The Big Book of Busts (Competitive Chess Series)

293, [2] pp. There are a large number of chess openings which, while not entirely sound or objectively dangerous, nevertheless strike fear into the hearts of some players. The Smith-Morra Gambit (1.e4 c5 2.d4), Budapest Defense (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5), Torre Attack (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 with 3.Bg5), Grob (1.g4), and other aggressive lines are not easy to meet, especially since much of the literature on these openings is written from the point of view of the aggressor. In this book, noted theoreticians International Master John Watson and National Master Eric Schiller have combined forces to provide a thorough examination of over 70 of these annoying openings, presenting refutations, clever lines which are outside the normal paths, and methods of avoiding the opponent's preferred positions. After studying this book, you can greet these openings with confidence and emerge from the opening with a fully satisfactory position. In fact, the authors present so many novel solutions that it is your opponent who gets caught by surprise!