Touvron - Les échecs Artistiques

A reprint of two iconic Botvinnik books combined in one. In this book, Botvinnik writes the story of the three clashes with his compatriot Vasily Smyslov, matches full of tension between two virtually equal opponents, and his match with Tigran Petrosian, which marks the end of an era: the mighty Botvinnik lost his world title fifteen years after he conquered the highest crown for the first time.

A unique look behind the scenes of World Championship Chess. 476 pages

Do you want a simple and practical method to counter Black’s kingside fianchetto defences after 1 d4? A line that takes the initiative from a very early stage and creates difficult practical problems? If so, then The Harry Attack (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 h4!) is for you.

At first this looks like some sort of joke or, at the very least, a weird outlandish line. Aren’t we all taught to focus on development and control of the centre in the early stages? What’s 3 h4 got to do with that?

Perhaps surprisingly, this is a very difficult line for Black to counter effectively. This applies not just in practical play but also theoretically, where it is far from straightforward for Black even to find a route to equality. And when Black gets it wrong they are often on the receiving end of a very unpleasant miniature.

You may be thinking that surely the best chess engines can show how to counter this line? No! One of the unexpected features of leading engine play is their enthusiasm for shoving the h-pawn up the board and they fully concur that 3 h4! is a very decent move for White. Many leading players have taken the hint and 3 h4 is frequently seen at elite level.

Richard Palliser and Simon Williams (the GingerGM) provide a thorough guide to this fascinating line. They show how to adapt when Black chooses a King’s Indian set-up, a Grünfeld set-up, a Benoni set-up or even plays in Benko style.

The Harry Attack is easy to learn and is perfect for unsettling players steeped in the theory of their favourite Indian defences.  238 pages

This chess set is a classic one, the pieces are in acaciawood,  "American Staunton" design, size is 85 mm for the king. The board is made in walnut wood, official size (square 5 cm) with annotations, ideal for club, school, for analyse and study. 

Il y a quelques temps, j'avais mentionné dans une critique la légendaire défense anti-Hodgson (1.d4 h6), que personne hélas n'a jamais osé employer sérieusement (d'accord, Basman l'a employée - mais j'avais dit ""sérieusement""). Eh bien, cette cinquième li