The Philidor Defense is a most popular opening at all levels. In this first book Sergio brings a no-nonsense opening repertoire for players of all strenghts. You will find this book nor only a useful handy guide but find it also loaded with an indispensable source of inspiring ideas.

The Philidor is a dynamic and underrated answer to White's most popular opening move, 1 e4. Christian Bauer, himself a renowned Philidor expert, uncovers the secrets behind this intriguing opening. Using his own experience and other top-class Philidor games, Bauer identifies both the critical main lines and the tricky sidelines. He also examines the key tactical and strategic ideas for both White and Black, while highlighting crucial issues such as move-order options - a major weapon for the modern Grandmaster.

The Berlin Defense is one of the most popular openings for Black against 1.e4 for the last two decades in the higher echelons of the chess world. In this book, the critical ideas are explained in a way that even Club players will feel the confidence to add this evergreen opening to their repertoire by explaining the opening concepts lucidly in such a way that anyone who reads this Book will have the courage to play Berlin in their games. In this book, GM Priyadharshan Kannappan has chosen some off-beat tracks on the Berlin endgame and also has considered 4.d3 as the mainline of Berlin, the 1st for any Berlin book, but is a modern necessity due to the increasing popularity of 4.d3. The book packs enough punch in novelties for the opening aficionados, and this up to date book presents new ideas and variations that were previously never shed light on in the Berlin. GM Priyadharshan has given equal importance to the various sidelines that lead up to the Berlin endgame, and also in the Berlin endgame, and has suggested options where Black actively fights for dynamic positions, and not just gets satisfied with equal positions. The book also has 100 games suggestion that one must study to improve their overall understanding of the various pawn structures and ideas involved in the Queenless endgame.

There is no doubt that the Nimzovich Defense is one of Black's most inspiring openings after 1.e4. Black strives to unbalance the position by creating new problems for White from move two, giving himself every opportunity to fight for the initiative from the outset. It is no surprise that 1...Nc6 appeals ambitious players who relish a complicated battle. In this book, GM Christian Bauer explains how to use this powerful weapon drawing from his own successful experiences. He is not shy to show you the fundamental ideas, the traps, the pitfalls and naturally the move order subtleties which play such an important role in our modern game of chess. We are convinced this book will give you plenty of confidence and make your opponent think more than twice.

>Building on his ever creative ideas, Christian Bauer found a way to take a fresh look at the current status of the Alekhine Defense. It's clear that Christian has a definite weak spot for Knights. Surely you will appreciate his best efforts to bamboozle your opponents into self-destruction by using the Alekhine.

The Winawer variation of the French is reached after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4. This is one of the most exciting openings in the game. It's an alternative universe with alternative rules. In return for the Bishop Black gets a rock solid pawn structure and lots of dynamic capabilities. It should not come as a surprise that in these unbalanced fights Black can really play for a win. The groundwork was done by Nimzowitsch, Botvinnik and Kortchnoi in the old days. Nowadays players like Carlsen, So and Mamedyarov still use their ideas with success. People often ask, "does true love exist?" Well, Miedema and the French might be one of those rare examples. Fortunately the love has translated to countless novelties and fighting lines. This is his first volume on the French defence and his debut as an author.