Publisher: Gambit, 2015
Edition: Paperback medium
Pages: 176
Language: English
The appeal of the Scandinavian Defence is easy to understand: it is very forcing – Black is virtually guaranteed to get his desired structure. There are no annoying ‘Anti-Scandinavians’ to study!
But for many decades the Scandinavian was regarded with some suspicion, as Black apparently loses time recapturing on d5. Modern players have a different view.
The great Danish player Bent Larsen kickstarted the revolution with his provocative assertion that it is an improved Caro-Kann (and, not least, beating Karpov with our opening)!
But the 21st-century Scandinavian is a different beast altogether; the new main line of the whole opening (3...Qd6) has proven to have great strategic richness, with more than a few tactical tricks lurking just behind the scenes.
The Scandinavian has been transformed into an opening that strong grandmasters are willing to use as their main defence, rather than as an occasional surprise weapon.
This thoroughly modern guide focuses on these new approaches, while also covering the more traditional main lines. Kasparov guides the reader carefully through each system, explaining his recommendations with wit and clarity. With his help, you will have your opponents wishing there really were some ‘Anti-Scandinavian’ lines!
Sergey Kasparov is a grandmaster from Belarus. He plays regularly in international events around the globe and is an experienced writer, with several books and online reports to his credit.
PRAISE FOR SERGEY KASPAROV:
GM David Smerdon on 'A Cunning Chess Opening for Black', by Sergey Kasparov:
"The book is engaging, humorous, mercurial and ‘unputdownable' (..) Notes about general principles, tips for practical chess and interesting positional and endgame analyses abound. There are 156(!) illustrated games in the book, and I don’t think there was a single one in which I didn’t read at least one comment I found useful and instructional."
GM Matthew Sadler, on 'Steamrolling the Sicilian', by Sergey Kasparov:
"I enjoyed it greatly. The author lightens up the text with non-chess digressions and little flashes of humour (..) I felt the author had done a particularly good job in bringing across the little move order tricks you need to navigate in the early stages of the opening."
Marshtowers Chess Reviews, on 'The Dynamic Benko Gambit', by Sergey Kasparov:
"Sergey Kasparov's introduction is very instructive and written in a witty and engaging manner (..) He presents very thorough coverage of all standard Benko lines before moving on to the rarer ones (..) Dynamic play is guaranteed!"
