The Petroff Defence is anything but dull. Although it is a frequent choice of top grandmasters, club players often fear that it leads to passive play. This book will debunk this prejudice and open new vistas.

The Petroff that Or Cohen champions is sharp and ambitious. The Israeli FIDE Master has studied and practised his favourite opening, also known as the Russian Game, for many years. Based on his experience he has turned it into a vigorous weapon with which Black doesn’t play for a draw but fights for a win.

Cohen offers many exciting choices for Black in the Petroff, backed by new analysis and samples of his own games and those of top players. Every line radiates his love of lively piece play.

In a separate part, Cohen deals with all the 1.e4 lines that White can try to avoid the Petroff. Here, too, he comes up with a wealth of fresh and sharp ideas.

This book provides you with an accessible, comprehensive and vibrant repertoire against the ever popular 1.e4, based on the fundamentally solid first move 1 ... e5.

Or Cohen (1981) is a FIDE Master from Israel. He is an active player and coach in the vivid Israeli chess scene, and an author for Shahmat magazine. He has written on the Petroff Defence before in Secrets of Opening Surprises.

Content:
007 Introduction

010 Alexander Petrov

011 Acknowledgements

012 Explanation of Symbols

013 Part 1 - White Avoids the Petroff

014 Chapter 1 - Portuguese Opening and Centre Game

027 Chapter 2 - The White Philidor

033 Chapter 3 - The King’s Gambit

044 Chapter 4 - The Vienna Game

055 Chapter 5 - The Bishop’s Opening

061 Chapter 6 - The Four Knights: Rare Continuations

072 Chapter 7 - The Scotch Four Knights

083 Chapter 8 - The Spanish Four Knights

093 Part 2 - Petroff: The Classical 3.Nxe5

094 Chapter 9 - Cochrane Gambit and Paulsen Variation

100 Chapter 10 - Rare Fifth Moves for White

108 Chapter 11 - The Ending af ter 5.Qe2

113 Chapter 12 - The Modern 5.Nc3: Minor Lines

118 Chapter 13 - The Modern 5.Nc3 with 7.Be3

132 Chapter 14 - The Modern 5.Nc3 with 7.Bf4

142 Chapter 15 - Main Line 5.d4: the ‘Incorrect’ 7...Bg4

155 Chapter 16 - 5.d4, 7...Be7: The Obscure 8.Nc3

160 Chapter 17 - 5.d4, 7...Be7: The Popular 8.Re1 with 9.c3

183 Chapter 18 - 5.d4, 7...Be7: 8.Re1 with the Old 9.c4

201 Chapter 19 - 5.d4, 7...Be7: 8.c4 without 9.Be2

213 Chapter 20 - 5.d4, 7...Be7: 8.c4 Nb4 9.Be2

235 Part 3 - Petroff: Steinitz’ 3.d4

236 Chapter 21 - 3.d4 Nxe4: The Anti-Positional 4.dxe5

245 Chapter 22 - 4.Bd3: Murey’s 4...Nc6 and 4...d5 5.dxe5

254 Chapter 23 - 4.Bd3 d5 5.Nxe5 Nd7: Rare and Old Moves

264 Chapter 24 - Minor Continuations after 5.Nxe5 Nd7 6.0-0

270 Chapter 25 - The Immediate 6.Nc3

277 Chapter 26 - The Dangerous 6.Nxd7 Bxd7 7.Nc3

286 Chapter 27 - 7.0-0 Bd6: The Deferred 8.Nc3

294 Chapter 28 - The Main Line: 7.0-0 Bd6 8.c4

310 Bibliography

311 Index of Variations

314 Index of Players

317 Game List