The Open Games for Black

In Starting Out: Queen's Gambit Accepted Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik take a fresh look at this famous opening. The early moves and ideas are introduced and care is taken to explain the reasoning behind them, something that is often neglected or taken for granted. As with previous works in the popular Everyman Chess Starting Out series, the reader is helped throughout with a plethora of notes, tips and warnings highlighting the vital characteristics of the QGA and of opening play in general.

The Queen's Gambit Accepted is one of the oldest and most dependable ways for Black to meet White's queen's pawn opening. It leads to dynamic positions with free piece play in which the more enterprising player is likely to prevail. When Nigel Short used the QGA in his match with Anatoly Karpov in 1992, the opening became highly fashionable and it currently features prominently in the repertoires of grandmasters Joel Lautier and Matthew Sadler, among many others. This book provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of the Queen's Gambit Accepted available. With an emphasis on currently fashionable lines that readers are likely to encounter in their own games, it provides everything you need to know to play the opening with White or Black. Iakov Neishtadt is an international master at correspondence chess and author of numerous books, including Winning Quickly with White and Winning Quickly with Black.

The Ragozin Complex is a flexible and versatile chess opening system that, despite its popularity, rarely has been a subject of serious study in chess literature. A hybrid of the Queen's Gambit and the Nimzo-Indian Defence, the Ragozin featured in a famous book by Soviet theoretician Lipnitsky in the 1950s. Bobby Fischer decided to learn Russian to be able to read that work and immediately afterwards started playing the Ragozin.

In addition to the standard lines, this book contains a number of interesting suggestions that have never been implemented. This book has been updated with a supplement containing the latest games and grandmaster analysis in 2012.

The Smyslov Variation was developed by World Chess Champion Vasily Smyslov and used in top level competitions by him and by other World Champions. One advantage is that it can be used frequently. If White plays 1. d4 and Black responds with 1. ...d5, White will almost always play 2. c4. Then after the natural moves 2. ...dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3, Black can play 4. ...g6 which is the Smyslov Variation. The Smyslov Variation is a form of the Queen's Gambit Accepted.

A Hard-hitting Chess Opening Repertoire for Black based on the Schliemann Gambit and Albin Counter-Gambit. Are you fearless in your approach to chess openings? Do you like to attack your opponents from the very beginning? Are you happy to take calculated risks? Are you a Gambiteer? If the answer to these questions is 'yes' then this is the book for you!

Few would disagree that the Queen's Gambit is one of the most important openings in chess. It has a long and distinguished history and has been played by virtually all the strongest Grandmasters: Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Anatoly Karpov, Vishy Anand - the list goes on and on! From the very beginning White develops actively, takes the initiative and strives to dominate the center. Most agree that the Queen's Gambit is White's best chance for an opening advantage after 1. d4 d5.

The Orthodox Defense to the Queen's Gambit is an extremely resilient system for Black, and a solid favorite of many world champions. As Black's main ideas are easily grasped, it is also a very popular option at club level. In this, the first major work on the subject, the flexible and powerful move 5 Bf4! is explained. While far less hackneyed than the standard systems in which the bishop goes to g5, the move denies Black the standard simplifying maneuvers and sets an entirely new set of problems.