Attacking the Spanish

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 Attacking the Spanish have all been recently tested by top 10 players.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5

The Schliemann, 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.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Ne7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 d5 

The Gajewski variation 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.

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

The Marshall Attack is sound and aggressive, so it is no surprise that it is favoured by the world's best. The theory is so complex that an expert guide is required, and Brunello is well suited to the task, having played the Marshall for most of his life.

International Master Sabino Brunello is one of the leaders of the youthful revival in Italian chess. Brunello is still a teenager, but his rating is already 2547 and increasing daily.