In the 8th volume of the series, the St. Petersburg grandmaster Alexander Khalifman talks about the methods of playing white against the most popular debut in modern tournament practice - the Sicilian defense. The author analyzes both a number of rare black answers on the second and third moves, and the actual Paulins system today. It is calculated on chess players of any qualification - from beginner to grandmaster.

How to get the advantage of white in the "Spaniard"

In this book, the St. Petersburg grand master Alexander Khalifman analyzes the actual schemes of the classical version of the Old Indian defense (7 ... exd4, 7 ... Ka6, 7 ... Kc6).

All parties of Keres (almost 2000!), single - with notes. Tables, photos, 480 pages of large format.

Honored Master of Sports, International Grand Master of the ICCHF, Honored Trainer of Russia Gennady Nesis talks about the creative path of the FIDE World Champion Alexander Khalifman. Of particular interest is that the fruitful collaboration between the author and the hero has been going on for 17 years, marked by many successes of Alexander Khalifman. The author also shares with readers his thoughts on the role of the coach in the process of preparing players, comments on games illustrating the creative biography of the world champion. The book will undoubtedly be useful and interesting to a wide range of chess lovers.

The Dutch grandmaster Genna Sosonko is a talented writer, one of the best authors of the famous New in Chess magazine. After the success of the book “I Knew Capablanca”, published in 2001 in St. Petersburg, thousands of Russian readers became aware of his name, previously familiar only to chess fans. The new book continues and significantly complements the first. Along with portraits of Tal, Botvinnikov, Capablanca, Levenfish, Polugaevsky, Geller, it included essays about Ava, Miles, Timman, Flora, Korchnoi, Lutikov, Vaganyan, Bagirov, Gufeld, Baturinsky ...

Party, biography, photos, statistics. Mikhail Tal, the eighth world chess champion. A short, fragile youth with big black eyes, a phenomenal memory and unique intuition proved to the chess world that 2x2 = 5 (!). A genius of attacks and combinations, he always acted in accordance with S. Tartakower's postulate - “sacrifice in order not to become a victim!”. For Tal, chess matter in battles is nothing, beauty is everything! He melted the "chess Antarctica", took millions of fans into voluntary chess captivity. In the life of Tal, there was no everyday life, the game of chess for him has always been a holiday. Truly the gigantic strength of the spirit again and again prevailed over the hardships of the flesh. He did not think about the future, giving joy to his contemporaries, and his descendants left his creativity - an imperishable bible of chess combinations.

The best games with detailed commentary

Parties, biography. photo, statistics. Series: Encyclopedia of Chess Olympus The name of Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900), the first world chess champion, creator of the positional game doctrine, was deduced in gold letters on the tables of the world chess history. For 64 years of irrepressible, eternally bubbling life Steinitz symbolically filled all 64 cells of the chess planet. He showed himself to be a great and uncompromising fighter, a true chess artist, a philosopher and a converter. For two decades (1866-1886) Steinitz was considered the king of chess in Europe, and then he was worthy of an official world title for eight years (1886-1894).

Parties, biography, photo, statistics ... Robert James Fisher (born 1943) - 1st world chess champion (1972-75). His life is a challenge to society, traditions, conventions. Professional to the marrow of bones, he always wanted the cause of his life - a chess game - the society appreciated. Making high demands on himself, he believed that he had the right to present them to the conditions of chess creativity. In the era of "total" football he demonstrated real total chess - hard pressing all over the board, not a second of respite, constant threats, buildup of pressure, power in every plan, every maneuver, every holo! His aggressiveness and pressure crushed and demoralized the will of those not accustomed to similar competition of competitors.

The Astrel publishing house continues to release a new series - Encyclopedia of Chess Olympus, dedicated to the life and work of all world chess champions from Steinitz to Kramnik. The authors are famous Russian writers and historians of chess Isaac and Vladimir Lindera. Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhin (1892–1946) is the 4th world chess champion (1927–35, 1937–1946). Among the greatest chess players of all time, Alexander Alekhin is distinguished by the scale of his creative heritage and the aesthetic appeal of the game. From 1908 to the last years of his life, he participated in 94 tournaments, in 64 of them came out the winner and in 12 occupied second places. He played 26 matches (including 5 in the world championship) and was the only chess champion in history who died undefeated. Alekhin influenced the chess life of dozens of countries and peoples due to his vivid performances in tournaments, matches, touring tours, as well as literary works.