GRANDMASTER REPERTOIRE 1.d4 Volume One
Author: Boris Avrukh
Quality Chess (2008)
456 pages
$29.95

Reviewed by Jeremy Silman

Let’s start with the Publisher’s Foreword: 

 “Creating the Grandmaster Repertoire series seemed a natural idea. There is a glut of opening books at the ‘Starting Out’ level. These books have certainly been refreshing, but they have almost completely replaced high-level opening books. As chess fans, we felt we were missing out, and because we can we decided to do something about it.

“The books in the Grandmaster Repertoire series are written by grandmasters, edited by grandmasters, and will certainly be read by grandmasters. This does not mean that player who are not grandmaster cannot read them…”

Hey, I love advanced, detailed opening books, so bring it on!

GRANDMASTER REPERTOIRE 1.d4 Volume One, and the upcoming Volume Two, form a complete white repertoire based on 1.d4. In this volume we get:

The Catalan: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 (190 pages!)
The Slav: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 (182 pages!)
Sidelines in the Queen’s Gambit Declined: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Bf5, 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c5, 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 (Albin Counter Gambit), 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 (Tarrasch Defence), 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 (Chigorin Defence)
The Queen’s Gambit Accepted: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3

All these lines are covered in a no-nonsense manner. We don’t get endless pages of plans and ideas … non-masters love and need that kind of material, but titled players already know this stuff so there’s no need to waste space with it here. The author does give a bit of history and also lets you know if something was or is popular and, at times, why it has lost its former glory.

It’s also important to understand that this is a high-class repertoire book. It’s not a “give every possible variation” kind of thing (I actually like the “give everything” books, but they are rarely seen nowadays). Instead, the author maps out a specific repertoire and order of moves and devotes all his analysis to it and it alone. For example, in the Chigorin Defense he recommends 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3. He gives all of Black’s reasonable replies. In the mainline (3…dxc4) he recommends 4.Nf3 and says, “Another popular alternative is 4.d5, but I hope we will not need it.” In other words, 4.d5 isn’t part of his recommended repertoire so he won’t analyze it. And that’s as it should be (else you’ll get thousands of pages), but that also means you have to be satisfied with the author’s choice – you have to trust his theoretical acumen and his ability to be extremely thorough. And, it would be hard to really believe in his guidance if he didn’t have lots of personal experience with thes lines but, as it turns out, this was the repertoire he himself used for many years.

Going through GRANDMASTER REPERTOIRE 1.d4 Volume One, I must admit to being impressed with Boris Avrukh’s work ethic. It’s clear that he put his heart and soul into this book, with original analysis and a refusal to always follow well-known paths vividly standing out. Aside from his main line in the Chigorin (1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 dxc4 4.Nf3 – I always thought 4.d5 was the critical move), I was surprised by this suggestion in the Tarrasch: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Nc3 0-0 9.dxc5 Bxc5 and now 10.Bg5 has always been the main line and the only move I ever used. Instead Avrukh recommends 10.Na4 (which means that 10.Bg5 isn’t looked at) and gives one novelty after another in making his case. Indeed, the analysis and examples give the impression that White is always safe, and always comes out with at least a small but comfortable edge. Just the kind of thing that made me happy when I was an active player!

As I continue to look over the book, I keep finding one cool line after another. For example, I love the Catalan (the dear thing earned me many nice victories!) and would certainly use it again if I made a comeback. This opening mixes subtle positional ideas with sharp tactics and long term endgame plusses – what’s not to like? An example: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 c6 6.Ne5 b5 7.Nxc6 Qb6 8.Na5! (Okay, I never gave this any respect in the past, but I think Avrukh may have succeeded in changing my calcified old brain!) 8…Qxa5+ (his analysis of 8…Nd5 is also compelling) 9.Bd2 c3 10.bxc3 Nd5 11.c4 b4 12.cxd5 exd5 (Here he points out that white’s superior pawn structure should ensure him of a long term plus. However, a razorblade is hiding in the grass) 13.Na3! Nc6 14.Nc2 Qb5 15.a4! bxa3 16.0-0! Be6 17.Re1 Be7 18.Nxa3 Bxa3 19.Rxa3 0-0 20.Qa1 a5 21.e3 when “The Bishop pair and Black’s weak pawns on a5 and d5 give White a clear positional advantage.”

I could continue quoting lines like this forever, but suffice it to say that I love this book. Yes, there will be errors and improvements, but that’s unavoidable when opening study (which seems to evolve every day) is involved. Put simply, Boris Avrukh has made a monumental effort and given advanced players something special.

GRANDMASTER REPERTOIRE 1.d4 Volume One will prove useful for players 1900 right up to grandmaster. Another triumph for Quality Chess.

Click to buy (or get more information about) GRANDMASTER REPERTOIRE 1.d4 Volume One