This book provides everything you need to know to start playing the Vienna as White or Black. Through the use of model games for both sides, the author provides a thorough grounding in the key ideas, so that readers can quickly and confidently start ot use the Vienna in their own games.

Playing blitz is one of the great joys in every chess player’s life. In modern times, faster time controls have become more important than ever. Every day, innumerable numbers of rated blitz and rapid games are being played in online and over-the-board competitions and championships. In blitz, even more than in ‘classical chess’, it is important to make the right decisions quickly and almost instinctively. That is why world-famous opening expert Grandmaster Evgeny Sveshnikov and his son, International Master Vladimir Sveshnikov, have created a chess opening repertoire for club players that is forcing, both narrow and deep, and aggressive. The aim is to be in control as much as possible. You want to be the one who decides which opening is going to be played, you want to dictate the technical and strategic choices. And you want to keep the pressure, increasing your opponent’s chances to stumble. In designing their repertoire, father and son Sveshnikov have made a crucial choice: they do not want you to end up in positions where finding the theoretically best move is all-important, but in positions where it is relatively easy to keep finding the moves with the greatest practical effect and use. If you play the lines the Sveshnikovs have selected, your results will improve. You may even end up playing their variations in ‘slow chess’ as well.

The Vienna Gambit is a sound but relatively forgotten opening. This book contains the most in-depth, comprehensive analysis of the opening to date, aimed primarily, but not exclusively, at the club player. To this end it contains over 600 diagrams intended to enable club players to follow the analysis without necessarily having a chessboard to hand. The book does not simply re-hash accepted theory on the Vienna Gambit, much of which was established before the age of modern computer engines and databases, but re-examines the opening from the bottom up. As a result, there is a wealth of exciting new analysis and the need for some variations to be re-evaluated; lines which established theory considers dubious are shown to be viable, and vice versa. This book will be useful to players of all abilities, from club player up to master level. At club level, after the introductory moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4, there is a good chance that Black is already out of book and floundering. The first three chapters cover inferior continuations from Black, namely accepting the gambit with 3...exf4, declining it passively with 3...d6, and other poor but plausible moves such as 3....Bb4 and 3....Nc6. At club level White will encounter these moves frequently and, with the refutations presented here, should achieve quick victories.The body of the book covers the main lines following 3...d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4. There are three chapters examining the Oxford Variation with 5.d3, three chapters on the Modern Variation after 5.Nf3 and three chapters on 5.Qf3, the Paulsen Attack. Unusually lines following 4.exd5, a rarely played deviation, are also examined over three chapters and shown to be viable for White. Each chapter concludes with an Illustrative game annotated by Senior International Master Mike Read.This book, therefore, offers White a choice of four avenues to follow, all viable, some suited to tactical players, others to those who prefer a more positional approach, and is essential to anyone wishing to play the Vienna Gambit.

The Vienna variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined is a complex and fascinating system arising after 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Nf3 Bb4 5 Bg5 dxc4. This counterattacking weapon has become increasingly popular over the last decade and is frequently seen in games played at the highest level. Many games featuring elite players such as Garry Kasparov, Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand and Lev Aronian have started out in this variation. In this QGD/Nimzo-Indian hybrid play can become extremely sharp very quickly and an in-depth knowledge of the theory is essential. Black will often grab material but will suffer from a lack of development and an exposed king. This variation will suit well-prepared players who have good tactical awareness and relish hand-to-hand combat.

There was a time when the Kings Gambit was the favorite chess opening of every attacking player. In the glory days of Paul Morphy it was considered almost cowardly to play anything else. Legends such as Spassky and Bronstein kept the flame burning in the 20th century, but its popularity faded, as many players are wary of sacrificing a pawn for long-term compensation. There are honorable exceptions whose games prove that this ancient weapon can still draw blood: Morozevich, Short, Zvjaginsev and ex-US Champion Yury Shulman are world-class players who attack with the Kings Gambit.