Yearbook 118: Chess Opening News (PB)

This Yearbook 118: Chess Opening News is a paperback chess opening yearbook for players who want to stay on top of current theory, new ideas and practical repertoire work. It brings together opening surveys, expert commentary, reviews and more than 75 exercises, making it a useful study tool for players, coaches and ambitious club players alike.

What’s inside this issue?

The Forum section includes a lively discussion about the right to give a variation your own name, the announcement of the Novelty of the Year 2015 winner, and theoretical articles by Bogdan Lalic, Luis Rodi and José Vilela.

In Columns, American grandmaster Benjamin uses Repertoire Building with Benjamin to look at positions with an isolated queen’s pawn in different openings, which is especially useful for players building a consistent repertoire. Kuzmin’s Harvest by Alexeya Kuzmina focuses on opening novelties prepared by the world’s leading players for Tata Steel.

The Reviews section features Glenn Flear on important opening books, including Grandmaster Repertoire: The Dragon, Volumes 1 and 2 by Gawaina Jones, Understanding the Queen’s Gambit Accepted by Alexandra Delcheva and Semko Semkova, The Scandinavian by David Smerdon, and The Double Queen’s Gambit by Alexeya Bezgodova.

Opening surveys

The strongest part of the yearbook is the surveys section, which offers detailed work on specific variations. Issue 118 covers both 1.e4 and 1.d4 openings, as well as selected systems from the English Opening.

• 1.e4: Sicilian Defence lines including Moscow, Najdorf, Scheveningen, Richter-Rauzer, Accelerated Dragon, Four Knights and Closed, plus the Pirc Defence, Russian Defence, Spanish, Philidor, Two Knights, Budapest Gambit and English Defence
• 1.d4: Cambridge Springs in the Queen’s Gambit Declined, the Slav Defence, Nimzo-Indian, Bogo-Indian, Grünfeld, King’s Indian Defence, Benko Gambit and the 2.Bf4 system
• Other: English Opening lines including Reversed Sicilian 3.g3, the symmetrical variation with ...d5, and the 3.d4 line

This gives readers a broad cross-section of material for updating their repertoire with White or Black, or for following how theory is developing in major tournament openings.

Why it’s useful

This yearbook goes beyond a simple list of variations. By combining analysis, commentary and reviews, it helps explain why certain moves matter and where modern opening theory is heading. It is a practical choice for tournament preparation, chess training, or focused repertoire study based on current material.

The Exercises section adds more than 75 practical opening exercises, giving you a chance to test your understanding of typical plans, ideas and key moves in the positions covered.

Key details

• Product type: paperback chess opening yearbook
• Publication: Yearbook 118: Chess Opening News
• Content focus: opening theory, new ideas and practical repertoire work
• Sections: Forum, Columns, Reviews, Surveys and Exercises
• Exercises: more than 75 practical opening exercises
• Audience: players, coaches and ambitious club players
• Use: opening repertoire study, chess training and tournament preparation