Winning with 1.e4!

Winning with 1.e4! is a confident and promising title that consistently represents the idea that White starts the game with 1.e4, determined to obtain an opening advantage. 1.e4 is not only the most popular move, but it also offers the best chance to seize the initiative and create a lively combinatorial game. There is an abundance of theory regardless of which opening Black chooses, but like a very good travel guide, "Winning with 1.e4!" leads the reader, always ensuring to show the best options while avoiding mass tourism.

Here are some of the many advantages of this approach: The reader is provided with a carefully selected and researched complete repertoire, written from the perspective of White, but useful for Black as well. The suggested lines promise a game rich in content. Since they are off the beaten track and avoid the flood of theory, they often provide a surprise effect and an opening advantage. Occasionally, they challenge the 'iron rules' of chess. For example, if there is a good reason to activate the queen very early, this is exactly what is recommended.

A special note concerns the more than 80 completely annotated games. They have been selected with great care, but often their instructive content was deemed more important than the year they were played. FIDE Master Jerzy Konikowski is the renowned author of numerous excellent opening books. Uwe Bekemann is a national correspondence chess master and the author of various books.