India is the birthplace of chess. The game, as is, is roughly 1500 years old, and the game, as played today, is about a century and a half old. The former USSR has been the centre of intense chess activity for more than eight decades and as the hierarchy in the chess world exists, has produced more international grandmasters and world champions than any other country. The last two decades have seen India emerging as a strong force to reckon with in the chess arena. Despite this positive factor there is a tragic lack of chess activity in the country. Where the emergence of Vishwanathan Anand as the challenger to the world crown should have inspired intense chess activity in the country and should have seen the emergence of lots of open chess tournaments - to promote the game as well as a possible means to identify possible candidates to the various norms in the chess hierarchy, surprisingly, only state level and national level tournaments have been conducted. It is tragic because the playing standards of these tournaments are very high and fresh talent would not be able to play against experienced and technically perfect players thus stubbing out whatever fresh talent that exists. Whereas, Russia or the various states, or rather, countries, as they are now, of the former USSR, has chess from the school level, in India, which is the birthplace of the game and from where one of the most exciting and brilliant grandmasters of all times has emerged, chess is played with lacklustre interest. 

Chess, unlike any other game, is surprisingly a predictable game. Predictable to the extent of almost knowing your opponent's moves to the end as if you were writing an answer to a question in your school examinations. The comparison, here, is very suitable for fresh and uninfluenced minds. The answer to a question in a school examination is either borne out of an intense preparation - in other words, the answer is written by rote, or is borne out of a thorough understanding of the topic on which the question has been put. Similarly, in chess, a game has an opening, a middle game and an endgame, with various variations to the various openings and various combinations arising out of the different positions during the course of the game. And through thorough study and preparation of certain openings and the resulting positions, a player attains so much confidence as to play blindfold or over long distance telephone lines. For instance, if a player plays the king pawn opening (e4) and the opponent plays (e5) then the game can be controlled into proceeding through well-analysed, well-known positions so much so, that the game becomes more of who knows the opening better and has analysed the various variations in it well, than a battle of wits or genius. Even though unorthodox openings have been played at the highest levels of the game, a well-versed knowledge of the opening that you play always produces a positive result than the contrary. The other advantage of possessing this knowledge is the time factor. Many and almost every tournament has time restraints (24 moves to an hour, 36 moves per hour according to the nature and laws of the tournament and if a player manages to speed through the first 15 to 20 moves in less than two minutes through this thorough knowledge of the opening that is being played, then the available 58 to 59 minutes can be utilised for thinking leisurely at tight positions in the middle game without putting any pressure on oneself, thus keeping a cool and unstrained mind through the game. 

Openings are like theorems in mathematics. As theorems solve a mathematical problem in a methodical manner, so do chess openings. Theorems are the way to solve a problem; openings in chess are the way to win against any quality player. Chess openings also help in organizing your game, your attack plan as well as save your time & energy. With a well-versed opening the chances of losing under time pressure is lessened and the chances of winning through some strategic, pre-analysed variations and combinations by former chess greats and analysts, are more. An unorthodox opening almost always leads to a disastrous game ie. losing the game in a catastrophic manner. Because acknowledged, adopted and recommended chess openings like the Ruy Lopez, queen's gambit, king's Indian or the sicilian defence lead the chess player through so many positions, middle-game combinations & end-game manouevres that any experienced player will sooner or later find a massive attack plan against an experienced and good player ie. unorthodox opening may throw the experienced opponent off-track but it does not always click. So to equip yourself well against any level of player, verse yourself well with all kinds of openings to make any kind of impact in any category tournament and of course, to stand a chance of getting to the top. A well-versed opening also helps in settling down the nerves as during tight positions in the middle game or as the game progresses, it is more a matter of keeping one's nerve than any sudden inspirational burst of intelligence. 

Chess is a game of concentration as well as concentrated effort. Physical fitness is also very important as a healthy, fresh physical state of being will produce an equally healthy and fresh mind. Confidence can be gained, as has been noted, by preparing well on openings, its variations and possible innovations of a particular opening. This state of mind is similar to that of a student going to an examination hall. A well-prepared student is more confident and less exposed to a bout of nerves than an under-prepared student. Knowledge of the opponent's weaknesses is also a good way of developing one's confidence but it is difficult at lower levels where the opponent may not be well-known enough for his games to have been published or known publicly whereas it is easier at higher levels as the games of the players are published in public magazines and chess journals, with extensive analysis and annotations, which can then be studied by a player before facing the opponent. In short, to become a good chess player, a good, sound, logic and the ability to analyze situations while playing, an ability to understand a position enough to recognize which position is winning and which is not, where a decisive move could be made, where not, where a sacrifice could be made, where not, where caution should be exercised and where not and an ability to extract confidence from a winning position which would help greatly in developing and sustaining a winning combination would be handy accessories as would be perseverance, application and hard-work. 

Much as you may have a physique to lift 200 pounds they won't help you get out of a tight situation during a chess game. It becomes more a near Herculean task of bringing all your greycells into action which can be termed as a super-human effort, for muscles are controlled by the nerves & the brain and nurtured by regular physical exercise but how will you exercise your brain which is still a major puzzle for the greatest of scientists and to the world of science ? There is no direct method, of course, unless you are a maharishi or a sage who can control his own brain. And the only method to exercise your greycells with brain-teasers, crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, mathematical problems, scrambled word puzzles etc. and of course, keep a healthy routine with regular physical exercises and thus keep the mind fresh, take morning walks, go for jogging and generally hope for the best ! And follow all this up with hours of practice, hours of application with one opening, rigorous analysis of different openings and positions and you have the right prescription to make you a great player. 

Learning chess openings may, initially, seem a tedious and boring task for a person who may have taken up chess as a getaway from the tedium and boredom of education or life. But as one starts practising and playing the moves suggested in a book and the various permutations and combinations and the endless possibilities in developing and possibly discovering one's own combinations, an exciting world of pure logic emerges, much more interesting at times than an edge of the seat thriller. This book is meant to provide an exhaustive, analytical and well-annotated series of games. 

A guide to the annotations used in the book - 1. (?) denotes a bad move. 2. (?!) denotes a move that seems bad but may turn out as a good one ! 3. (!) denotes a good move. 4. (!!) denotes a very good move. 5. (??) denotes a rank bad move or a blunder. 6. + denotes check. 7. 0-0 denotes king side castling. 8. 0-0-0 denotes queen side castling. 9. e.p. denotes en passant. 10. Forced. denotes where there is no other square for the piece to be moved.