Frag Rattmann, Rattmann hat ...

Grandmaster Alexey Bezgodov is the winner of numerous international tournaments. He was champion of Russia in the year 1993 and vice-champion of Russia in 1999. He is a professional chess-journalist. He believes that "a well written chess-article should be as equally interesting to a grandmaster as to a reader who does not even know the rules of chess!"

The newest book of the series "Chess Stars Openings" is devoted to the enterprising and quite original and unexplored possibility for White

1.e4 c5 2.a3!?

The strong practical players who do not have time or desire to go into long theoretical Sicilian battles can try to enrich their opening repertoire with this remarkable system. It cannot be refuted by any encyclopedia or database. In fact the author of the book has practically invented a new and quite interesting opening. His suprising ideas and thorough analyses require considerable precision from Black.

It is a remarkable phenomenon that such rare lines based on solid positional basis often yield much better practical results than the well tested routine main lines. Rare and original variations are just super effective in blitz too.