A Winning White Repertoire

Smith: "Have you studied Volume 1 by Silman? If you have not, you are wasting your time and my time. You must have the basics he covers. Basics are everything. Basics are to build on. The difference between strong endgame players and weak ones is not rating strength, but rather a lack of basic knowledge, and maybe even a lack of will and perseverance. This 2nd and final volume will take you to endgame Master strength. Take your board and men and set up each of the 275 positions and work through every move. I explain each White and each Black move so you know what is happening from each side of the board. As White with the advantage you must learn how to win a won position, and as Black with a bad position, you must learn to put up a fight - such a fight to give you a chance to draw or even win. I teach you this endgame technique in 298 pages."

Short Description for Mastering the Bishop Pair - CB0015XX

This book emphasizes topics that strong players need to study in order to improve and stay sharp. Contents: Lesson 1:Attack and Counterattack, Lesson 2:Tactical Exercises I, Lesson 3:Art of Strategy, Lesson 4: Tactical Exercises II, Lesson 5:Art of the Endgame, Lesson 6:Tactical Exercises III, Epilogue: Odds and Ends.

The authors combine their talent to create an excellent work which supplements works on the Leningrad Dutch and fills in the gaps for players wishing to make the fighting modern Dutch their standard defense. Not only does it give coverage to the neglected English-Dutch(against 1.c4) and Reti-Dutch(against 1.Nf3) formations, but it also contains a comprehensive treatment of Black's best lines against the Lisitsin Gambit(1.Nf3 f5 2.e4) and other irregular White openings as well. All lines of the 1..e5 English Opening where Black plays 1..f5 in the first five moves are covered by transposition, Although the writers concentrate on how to play these lines as Black, White's best moves are shown, making this book a must for White.

When faced with the Sicilian Defense, you have to make the choice to either wade through a maze of variations in the main line or diverge early into a relatively lesser known system. The early advance of white's f-pawn fits this objective perfectly. White gains more space in the center and kingside with 2.f4, forming the basis for lasting pressure and often leading to violent attacks against the black kingside. After 1.e4 c5 2.f4, this variation fell out of fashion int he early 90's due to 2..d5. But take heart! Smith and Hall show that this variation still has some venom!

GM Soltis: "If white gets to attack in the Sicilian Defense anyway, why should he offer a pawn or two for the privilege? The answer is that black gets to counterplay in the Sicilian and his counterplay is usually as good as white's. That, in fact, is what makes the Sicilian popular. There are plenty of familiar Sicilian gambits(like the Smith Morra and Wing, which this book doesn't even cover). But in the last few years, a number of new ideas arising out of positional variations, have been discovered and found to pack a wallop for white". Here are six new white gambits against the Sicilian that the reader will have to attempt to destroy black!

One of the most solid and consistently successful systems available against 1..d6 and 1..g6 is the subtle Fianchetto. If you play 1.e4, you will want to know how to beat the Pirc/Modern. If you play either of these 2 defenses, you will want to know what will be played against you. The White setup is pawns at e4, d4, and g3, White Knights at c3 and e2, and Bishops at g2 and usually e3 - then attack, attack!

This book challenges you right in the opening to come up with ideas by answering the tests. Then you are tested in the strategy of the middlegame, which in some cases evolves into the final stage - the endgame. You can take the tests and be evaluated on how well you do from Class C to and including Master. Or you can just enjoy and learn from the deep, deep annotations. Either way you win because they are among the most extraordinary games played from 1955-1992.