Grandmaster Repertoire 1 - 1.d4 volume one

<Expected publication date the 26th of November, but maybe the 19th with some luck.

Table of Contents

Key to symbols used & Bibliography 6
Foreword by Grandmaster Boris Gelfand 7
Foreword by the Author 8

The Catalan 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3
1 4...dxc4 and 5...Bd7 13
2 4...dxc4 and 5...c6 25
3 4...dxc4 and 5...Bb4† 39
4 4...dxc4 and 5...Nbd7 51
5 4...dxc4 and 5...c5 63
6 4...dxc4, 5...a6 and 6...b5 87
7 4...dxc4 and 5...b5 99
8 4...dxc4, 5...a6 and 6...Nc6 111
9 4...dxc4 and 5...Nc6 129
10 4...Bb4† 5.Bd2 Be7 151
11 4...Be7, 5...0-0 and 6...Nbd7 185
12 4...Be7, 5...0-0 and 6...dxc4 203

The Slav 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3
13 3...dxc4 247
14 3...Nf6 4.e3 g6 255
15 4...a6 267
16 Stonewall 281
17 4...Bg4 287
18 4...e6 Meran Style 297
19 4...Bf5 and 5...a6 307
20 4...Bf5 and 6...Be4 315
21 6...Bg4 and 6...Bg6 329

The Queen’s Gambit 1.d4 d5 2.c4
22 2...Bf5 343
23 2...c5 349
24 Albin Counter Gambit 355
25 Tarrasch Defence 369
26 Chigorin Defence 389

The Queen’s Gambit Accepted 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3
27 Minor lines 405
28 3...Nf6 4.Bxc4 e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.0-0 c5 7.Bb3 427
29 7...b5 437

<Reviews

December 17: IM Sam Collins on Avrukh

Our first review of Grandmaster Repertoire 1 - 1.d4 Volume one and it is ecstatic. A few sample quotes:

“The unusual thing about this book is the playing strength of its author. Avrukh is a top GM, a consistent member of the Israeli team, with a rating normally around 2650. For such a player to write an opening book on his own is almost unprecedented...”

“I was extremely surprised when I heard that Avrukh had agreed to take on this project, and I view his authorship as a significant coup for the Quality Chess stable, comparable to their discovery of Mihail Marin.”

“Avrukh's strength as an analyst is not in doubt, and is in fact even better than his high rating would suggest, since he has unusually good opening preparation and has been retained as the second of top players for important matches. He couples this with a very nice writing style in excellent English...”

“...but the depth to which he analysed the lines in this book is still surprising – there are literally hundreds of novelties (including some for Black!), all deeply analysed and very well explained.”

“...this book is really rather special and, I would say, brings opening literature to a new level.”

“Highly Recommended *****”

Another controversy!

It was definitely a very successful tournament for me. I scored incredible + 6 ( 7,5 out of 9) and shared 1-2 with Ukranian Grandmaster Areshchenko. Apparently one of my greatest achievements in my chess career. There was a lot of luck in my last game against Alexander Morozevic, but to win such a strong tournament you definitely need some:). So in general I had a fantastic summer , sharing 1-2 place in two very strong Opens and gaining a lot of elo points.

[Event "Linares Anibal op 8th"]
[Site "Linares"]
[Date "2001.01.11"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Avrukh, Boris"]
[Black "Skripchenko, Almira"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C24"]
[WhiteElo "2625"]
[BlackElo "2440"]
[Plycount "41"]
[Eventdate "2001.01.08"]
[Eventtype "swiss"]
[Eventrounds "11"]
[Eventcountry "ESP"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[Sourcedate "2001.03.20"]

"It is our conviction that you will eventually be more successful by <playing the main lines>, simply because they are based on better moves. Instinctively most players know this, but they fear losing to a prepared line and thus turn to unambitious systems, or unhealthy surprises. The opponent will not be able to use his preparation but, sadly, will not need it. <These sidelines generally end in uninspiring positions almost automatically.>"