The Spanish opening, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5, is so respected that many Black players immediately start defending. Brunello shows that Black can engage in a tense fight for the win right from the start. The three gambits considered in this book have all been tested by top-10 players, with good results, within the last year.

The Marshall Attack,1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5, is sound and aggressive, so it is no surprise that it is favoured by the world's best. The theory is ... Read moreso complex that an expert guide is required, and Brunello is well suited to the task, having played the Marshall for most of his chess career.

The Schliemann 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5, with its reversed King's Gambit flair, has always been popular with club players, but grandmasters knew it was unsound. Then Teimour Radjabov started playing it successfully against the elite and sparked a revival.

The Gajewski variation, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 d5, is brand new. The position after White's tenth move had been reached a thousand times with 10...c5 universally played, when in the summer of 2007 the Polish grandmaster Gajewski revealed that Black has a fascinating gambit at his disposal.