Yearbook 120: Chess Opening News (HC)

This Yearbook 120: Chess Opening News is a hardcover chess opening yearbook for players who want to keep up with current theory, build their repertoire and study material from respected authors and tournament practitioners. It combines fresh analysis, commentary and practical exercises, so you get more than a routine survey of variations.

What’s inside this issue

The Forum section includes new theoretical contributions from Ian Nepomniachtchi, Evgeny Najer, Karsten Müller, Frank Erwich and A.C. van der Tak. It is a useful source if you want to update your repertoire from recent analysis rather than rely only on older work.

The issue also continues its regular columns. In Repertoire Building with Benjamin, the discussion focuses on an important type of position with an isolated queen’s pawn and takes a practical approach to repertoire building. In Kuzmin’s Harvest, Alexey Kuzmin looks at Vladimir Kramnik’s opening philosophy, which will appeal to readers interested not only in variations, but also in how top players think about openings.

Opening surveys and reviews

The core of the Yearbook is, as always, its detailed opening surveys. This volume covers:

• Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation: 6.Bg5 and 6.Bc4
• Sicilian Defence, Nimzowitsch Variation: 2...Nf6
• French Defence: Steinitz Variation 7.Be3 and Winawer 6...Ne7
• Caro-Kann Defence: Advance Variation 4.h4
• Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defence 4.d3 and 4.0-0, plus the Open Variation 9.Qe2
• Italian Game, Giuoco Piano: 6.Bg5
• Scotch Game: Classical Variation 4...Bc5
• Philidor Defence: 5.Bc4
• Queen’s Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation 5.Bg5
• Slav Defence: Botvinnik Variation 10...Be7 and Slow Slav 4.e3
• Nimzo-Indian Defence: Classical Variation 4.Qc2 and Ragozin 6.Bg5
• Queen’s Indian Defence: Nimzowitsch Variation 4...Ba6
• Grünfeld Defence: Exchange Variation 7.Nf3
• King’s Indian Defence: Main Variation 6.Be2
• Colle System and Trompowsky: 2...b6 3.Bg5 and 3.h4
• English Opening: Symmetrical Variation 5.d4 and Double Fianchetto 6.b3
• Réti Opening: 1...d5 2.c4 c6

Glenn Flear also reviews several new chess books: Bologan's Ruy Lopez for Black (New In Chess), The Taimanov Bible (Thinkers Publishing), Unknown Weapons in the Grünfeld (Thinkers Publishing) and Bf4 in the Queen's Gambit and the Exchange Slav (Chess Stars). That makes this issue useful not only as a source of theory, but also as a guide to current opening literature.

Practical training

At the end you’ll find more than 75 practical opening exercises that let you test how well you understand the ideas discussed in the book. It is a strong section for self-study: instead of only reading variations, you can practise recognising plans, typical moves and critical moments in the opening.

If you are building a repertoire, preparing for tournaments or simply want to stay up to date with opening theory, Yearbook 120: Chess Opening News is a valuable addition to any chess library.

Key details

• Product type: hardcover chess opening yearbook
• Format: hardcover edition
• Content: chess opening theory, surveys, commentary and exercises
• Exercises: more than 75 practical opening exercises
• Reviews: includes reviews of new chess books
• Audience: players building or updating an opening repertoire
• Use: opening preparation, repertoire building, self-study and tournament preparation