Co-author Michael Basman has been reputed to be an original and
independent chess player and thinker for the whole of his chess
career.
However, around 1978 he mobilized his creativity to develop new ways in
chess strategy, based on a personal set of avant-garde opening systems
such as the St.George (early b4.. of ..b5) and Grob (early g4.. or
..g5). Consistently employing his new ideas, a whole new system of chess
playing gained recognition among his colleagues, and generated a cult
following among chess amateurs. Around 1990 Mike took the next step by
creating the Global opening and it's pincer movements from the flanks.
This constituted the final stage in the ultra-hyper-modern school of
flank-strategy that he started 12 years earlier.
Pressed by popular demand, Mike Basman has written several popular works
on his ideas such as 'St. George's opening', 'The Killer Grob' and 'The
Global opening' but these bestsellers have gone out of print a long time
ago. So both authors felt it was about time to revive interest in the
"Basmanic" school of chess. Mike has supplied most of the material, and
co-author Gerard has accepted the task (as a former cult-follower in his
younger days) to do a critical selection and examination of everything
available. We hope that 2021, the year that Mike Basman turns 75, will
see a revival of Basman's avant-garde ideas in chess among players of
the new generations.
