Secrets of Opening Surprises brings you a wide variety of unusual opening ideas. They may seem outrageous at first sight, but have proven to be perfectly playable.
An SOS deviates very early from the regular lines in a mainstream opening, usually even before move six!
That is why it is so easy to actually bring the variation on the board. You will baffle your opponent without having studied large quantities of stuffy theory.

What people say about SOS

'SOS is a sparkling star in the grey sky of theory.' Heinz Brunthaler in Rochade Europa

'We are all trying to outsmart our opponents in the opening, and this can be achieved with very little effort using the numerous curveballs that are included. The variations can be exceedingly difficult if you are not prepared.' Carsten Hansen at ChessCafe

'No matter what you play, you will find something exciting here.' Chess Today

Contributing authors

Mikhail Gurevich
Alexander Beliavsky
David Navara
Oleg Chernikov
Adrian Mikhalchishin
Carlos Matamoros
Ian Rogers
Karel van der Weide
Jeroen Bosch
Dorian Rogozenko
Mark Bluvshtein
Glenn Flear
Oleg Romanishin