UNDERSTANDING BEFORE MOVING 3

You are holding before you the much-awaited final volume of my trilogy about Open Sicilians. The first volume dealt with the Najdorf and Scheveningen variations, while the second concerned itself with the Taimanov, Kan, and Richter-Rauzer variations. In the pages that follow, I round off the collection with the Dragon, Accelerated Dragon, Sveshnikov, Kalashnikov, and Four Knights variations. Each of them is the subject of extensive literature already. So, while it is unavoidable that I go into some theoretical details, my intention here (as with the previous volumes) is not to drown you in opening analysis, but rather to focus on general considerations and plans, giving an idea of the interplay between structure and strategy in each of the variations. There is overlap between the strategic elements of the Dragon and its Accelerated cousin in this regard, and between the Sveshnikov and Kalashnikov. But they each get their own chapter nevertheless, because talking about general considerations does not mean it’s clever to eschew granularity entirely. There are individual traits associated with each of the five systems.

International Master Herman Grooten has over 35 years’ experience as a professional chess trainer, with many pupils becoming world's leading players, such as GM Loek Van Wely, GM Benjamin Bok, GM Robin Swinkels etc. He wrote several books, all of them received great acclaim worldwide. This is his fifth book in this series, third volume of the sixteen volumes that will be published over the next six years.