by Leo Jansen & Jerry van Rekom, 280pp. (2008 New In Chess)

Selected as "One of the Best Chess Books of 2009" by CHESS Magazine (UK)

The Chess Predator’s Choice Against Both 1.e4 and 1.d4

More than 85% of all chess games start with either 1.e4 or 1.d4. The Black Lion presents a flexible, logical and sensible way for Black to meet both of these moves.

This robust, multipurpose opening system (in which Black plays d6, Nf6, Nbd7 and e5) looks quiet, like a sleeping lion - hence the name. But when this predator is provoked, and the game heats up, Black eats its prey in an extremely swift and efficient way.

The opening moves are easy to learn, Black has a good choice of middlegame plans, the positions are fresh and interesting, and White will often struggle to counter Black's ideas.

The story of The Black Lion is remarkable: Jerry van Rekom and Leo Jansen are two strong Dutch club players who developed the system and wrote a book about it in 1997.

Their work attracted a lot of attention and had to be reprinted many times. This is a fully revised and updated edition.

Extensive explanations, clear summaries and concise conclusions make The Black Lion an accessible and easy-to-navigate opening manual for chess amateurs. The book is unique in that its many diagrams are all seen from Black's point of view!

Sean Marsh, Chess Magazine:
"The highly original analysis inspired me to make The Lion my main weapon for Black"

British Chess Magazine:
"This flexible system will appeal to club and correspondence players who are looking for an all-purpose answer to both 1.e4 and 1.d4"

IM John Donaldson:
"The Black Lion is aimed at aggressive players from 1600 to 2200 who like to go their own way and don't want to have to learn tons of theory."

Jan Timman:
"This opening can create a surprise effect (..) Clearly, White needs a lot of time to find the right way to fight the system"

Carsten Hansen, ChessCafe:
"The authors have impressed me with their willingness to offer new ideas and independent analysis over existing theory"

Martin Rieger, FreeChess:
"The authors are quite objective: if White always only plays the best moves he will have a slight edge. But what does a slight theoretical edge matter if players who regularly apply the Black Lion-strategy will understand the resulting middlegame positions better than their opponents?"

Stefan Bücker, Kaissiber Magazine:
"In many respects a brilliant piece of work"