The St. Petersburg grandmaster and coach Solozhenkin reveals the secrets of one of the most complex system of the Ruy Lopez - the Zaitsev Variation. It offers an optimal balance between safety and possibilities of imposing tangled fight.
Mastering the Zaitsev Variation will improve the reader's understanding of chess in general since he would need good orientation in double-edged middlegames, but also fair endgame play. The book offers a complete Black repertoire, starting from 3...a6, and going up to the super-trendy Svidler Variation.
On the basis of his vast experience of playing and teaching the Zaitsev system, Solozhenkin draws the conclusion that it is a reliable weapon for Black.
This books presents an opening repertoire for Black to players who are not excited by defending the dull endgames in the “Berlin Wall” variation and who strive for initiative, counterplay and a tense fight, having in mind the strategy of reliability defined by Tigran Petrosian.
It is comprised on the principle “The best move for me – against all the reasonable moves for the opponent.”. In some lines we analyse alternatives for Black.
As our main weapon against 9.h3 we recommend the Zaitsev system – 9...Bb7 10.d4 Re8.
At the beginning of the year 2015 the Svidler variation began to gain popularity 9...Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 exd4 12.cxd4 Nd7, which combines elements of the Zaitzev system and the Karpov variation 9...Nd7.
We analyse it in this book as well, as a way for Black to avoid the already famous repetition of moves 11.Ng5 Rf8 12.Nf3.
Evgeniy Solozhenkin is an international grandmaster, champion of Leningrad and St. Petersburg, a winner of the team championships of Russia, France, Finland and many international tournaments.He is the director of the Russian North-western district's grandmaster school, and he is a Russian Chess Federation coach.
