Zenon Franco provides a wide-ranging course in how to handle difficult positions, seeking not only to hold them together but to go on the counteroffensive, exploiting to the full the commitments and concessions the opponent has made to launch his attack. Material is sorted into 7 chapters: 1 Lasker, the Master of Defence and Counterattack; 2 Refuting Premature Attacks; 3 Fighting Blow by Blow; 4 Regrouping; 5 Prophylactic Thinking; 6 Simplification; 7 Three Memorable Struggles. Author is a grandmaster from Paraguay who now lives in Spain. He is an experienced chess trainer (Paco Vallejo). Index of games and openings. A sample from the book is available on publishers website gambitbooks.com