This book is part of a series examining the cutting edge of chess opening theory. The idea is to identify the most important theoretical battlegrounds of the moment and then analyze as deeply as possible in search of improvements. Thus the reader will be ahead of the current state-of-the-art, rather than lagging behind trying to memorize old games. The lines covered in this volume are from the Sveshnikov, Rauzer, Dragon, Taimanov and Kan variations.