The Petroff has for a long time been regarded as a very solid defence. Black avoids the perils of the Scotch, the Italian Game and above all the dreaded Ruy Lopez, and instead opts to neutralize White's initiative with active piece-play. In the Petroff, it is quite common for Black to launch an early counterattack, often gambiting a pawn to do so. For many years, the Petroff enjoyed a steady following, with Karpov, Ivanchuk, Timman, Anand and in particular Yusupov among its supporters at the top level. Since 1998, however, the Petroff's popularity has soared, following its adoption by Vladimir Kramnik, who has played it regularly and considerably reinforced its theoretical standing. In this book, Janjgava gives a complete and detailed picture of the Petroff, taking recent developments fully into account. Readers will be fully equipped to take on either side of the Petroff with confidence in their own games.

Lasha Janjgava is a grandmaster from Georgia, and President of the Tbilisi Chess Federation. He has represented his country four times in chess olympiads, and has built up a formidable reputation as a very hard player to beat.

Gambit books by Lasha Janjgava: The Queen's Gambit and Catalan for Black, King's Indian and Grünfeld: Fianchetto Lines, and The Petroff.

"Janjgava does a good job of not only selecting and then classifying all of the relevant information, but he also reviews many important theoretical assessments" - Richard Palliser

"It is packed with analysis but, throughout, the reader will also find useful verbal comments. Verdict: **** Another high-quality opening book from GAMBIT. If you are interested in the Petroff, this book should provide detailed and reliable information, as well as fit into your bag rather more easily than Yusupov's admirable but brick-like 400-page encyclopaedia." - Phil Adams, THE MANCHESTER CHESS SCENE, THE 3 CS

"...a very comprehensive and thorough guide to the Petroff...equally valuable to players of both the Black and the White pieces" - Alan Sutton, EN PASSANT

"The Petroff was once considered a stolid defence, but with Kramnik's adoption of it, interest has increased..." - Bab Wilders, Nederlands Dagblad

"If you play the Petroff or are looking for a solid, straightforward answer to 1.e4, this is a must purchase" - John Donaldson, BLITZ CHESS

Download a pdf file with a sample from the book.