The well-known grandmaster and theoretician Evgeny Sveshnikov has used the Closed Variation (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5) more than 150 times in tournament play with a score of more than 70%. Many theoretically important games have been excluded by the author from official chess databases, and here they are exclusively published for the first time. Volume 1 (Basic Course) contains the following main chapters: Historical Overview of the Closed Variation; Plans for White and Black on the Basis of Thoroughly Annotated Games; A Lesson on the Blockade; 70 Test Positions: What Would You Play?

Volume 2 (Master Course) contains the following main chapters: 61 theoretically important games for independent analysis; Encyclopaedia of variations; Summary of the 3.e5 system; Games for further study; Latest theoretical developments. This two-volume work is intended for a broad range of chess enthusiasts. The author guarantees that anyone making a thorough study of the available material can expect an improvement in his playing strength in this system of approximate 200 Elo points.