The Two Knights Defence is one of the trickiest tactical openings around. If White initiates complications with either 4 Ng5 or 4 d4, play becomes extremely sharp and gambits and counter gambits abound. Anyone who enters the murky waters of the Two Knights Defence must be well prepared for the mind-boggling complications that ensue. In this book, openings theoretician Jonathan Tait guides the reader through both the well-trodden paths of the main lines plus the less fashionable side variations of this most complex opening. Using illustrative games, Tait studies the key ideas and tactics for both Black and White.
*Up-to-date coverage of a controversial opening
*Written by a Two Knights Defence expert
*Ideal for club and tournament players

A highly adventurous repertoire designed to meet 1 e4 with 1...e5 and take the initiative! The main problem Black faces in answering 1 e4 with 1...e5 is the plethora of opening systems available to White: the Ruy Lopez, Giuoco Piano, Scotch, Ponziani, King's Gambit, Vienna, Bishop's Opening and so on. Each is likely to be White's pet line, which usually means conducting the chess battle on the opponent's turf. One solution is to study the main lines of all these openings and hope to remember what to do if they appear on the board. Another, more enterprising approach is to turn the tables and make White fight on your territory. Adopting the latter course, CC-SIM Jonathan Tait shares their investigations into a myriad of disregarded, "disreputable" responses, which can set White thinking as early as move three. These lines are greatly under-estimated by contemporary theory and include weird and wonderful variations such as the Calabrese Counter-Gambit (1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 f5), the Wagenbach Defence to the King's Gambit (1 e4 e5 2 f4 exf4 3 Nf3 h5), the Romanishin Three Knights (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Bc5), the Two Knights Ulvestad Variation (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5 d5 5 exd5 b5) and ultra-sharp lines of the Jaenisch Gambit (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 f5). The theory of the variations in this book is generally poorly understood. This has made them successful at all forms of play, including against online computer-assisted assault.

Two great books from the Everyman Chess Library, play 1...b6! a dynamic and hypermodern opening system for Black by Christian Bauer and Nimzo Larsen Attack by Byron Jacobs and Jonathan Tait, brought together in one volume. ----- Fed up with getting difficult positions with the black pieces? Tired of always having to keep up with all the latest developments. Take a break from the mountains of opening theory and play 1...b6! With the move, preparing a bishop fianchetto, Black immediately directs the game into relatively uncharted territory, one where White players are not able to sit back and rely on their 'opening book' knowledge. ----- The real beauty of 1...b6 is that it can be played against virtually every single first move by White, so it is a perfect choice for Black players with neither the time nor inclination to memorise a multitude of different defences. Despite being relatively unexplored, 1...b6 has been the weapon of some dynamic and uncompromising world-class players, including Britain's first Grandmaster, the late Tony Miles. ----- In this revolutionary book, Christian Bauer reveals for the first time the secrets of how to play 1...b6 with success. He takes an in-depth look at both the main lines and White's more offbeat tries, creating a comprehensive repertoire for the Black player and highlighting the tactical and positional ideas for both players. ----- In Nimzo-Larsen Attack, Byron Jacobs and Jonathan Tait explain how you can use this dynamic opening to attack your opponent from move one. The Nimzo-Larsen Attack has been unfairly neglected in recent times, and this book aims to redress the balance.