In many 1.d4 openings, Black has trouble getting his bishop on c8 into play. Former Russian Chess Champion Alexey Bezgodov presents a radical solution to this nagging problem: liberate your bishop right away and put it on f5 on the second move!
Playing 2…Bf5! against either 2.c4 or 2.Nf3 will surprise your opponent and is also a great way to support your development, because the bishop takes control of the important square e4. If White does not immediately take decisive action, then within a move or two he can relinquish any hopes on an opening advantage.
Alexey Bezgodov has studied and played this chess opening system for a long time. He has found some great antidotes to Whites most dangerous reactions in sharp and attractive lines. To test your understanding of his system he has included more than 100 exercises.
After studying the fresh ideas and the clear explanations presented in The Liberated Bishop Defence every chess player will enjoy the flexibility of a surprising, effective and universal weapon against 1.d4.
Alexey Bezgodov (1969) is a Russian Grandmaster and writer. He was Russian Champion in 1993 and came shared first in the 1999 Ukrainian Championship. He is the author of 'The Extreme Caro-Kann' (2014), another highly original chess opening book.
IM John Donaldson, ChessToday:
"This is the first detailed work devoted to this complete answer to 1.d4 and Russian Grandmaster Bezgodov uses 100 deeply annotated model games to explain the opening and 103 exercises to test what the readers has learned."
FIDE Master Richard Vedder, Schakers.info:
"Here is your opportunity to score with a novelty! (..) I find 'The Liberated Bishop Defence' an excellent opening book. I would give it a 9.9 (out of 10). Why not 10? Well, the diagram on page 195 isn't correct."
Uwe Bekemann, German Correspondence Chess Federation:
"Truly enriches the world of openings. The reader gets a well-constructed repertoire for Black, which is being presented in a way that is easy to understand."
Dennis Calder, FIDE Instructor:
"Bezgodov analyses in detail many neighboring variations, so this book is also useful as a reference work (..) I think that this book could be of great help for many readers (with a rating above 1600)."
GM Glenn Flear, author of 'Starting Out: The Open Games':
"The trend to include exercises has been taken to another level. There are more than 100 of them therein for those who enjoy testing themselves. So there are lots of goodies for the money. I liked the writing style and found the book to be a great deal of fun. The personal touch of the author is everywhere, and the homespun novelties and analyses are stimulating."
An opening idea that will knock many White players off their feet! Former Russian Chess Champion Alexey Bezgodov provides a complete repertoire for Black against 1.d4, starting with the cheeky move 2…c5! against both 2.c4 and 2.Nf3. In this opening, the Double Queens Gambit, Blacks approach is as active and ambitious as Whites is in the Queens Gambit. After thoroughly analysing and investigating, Bezgodov has put the opening to the test in practical grandmaster play. It not only turned out to be play
Wersja językowa książki - angielska. Twarda okładka. Grandmaster Repertoire is a series of high quality chess books based on the main lines, written by strong grandmasters. The aim is to provide the reader with a complete repertoire at a level good enough for elite tournaments, and certainly also for the club championship. The Grünfeld Defence offers a complete repertoire for Black against 1.d4. Avrukh's two previous Grandmaster Repertoire books for White received universal rave reviews and have be
Wersja językowa książki - angielska. Twarda okładka. Grandmaster Repertoire is a series of high quality chess books based on the main lines, written by strong grandmasters. The aim is to provide the reader with a complete repertoire at a level good enough for elite tournaments, and certainly also for the club championship. The Grünfeld Defence offers a complete repertoire for Black against 1.d4. Avrukh's two previous Grandmaster Repertoire books White received universal rave reviews and have been h
The Tarrasch Defence is one of the most ambitious ways to play against 1.d4. Black immediately fights for the centre, gets a lot of space and develops his pieces without many problems. Great fighters like Boris Spassky, Paul Keres and Garry Kasparov have played the Tarrasch Defence. Former Russian Champion Alexey Bezgodov has more than 30 years of experience with the Tarrasch and is one of the worlds greatest experts. The Art of the Tarrasch Defence is a deeply researched journey into the positional st
The average club player doesnt need to study hundreds of pages of chess opening theory. Understanding structures and finding tactics are much more important than memorizing variations. Renowned German chess trainers Erik Zude and Jörg Hickl have created an ideal club players repertoire for Black. This compact manual presents a set of lines that is conveniently limited in scope, yet varied, solid and complete. The core repertoire is based on lines that the authors have successfully played at (grand)ma
Wersja językowa książki - angielska. Miękka okładka. The French Defence is one of the most popular and reliable responses to 1.e4. Grandmaster Repertoire 16 – The French Defence 3 concludes this ambitious three-volume series by offering a comprehensive repertoire against the Advance, Tarrasch, and other alternatives to 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3. Drawing on more than two decades of competitive experience with the French, GM Emanuel Berg presents state-of-the-art solutions for Black. Volume One and Volume
Forum The Forum Section features new theoretical contributions by, among others, Bogdan Lalic and Vishnu Prasanna. Columns In his column Repertoire Building with Benjamin, the American GM continues his treatment of the highly important position type with an isolated queens pawn. In Kuzmins Harvest, Alexey Kuzmin highlights the most important opening novelties in the Candidates Tournament in Moscow. Reviews Glenn Flear reviews three repertoire books: The Open Games with Black by Martin Lokander (
Forum The Forum Section features new theoretical contributions by, among others, Bogdan Lalic and Vishnu Prasanna. Columns In his column Repertoire Building with Benjamin, the American GM continues his treatment of the highly important position type with an isolated queens pawn. In Kuzmins Harvest, Alexey Kuzmin highlights the most important opening novelties in the Candidates Tournament in Moscow. Reviews Glenn Flear reviews three repertoire books: The Open Games with Black by Martin Lokander (
The French Defence is one of the most popular and reliable responses to 1.e4. Grandmaster Repertoire 15 – The French Defence 2 covers the most critical variation of the Winawer, which occurs after the opening moves 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3† 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4. This volume presents three contrasting ways of meeting Whites aggressive opening system: 7...cxd4 leading to the notorious Winawer Poisoned Pawn; 7...0–0 8.Bd3 f5, a solid yet strategically complex system; and 7...0–0 8.Bd3 Nb
The Advance Variation is the most ambitious way to meet the solid French Defence. Its popularity among club players is not difficult to understand: by advancing the e-pawn to e5 on the third move, White not only gains space but also blocks in Blacks c8-bishop and hampers Blacks kingside development by taking away the f6-square. Grandmaster Evgeny Sveshnikov has played the Advance Variation in countless games with excellent results and is, as former World Champion Anatoly Karpov puts it, the world exper
Wersja językowa książki: angielska. Miękka okładka. The French Defence is one of the most popular and reliable responses to 1.e4. Grandmaster Repertoire 15 – The French Defence 2 covers the most critical variation of the Winawer, which occurs after the opening moves 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3† 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4. This volume presents three contrasting ways of meeting Whites aggressive opening system: 7...cxd4 leading to the notorious Winawer Poisoned Pawn; 7...0–0 8.Bd3 f5, a solid yet st
Wersja językowa książki - angielska. Developing an effective repertoire with 1.e4 requires extensive research, mixed with fine judgement and a good deal of creativity. In this, the second of three volumes, GM John Shaw turns the analytical spotlight on the French Defence, advocating his own favourite weapon for White, the Tarrasch Variation. The final part of the book begins the mammoth task of tackling the Sicilian Defence, by considering a number of rare but tricky options available to Black in this op
Wersja językowa książki - angielska. Miękka okładka. The Caro-Kann is renowned as a top-tier defence to 1.e4, and Lars Schandorffs Grandmaster Repertoire book on this opening received rave reviews. As GM Zenon Franco Ocampos put it, I cannot imagine a better way of converting into a Caro-Kann player. A decade later, Schandorff is back with a completely new repertoire which improves on his previous work in every way. Playing the Caro-Kann offers a complete repertoire for Black after 1.e4 c6, based on 2
Wersja językowa książki - angielska. Twarda okładka. The Caro-Kann is renowned as a top-tier defence to 1.e4, and Lars Schandorffs Grandmaster Repertoire book on this opening received rave reviews. As GM Zenon Franco Ocampos put it, I cannot imagine a better way of converting into a Caro-Kann player. A decade later, Schandorff is back with a completely new repertoire which improves on his previous work in every way. Playing the Caro-Kann offers a complete repertoire for Black after 1.e4 c6, based on 2
Wersja językowa książki - angielska. The French Defence is one of the most popular and reliable responses to 1.e4. Black invites his opponent to gain space in the centre, with the intention of undermining the enemy position and launching a counterattack. Although the amount of theory has expanded in recent years, the French often leads to positions where positional and strategic understanding prove more relevant than long sequences of computer-generated moves. Grandmaster Repertoire 14 – The French Defe