The Ruy Lopez Exchange (or Spanish Exchange) is a classical and well-respected opening that is a favorite among Grandmasters and club players alike. It has provided the battle scene for many heavyweight clashes between the world's elite players, including (among others) Alexei Shirov, Jan Timman, Nigel Short, and Michael Adams. Very early on in the game, a distinctive pawn structure is obtained, and in this particular opening it's the understanding of key ideas, plans, and structures that's more important than the memorization of long theoretical variations. In this book, noted opening...

The King s Indian is an exciting, challenging opening which is very popular at all levels of chess. It is favoured by ambitious and aggressive players such as the two chess legends Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov who perfected the King s Indian into an opening weapon to be feared throughout the chess world. In recent years, however, White players, led by World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, have hit back hard with many important new ideas. Most experts agree that the Classical Variation is the critical test of the King s Indian. Pulling no punches, White questions Black s entire strategy and...