Understanding Before Moving 1: Ruy Lopez - Italian Structures

Play the Ruy Lopez or the Italian and find yourself foxed when your opponent deviates from theory?

Herman Grooten, the acclaimed trainer, is here to ride to the rescue.

Volume 1 of this new series focuses on the structures that underpin the Ruy Lopez and Italian in order to broaden your knowledge of these openings and help you really understand how they work.

What matters in the opening?

This is not an opening theory course, or a tactics course, it is an opening strategy course conceived to boost your understanding of the fundamentals.

The author says this will prove very valuable to average club player and increase his or her ability to deal with deviations.

In Grooten's own words: "As a trainer of both youth and adult players I look at many games of my students. I noticed many of them had enough knowledge of the opening at their disposal.

"Yet as soon as the opponent deviated from theory, they were groping in the dark. Because how should the game continue?

"This book series is about that central question: what matters in the opening? What plans are on hand? Which (hidden) concepts are concealed in the current position that has arisen just after the opening?"

Get deep into the heart of Ruy Lopez and Italian structures with Grooten's new opening strategy course. It is a must for ambitious 1.e4 players.

"I really enjoyed this book, I found it enlightening and I think its intended readership of club players will feel exactly the same way and that their understanding of the structures under discussion and chess thinking in general will have increased. I'm looking forward to seeing the next volumes in this series." - Carsten Hansen