There are hundreds of opening books available, full of deep analysis, but many of them fail to explain the reasons for choosing one computer line over another. And how top players distinguish between good and bad opening lines remains a mystery to most of the chess world.

Grandmaster Opening Preparation addresses such questions as how to balance computer preparation with human considerations, along with a wealth of practical advice on how to go about building the opening repertoire which is right for you. The book also provides an in-depth treatment of the evolution in understanding of Isolated Queen’s Pawn positions, which will enable the reader to become more effective in a multitude of openings, with either colour.

Jaan Ehlvest is an Estonian-American grandmaster, a former Estonian Champion, and a former Soviet and European Junior Champion. Ehlvest is also an Olympiad Gold medallist and has been ranked in the top five in the world.

This book is about my thoughts concerning opening preparation. It is not a strict manual; instead it follows my personal experience on the subject of openings. There are many opening theory manuals available in the market with deep computer analysis – but the human part of the process is missing. This book aims to fill this gap.

I tried to present the material which influenced me the most in my chess career. This is why a large chapter on the Isolated Queen’s Pawn is present. These types of opening positions boosted my chess understanding and helped me advance to the top. My method of explaining the evolution in thinking about the IQP is to trace the history of games with the Tarrasch Defence, from Siegbert Tarrasch himself to Garry Kasparov. The recommended theory moves may have changed in the 21st century, but there are many positional ideas that can best be understood by studying “ancient” games.

Some readers may find this book answers their questions about which openings to play, how to properly use computer evaluations, and so on. However, the aim of this book is not to give readymade answers – I will not ask you to memorize that on move 23 of a certain line you must play Nd5. In chess, the ability to analyse and arrive at the right conclusions yourself is the most valuable skill. I hope that every chess player and coach who reads this book will develop his or her understanding of opening preparation.

The book includes a lot of games which are historically significant, but my main focus is on the opening phase of the game. Even so, usually I prefer to give the whole game, even if the final unannotated moves are not strictly relevant to my theme. I wish any readers who are curious about how the game ended to have the option to play through the remaining moves. Or if you prefer, you may ignore the final moves and skip ahead to my next point. I am sure that a reader who is especially keen may also find these games in other sources with comments on the phases after the opening.