The eternal question: which opening line should I play?
Allow the New In Chess Yearbook staff to assist you in your choice.
Mikhail Golubev, Alexey Dreev and Tibor Karolyi, all top experts in their field, explain why they play the lines they play.
SICILIAN DRAGON
Dragon expert Mikhail Golubev has seen it happen under his very eyes: the transformation of 12.Kb1 from a harmless move to a universal weapon for White against the Yugoslav Attack. Now he reports.
ANTI-MOSCOW GAMBIT
It takes an expert like Alexey Dreev to explain the latest developments in this line of the highly complex Anti-Moscow Gambit, first employed in 1998. Three years of grandmaster practice presented on a silver platter.
QUEEN'S GAMBIT ACCEPTED
Fifteen years ago, Hungarian master Tibor Karolyi fell in love with 3...c5 in the Queen's Gambit Accepted to become a leading expert on this ambitious line. Now he returns to this old teenage love.
37 NIC Surveys Yearbook 60
Sicilian: 5.f3 Variation by Vilela
Sicilian: Najdorf Variation 6.Bc4 by Nikitin, Morozevich
Sicilian: Dragon Variation 9.Bc4 by Golubev
Sicilian: Keres Attack 6.g4 by Van der Weide
Sicilian: Accelerated Dragon 7...Nh6 by Marin
Sicilian: Four Knights Variation 6.Nc6 by Almasi
Sicilian: Closed Sicilian 3.Bb5 Nd4 4.Bc4 by Tiviakov
Sicilian: Closed Sicilian 3.Bb5 Nd4 4.Ba4 by Tiviakov
Sicilian: Grand Prix Attack 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 by Anand, Langeweg
French: Advance Variation 5...Nh6 by Afek
French: Steinitz Variation 4.e5 by Van der Weide
French: Classical Variation 4.Bg5 by Nikitin, Sutovsky
French: Winawer Variation 7.Qg4 0-0 by Shulman
French: Tarrasch Variation 7.Ngf3 by Dokhoian, Van de Mortel
Caro-Kann: Pseudo Panov Attack 2.c4 by L.B. Hansen
Caro-Kann: Advance Variation 4.Nc3 by Sutovsky, Dokhoian, Bosch
Caro-Kann: Advance Variation 4.c3, 5.Be3 by Stohl
Caro-Kann: Classical Variation 4...Bf5 by Solozhenkin
Ruy Lopez: Anti-Marshall Variation 8.a4 by Grischuk, Van der Tak
Ruy Lopez: Zaitsev Variation 9...Bb7 by Lukacs, Hazai
Scotch Opening: Four Knights Variation 10...c6 11.Qf3 by Van der Tak
Queens Gambit Declined: Blackburne Variation 5.Bf4 by Karolyi
Queens Gambit Declined: Sokolovs Choice 4...Nbd7, 6...dc4 by Bosch
Queens Gambit: Declined but Accepted 4...dc4 5.e3 by Kramnik, Van der Sterren
Slav: The Slow Slav 4.e3 Bf5 by Dautov
Slav: Chameleon Variation 5.cd5 cd5 6.Bg5 by Dautov
Slav: Anti-Moscow Gambit 5...h6 6.Bh4 by Dreev
Slav: Botvinnik Variation 16.Na4 Qa6 by Pavlovic
Slav: Meran Variation 13.0-0 by Tkachiev
Queens Gambit Accepted: The Early 3...c5 by Karolyi
Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein Variation 4...b6 5.Ne2 Ba6 by Lautier, Langeweg
Nimzo-Indian: Classical Variation 4.Qc2 0-0 by Kramnik, Sokolov, Kuijf
Queens Indian: The Deceptively Slow 4.e3 by Van de Mortel
Kings Indian: Romanian Variation 6.h3, 8.Bg5 by Radjabov, Pliester
Benoni: The Modern Main Line 8.h3, 9.Bd3 by Wedberg, Pliester
Old Indian: Schmid Benoni 6.Bc4 by Dautov
Queens Pawn Opening: A Hodgson Rarity 2.Nf3 c6 3.Bg5 h6 by Nikitin
