Grandmaster Repertoire 2: 1.d4 VOL. 2 [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

This is the second volume of Avrukh's White opening repertoire with 1. d4, and covers all cases where Black does not answer 1. ...d5. These lines are covered in the first volume, 1.d4 (Grandmaster Repertoire) (v. 1). He focuses on systems that include a Kingside fianchetto, as he believes in denying Black the fun of a Kingside attack as much as possible. So this is a repertoire for the more aggressive player.

Because of this emphasis, he avoids a few extremely tactical lines in which both sides essentially spin the wheel, such as Benoni variations in which White plays an early f4. Against the Grunfeld he recommends two lines, both with a Kingside fianchetto: 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Nf3, which gets about 30 pages of coverage, and 5. b3, with Black being the one to capture on c4. Against the Benko gambit he looks at a number of minor but tricky lines for Black before settling in to the main lines with ...Ba6 and ...Nbd7, which he analyzes out to variation B322323. As with the other books in this series, Avrukh's analysis is a healthy compromise between the "tree" format (which nowadays, with the state of theory, more resembles a bush or a thicket) and the "game" format. He has clear main lines in bold face, with an index at the start of each of the 38 chapters, and each main line has one or at most two offshoots at each branching point. Ideas are presented more in the form of moves than in text, although there is some verbal explanation of ideas, but this remains a book for advanced tournament players and international players, rather than beginners, intermediate, or club players.

One of the highlights of this book is that it complements not only Avrukh's volume 1, but also Marin's first volume on the English, Grandmaster Repertoire 3 - The English Opening vol. 1. If you play the English and have appreciated Marin's book as much as I have, you will find that the repertoire choice for the King's Indian in this book blends in very nicely. Between the two of them, they are constructing a marvelously rich opening repertoire in the Closed and Flank openings.

Avrukh gives a lot of information about move-order subtleties. For example, after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d6 5. Nc3 0-0 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. 0-0, he illustrates the difference it makes whether Black first plays ...a6 or ...Rb8. He describes how he intended to play 8. h3 against both, but against 7. ...a6 8. h3 Black plays 8. ...Bd7 and gets a good game. Thus, he recommends 7. ...a6 8. Qd3, which he backs up with extensive analysis, but against 7. Rb8 he goes with 8. h3 followed by g4. Wherever he made such repertiore decisions, Avrukh scrupulously describes the reasons why he made the decisions he made, usually with variations to illustrate the point. He rarely just states a conclusion without some kind of support.

Overall, an indispensable book for anyone following either Avrukh's or Marin's repertoires.