This book equips the reader with everything he or she needs to know to play Black in a game of chess. Two experienced Finnish players have described an exciting repertoire based on the move 1...d6 in reply to whatever White's first move happens to be. Black's strategy is hypermodern and dynamic: White is encouraged to seize space, while Black develops his pieces rapidly and actively, waiting for the ideal moment to attack and destroy White's central bastions. The variations advocated have been proven in top-level play and have quick-strike potential if White is at all careless or imprecise. The repertoire is based around the Pirc Defence and the variations 1 d4 d6 2 c4 e5 and 1 d4 d6 2 Nf3 Bg4, which fit seamlessly together with 1...d6 systems against White's various flank openings. They also wrote the Gambit book The Queen's Indian.

Jouni Yrjölä is a grandmaster from Finland. He has won the Finnish Championship twice, and regards Sochi 1984, where he shared third place with the legendary Mikhail Tal, as his best tournament result. He was awarded his grandmaster title in 1990.

Jussi Tella is also from Finland. He is an international master and an experienced chess trainer.

Download a pdf file with a sample from the book.

"This book aims to describe a repertoire for Black based upon the move 1...d6 which is both hypermodern and dynamic. The repertoire is based mainly on the Pirc (1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 g6) and the variations 1 d4 d6 2 c4 e5 and 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Bg4 which don't have generally recognisable names. Each variation covered includes statistical table showing the frequency and success of the variation in high class play. This is certainly a surprise repertoire and is probably geared to making the opponent uncomfortable by taking him into unusual variations where he will be unfamiliar." - Paul Dunn, AUSTRALIAN CHESS

"Recommended for tournament players" - GM Lubosh Kavalek, WASHINGTON POST

"Generally I found the book really helpful providing the right amount of detail without swamping me with lines. If like me you do not have a lot of time to study openings then this book provides you with a system which can be picked up reasonably easily without the need to learn long variations" - Gordon Botley, WEEKEND CHESS

"a fascinating 272-page work packed with clever ideas demonstrating that 1...d6 is both dependable and potentially deadly against any White opening move!" - GM Paul Motwani, THE SCOTSMAN

"Gambit books always offer value for money, and this is no exception... a well-researched reference book" - Alan Sutton, EN PASSANT

"To my pleasant surprise the whole book focused solely on Black's opening move 1...d6. Having dabbled with this a few times myself, I can asure you that the opening is a lot more dazzling than it sounds. The authors appear to have done an extremely diligent job, covering all possibilities for White and, with not far off 300 pages, you get a lot of chess for your money" - GM David Norwood, WEEKEND TELEGRAPH

"This latest Gambit release really is value for money: £15.95 for a comprehensive 272 page full-blown opening repertoire for Black. Rarely is an opening repertorire so thoughtfully put together... an ideal starting point for a Black player looking for a reliable but slightly 'off the beaten track' opening" - Alec Toll, OPEN FILE

Verdict: another well-produced opening book from the GAMBIT stable, suitable for players who like to play for a win with Black and prefer their openings to be somewhat off the beaten track. **** - Phil Adams, CHECKPOINT

"All in all this is an excellent book providing a repertoire as black which readers can use in whole or in part" - John Pugh, CHESS POST

"Players from 2000 on up will derive the most benefit from this book and this endorsement includes titled players" - John Donaldson