The QGA is a positionally sound and reliable opening, played by world champions Kasparov, Karpov, Anand and Topalov. The authors consider the Classical System with 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6, but they in fact prefer alternative, sharper approaches. Against 3.e4 they recommend 3...Nc6 4.Nf3 Nf6!?, against 3.e3 they choose 3...e5! and against 3.Nf3 their weapon of choice is 3...Nf6 4.e3 Bg4!? Other choices and drawish alternatives are given.

Understanding The Queens Gambit Accepted

Semko Semkov

Alexander Delchev

Chess Stars LTD.

This book offers an active Black repertoire against The English Opening 1.c4, the Reti 1.Nf3, and their siblings that arise after 1.g3. The authors advocate for seizing space in the centre with ...c6 and d5, followed up by ...e4 or ...d4. They pay special attention on the ideas behind the moves, leaving the detailed coverage for the "Step by Step" sections.

Chess Stars LTD. Attacking The English and Reti

This book presents a full repertoire against open Sicilians with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6. It advocates the modern set-up with Bc1-e3 and Qd1-f3 against the Taimanov, an innovative treatment of the Keres Attack, 5.c4 against the Kan. The authors develop many new plans for White, relying on their chess instincts and original analysis. GM Vassilios Kotronias is ten-time champion of Greece and a famous theoretician. His peak rating so far was 2628 in 2008. Semko Semkov played for Bulgaria in one Olympiad. He is a chess journalist and theoretician. He has authored The Most Flexible Sicilian, Kill K.I.D., Attacking the English/Reti, and other books.

Attacking the Flexible Sicilian

Vassilios Kotronias

This book presents the Triangle set-up, which arises after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3/Nf3 c6. This move order avoids many unpleasant systems for White, notably the Catalan, the Exchange Slav and the Botvinnik Variation. It leads to sharp strategically unbalanced play and brings Black excellent practical results. Semko Semkov is a chess journalist and theoretician. He has co-authored the famous books The Modern English, The Most Flexible Sicilian, Attacking the English/Reti, Attacking the Flexible Sicilian and Understanding the Queen’s Gambit

The Modern Triangle

This book presents a full repertoire based on the Gligoric System against the King’s Indian Defence – 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3. The key point of this set-up is that White does not commit his king to any flank, at least for a while. That makes Black’s thematic attack with ...f5-f4, ...g4 pointless and allows White to play chess without having to memorise tons of variations. The authors focus on typical positions and methods of handling them, which is essential for the Gligoric System.

Squeezing the King's Indian Defence

Chess Stars

This book offers a full repertoire based on the Taimanov move order 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6! 5.Nc3 Qc7. It is especially effective against the English Attack and early kingside pawn storms. However, the fianchetto 6.g3 and the Classical System with 6.Be3 a6 7.Be2 pose certain problems. The autor proposes to meet them with the Scheveningen set-up ...d6, thus taking the best of two different worlds. The book practically does not overlap with the 2014 Chess Stars bestseller The Most Flexible Sicilian or with Pavlidis’s The Sicilian Taimanov as the author recommends other lines, which are better or keep more tension, in his opinion. Semkov has been a devoted Sicilian fan all his life, and he has played at least 10 000 blitz games starting with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6. Since a good half of them featured 3.c3, 3.g3, 3.d3 or other anti-Sicilians, the author included these lines in the book.

The Taimanov-Scheveningen Hybrid

The author proposes a full repertoire against 1.d4 and 1.c4, which is theoretically sound and leads to sharp, strategically unbalanced positions. It is based on the so-called English Defence 1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 or 1.c4 b6. A great deal of the book is devoted to White's tries to deviate from theoretical dispute and transfer the game into the Queen's Indian with g3. Contents 004 Bibliography 005 Introduction 1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 009 Chapter 1. Taking the Centre – e4 without Nc3 025 Chapter 2. Taking the Centre – e4 with Nc3 047 Chapter 3. The Cunning 3.a3 065 Chapter 4. The Dutch Set-up against 3.a3 091 Chapter 5. 3.Nc3 and 4.Nf3 113 Chapter 6. 3.Nc3 without 4.Nf3 137 Chapter 7. Queen’s Indian with e3 151 Chapter 8. Sidestepping the mainline QID Deviations 161 Chapter 9. 1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 c5 3.g3 173 Chapter 10. 1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 c5 3.c4 185 Chapter 11. 1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 c5 3.e3 197 Chapter 12. London and Jobava Systems 213 Chapter 13. 1.c4 b6 227 Chapter 14. Petrosian System 231 Index of Variations

Playing for a win with ...b6

The Bulgarian GM Delchev (current Elo 2661) proposes a sound, yet aggressive Black Sicilian repertoire, based on the Taimanov system: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7. As Black, it is extremely difficult to get a playable position without accepting extreme risks. This book deals with reliable positional systems which will serve you for many years, without having to update your opening knowledge every two weeks. This setup is especially effective against the dreaded English attack. The author is one of the world’s leading experts in that field and his recommendations are based mostly on his own games. Without hiding back his secrets, Delchev reveals many new ideas and novelties in his pet line. The authors pay also attention to White’s deviations from the Open Sicilian. There are chapters about 3.c3, 3.d3, 3.Nc3, 3.b3, 3.c4 and other rare lines. The book features a new form of presentation. Every system is examined in a separate part which contains three chapters: "Quick Repertoire"; "Step by Step"; "Complete Games". You start with the "Quick Repertoire". You’ll find there all the vital information that you need to start playing the variation. "Step by Step" chapters follow the usual layout of Chess Stars books with main lines that branch to sub-lines. To provide real life illustrations of the system every part ends with "Complete Games".

The Safest Sicilian: A Black Repertoire With 1. E4 C5 2. Nf3 E6 (Current Theory And Practice Series)

Humor & Entertainment

Puzzles & Games

Bulgarian GM Delchev takes a new look at his Sicilian repertoire. After a short pause, in 2008 he returned to his pet line, the Taimanov system. The result of his work is this Second edition of The Safest Sicilian. Delchev proposes a sound yet aggressive approach, based on the following move order: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7. As Black, it is extremely difficult to get a playable position without accepting extreme risks. This book deals with reliable positional systems which will serve you for many years, without having to update your opening knowledge every two weeks. This setup is especially effective against the dreaded English attack. The author is one of the world's leading experts in that field and his recommendations are based mostly on his own games. Without hiding back his secrets, Delchev reveals many new ideas and novelties in his pet line. The authors pay also attention to White's deviations from the Open Sicilian. There are chapters about 3.c3, 3.d3, 3.Nc3, 3.b3, 3.c4 and other rare lines. The book features a new form of presentation. Every system is examined in a separate part which contains three chapters: "Quick Repertoire"; "Step by Step"; "Complete Games". You start with the "Quick Repertoire". You'll find there all the vital information that you need to start playing the variation. "Step by Step" chapters follow the usual layout of Chess Stars books with main lines that branch to sub-lines. Finally, every part ends with "Complete Games".

The Safest Sicilian Second Revised Edition NEW !!

This book of Chess Stars offers an entirely new approach to the Four Pawns Attack against the King's Indian Defence (KID). The author develops original aggressive ways to combat the KID and analysis them in great detail. He also covers various move orders for Black known as Modern Defence. There is no Kill KID 2 ...yet. This project is open to readers' suggestions.From the introduction to the book "Warning! Do not kill any kid around, I only refer to the King's Indian Defence! That one, I have been trying to kill for more than 20 years. This book is based mostly on my own original analysis of the Four Pawns Attack (FPA). It does not offer just minor improvements here and there in some irrelevant variations. I devised new plans in all the major systems and I propose a detailed analysis of all the arising branches I could think of. I quit active chess long ago so I have no reason to withhold any novelty I came upon over all those years. On the contrary, I have always wanted to share my numerous discoveries. I feel that current theory of the FPA is totally messed up if not entirely wrong. However, I had a gaping hole in the main Modern Benoni line and it took me many years to strike upon a decent idea. I hope it will cause considerable headache to Black players. I have always been unhappy with the Classical variation against the KID. It accumulated such an enormous amount of theory that it is impractical to keep in pace with it even for a professional player. Even bigger problem is the character of positions that arise..."

Kill K.I.D.: v. 1

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Books by Semko Semkov