detailed solutions explain the strategic and tactical ideas in each position, and amount to a wide-ranging course in chess strategy. Martyn Kravtsiv&nbsp;is an experienced grandmaster and trainer from Lviv, Ukraine. His tournament results include tied first places at Cappelle in 2012 and the 2015 Ukrainian Championship, as well as being blitz champion of the 2008 World Mind Sports Games (at age 17). He represented his country at the 2017 World Team Championship and was a coach for the team that won silver medals at the 2016 Olympiad.

400 Chess Strategy Puzzles

Gambit Publications

<div>"The easiest, quickest and most effective way to improve your overall game is to increase your tactical vision. Many good positions are lost because a key moment is passed by and a player misses the opportunity to win by a beautiful combination. This book is designed simply to help you improve your play by seeing tactics better." - Martyn Kravtsiv Written along similar lines to Gambit's earlier Ultimate Chess Puzzle Book, this new work presents 600 puzzles, mostly from the last two years, that are chosen for instructive value and maximum training benefit. To ensure that few will be familiar to readers, Kravtsiv has deliberately chosen positions from obscure games or from analysis. If you find the right answers, it will be because you worked them out yourself! The solutions feature plenty of verbal explanations of the key points, and cover most of the logical but incorrect answers. The book is completed with a set of 'no clues' tests, and an index of themes that will be useful to coaches and those looking to focus on specific aspects of tactics - or just seeking extra clues!</div>

600 Modern Chess Puzzles

<div>Magnus Carlsen is the greatest chess player of the 21st century. His tactical wizardry, strategic inventiveness, technical expertise and legendary fighting spirit put him head and shoulders above all other players. They also make his games tremendously instructive. To extract the best lessons from this amazing source material, Gambit has commissioned Martyn Kravtsiv, a Ukrainian grandmaster from the same generation as Carlsen (in fact, they were born just a few days apart). He has annotated these 42 games from a thoroughly modern perspective and with an innate understanding of the impact Carlsen's play has had on modern chess. In each game Kravtsiv picks out a key point - the Magnus Moment - where he demonstrates the special insight that sets him apart from other players. Perhaps he clarifies a messy situation, confident in his technical ability. Or sacrifices to gain practical chances in a game that has not gone to plan. Throughout, the emphasis is on how Carlsen makes life hard for his opponents in any way he can, whatever the objective assessment of the position on the board. Each game is a themed lesson on an important chess topic. The bulk of the book addresses the fight for advantage and initiative in the middlegame, but there are also chapters focusing on opening ideas, endgame play and human factors.</div>

Magnus Carlsen's Most Instructive Games (Chess World Champions)

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