Rizzitano, author of Understanding Your Chess, presents a full repertoire for Black against 1 d4, based on the Queen's Gambit Accepted (QGA). The QGA is an extremely popular opening amongst players of all levels, as it gives Black free development and counterpunching potential, especially if White takes up the challenge and tries to set up a broad pawn centre. The QGA's soundness is shown by the number of top-class grandmasters who have used it in critical games - it was a key factor in Short's victory over Karpov, and has even been used by Garry Kasparov at world-championship level. Rizzitano has chosen to recommend dependable main lines of the QGA, and throughout emphasizes how Black can create winning chances and White's typical ways to go wrong. The repertoire is completed by a set of weapons against White's alternatives to offering the Queen's Gambit, ranging from the stolid Colle to the weird Hodgson Attack and the reckless Blackmar-Diemer.

James Rizzitano is a strong international master who dominated chess in the New England region during a 14-year period from 1976 to 1989 - he won 157 out of 336 events in which he competed. His career highlights include victories over Alburt, Benjamin, Benko, Christiansen, Dlugy, I.Gurevich and Wolff, and exciting draws with de Firmian, Larsen, Speelman, and the legendary former world champion Tal. Rizzitano has recently made a return to competitive chess.

Gambit books by Rizzitano: Understanding Your Chess, How to Beat 1 d4, Chess Explained: the Taimanov Sicilian, Chess Explained: the Queen's Gambit Declined, Play the Najdorf Sicilian.

Download a pdf file with a sample from the book.

"Rizzitano, a strong American IM with tremendous practical playing strength, has used this opening effectively for many years and has recognised the fact that the QGA is underrated and under-analysed compared to many openings. He concentrates on tried and tested dependable main lines and offers a number of new ideas and original analysis. Throughout the book he emphasizes how Black can create winning chances and highlights the typical ways in which White can go wrong. The repertoire is completed by a set of weapons against White's alternatives to playing 2.c4. Great stuff." - John Anderson, BCCA magazine

"If you're looking for a good repertoire book to help you face 1.d4, I can't think of a better one - highly recommended." - S. Evan Kreider, www.chessville.com

"An excellent black repertoire book against 1 d4, particularly suitable for strong players and ambitious 'improvers'. Highly recommended." - Phil Adams, http://www.btinternet.com/~cccs.chess

"Overall, I see no reason not to recommend this book to players from 1200 through at least master level. The analysis is comprehensive, the judgments and evaluations are carefully considered, and a complete repertoire against a major opening move is presented. Highly Recommended." - Lou Mercuri, Chess Horizons

"This repertoire is based on solid main line openings, which are played at the highest level without being overly complex for club players. Highly Recommended." Paul Dunn, Australian Chess

"It is well-researched and up-to-date, with a number of original suggestions and attempted improvements over established theory." Steve Giddins, British Chess Magazine

"This book is a very good start for any player seeking fresh ideas on how to meet and beat 1.d4." Phil Hughes, Chess Post

" James shows systems that work and fit really well together. In fact players who use some of these openings with white could discover some gold nuggets to be found in this book." Michael Stevenson, New Zealand Chess

"Players often find chess tougher when playing Black because of the fact that their opponents on the white side frequently retain some initiative by virtue of having the first move in every game. Well, American IM James Rizzitano provides an appealing solution to the problem by demonstrating many merits of the Queen's Gambit Accepted in "How to Beat 1 d4", a superb new work..." GM Paul Motwani, The Scotsman

"How to Beat 1.d4 deserves to find a wide audience from club players looking for a straightforward lifetime answer to 1.d4 to titled players looking to pick up a new defense. Highly Recommended." John Donaldson, www.jeremysilman.com