Book Description
This series shows you how to start your chess games as dynamically and accurately as the greatest grandmasters in the world.
Three-time US Champion Champion Lev Alburt, famous for his ability to turn aspiring players into masters, teams up with two-time U.S. Champion Roman Dzindzichashvili and young international star Eugene Perelshteyn to give you a complete repertoire of opening play-as well as a review of all openings and an explanation of the principles of playing this crucial stage of the game. And although these books concentrate on the first 20 moves or so of a chess game, they never leave you hanging without a plan. The authors make sure you know the themes and ideas so that you can follow up your great opening play with winning strategies.
Chess Openings for White, Explained covers the game from the white side. You'll learn how to play and follow up the first move Bobby Fischer called "best by test." Fully illustrated with two-color chess diagrams throughout.
Customer Reviews:
Great Openings for Tactical Play.......2007-09-05
I bought the book because my current opening repertoire was somewhat slow and boring. I wanted something with a little bite and fire.Well, I got it in this book. The openings are fun to play, often creating very dynamic positions where your "combinative vision" gets exercised.
Things I like:
- The resulting positions are generally open and fun to play - if you like sharp tactical positions
- They have TONS of position diagrams - this is very helpful when they go off on side line positions. Instead of rattling off 10 moves and leave it for you to poke them out on a chessboard they give you the diagrams as you go.
- Their comments are easy to understand.
- I liked the heavy treatment of the French. It's actually alot of fun to play against as white for me using their suggestions. I used to dread it because I used to play the King's Indian attack against it. Snoozer if you aren't bobby fischer!
- I've enjoyed playing their recommendations for the Sicilian Grand Prix.
Things I don't like:
- Some of the prose is silly. It sounds like something you'd hear out of a used car salesman. You'll know what I mean when you see it.
One final word: This book is for the COMMON, AVERAGE chess player. If you are a IM or GM then you should look somewhere else. And if you are a IM or GM and review this book..keep in mind maybe it doesn't provide all YOU need to compete at your level..and maybe some of the lines AT YOUR LEVEL aren't sufficient....but at my level it is FANTASTIC and exactly what I need.
Good Easy Read.......2007-03-21
This book is great because you can read it without a board. This makes the material easy to absorb and you can fly through the book compared to some others where you have to go back and reconstruct a position after going through a long tedious variation. The openings choice was very nice and the book will give you a complete response to the black relpies without any major holes. The openings are easy to learn but you can feel free to substitute in your own lines for the ones that you are not comfortable with or if you would like to press for more in the opening. I would estimate that this book is suitable for under 2000. Above that you should work harder to get more out of the opening. My only gripe is that the cover fell off the first day but I can overlook this with the great content.
Openings For White.......2006-11-17
This book is good for beginers who need a quick start to opening play from the white side. It is not intended to be comprehensive in all areas but, to direct one's play to a repertoire under 1.e4 as white's first move. This book does a good job at this.
Covers a "narrow" opening system - okay for those looking for new openings or a first system.......2006-11-16
If you are just beyond being a beginning and are in search of what openings might be right for you then this book will be helpful. It does a good job of telling you about the limited opening system it covers. I doubt that every opening suggested in the system will fit most people. But with that in mind, you can pick and select parts of things and add from other books (such as a general book that covers openings and ideas like "Understanding the Chess Openings). You will need to look around and should listen to what well known authors have to say about different openings. But that is what makes learning an opening fun. I also suggest to learn the ideas in the openings get a couple of good books on opening chess traps. This will help you understand the ideas and tactics in the openings (there are a lot of choices for chess opening trap books). Understanding the pawn structures in your openings would come next.
In conclusion: I recommend as a first book to learn openings getting a good book that covers understanding of the ideas and gives you a general guide. This book doesn't do that. But, I would suggested it as a second or third book when investigating which opening might be best for you.
Good, but not for beginners.......2006-11-10
I'd had high hopes for this book, and they were mostly fulfilled. While this is a repertoire book, it's incredibly thorough. Based around playing 1. e4 and aiming for the Scotch Gambit (a fun opening and an old favorite of mine), it provides extensive data on how to play almost any defense Black can throw at you. There are recommended lines for major openings such as the Sicilian and the French, and minor ones such as the Philidor Defense and Latvian Gambit. Many lines contain theoretical novelties devised by co-author Roman Dzindzichashvili. The is also probably the most heavily illustrated chess book I've ever come across, with many, many diagrams not only for the main lines, but also the variations and analyses. The diagrams are clear and easy to read, and even a weak player such as I can follow along without a chessboard.
My one criticism, and I think it's important enough to cost the book one star, is that variations end without giving the reader any hint of what to do next, what plan to follow. For stronger players, this isn't a problem. But, for those new to Chess (or just those openings), a paragraph or two at the end of at least the major variations to point out likely plans would have been very handy. The book is already huge at 448 pages, so I would have preferred cutting out one of the first two chapters in favor adding text on likely plans.
Overall, however, I recommend this as a modern reference work to a large number of King-pawn openings, particularly the more obscure.
Book Description
Start every game with confidence!
The two greatest challenges for beginning chess players are not only to survive the openings phase, but also to choose appropriate attack and defence formations in the process. Winning Chess Openings shows players how to do both. In Yasser Seirawan's entertaining, easy-to-follow style, they are shown formations that can be used with other White or Black pieces.
Winning Chess Openings explains how to:
*Build a safe house for a king
*Estimate losses of ten moves or fewer
*Utilise the elements: time, force, space, and pawn structure
*Plan strategy based on time-tested opening principles of play
*Employ a defence for Black against any White opening
*Apply an opening for White used by World Champions
Winning Chess Openings will help readers develop a solid understanding of opening principles that can be applied to every game they play--without having to memorize a dizzying array of tedious and lengthy opening lines.
Customer Reviews:
Tries to fill too many approaches to what other opening books cover.......2006-12-26
It is not so clear exactly what this book is trying to do. It tries to set itself up as an "Modern Chess Openings" or "Nunn's Chess Openings" when listing variations but fails by being far to sparse to be of any use. It tries to provide some ideas of what is happening in the opening like "Understanding the chess Openings", "Winning Chess Traps for Juniors" or "Ideas Behind the Openings" but yet it is far to sparse with the ideas. The mix and match, trying to do cover all of these in one book is off base. Not enough ideas for the beginner or intermediate level player, Not enough lines/variations to be of any use to an intermediate or advanced player. I think three stars is rather generous, as perhaps the just beyond beginner or just under intermediate range of player might find some small benefit to this book. Some of the "Winning Chess" series books are very well done. This is one of the few books in the series that is at the bottom end.
A perfectly dysfunctional mix of "too much" and "too little".......2006-11-26
What's the point of an opening book? There are two possibilities: 1)Build a reperotoire; or 2)Teach you how to play a specific opening. Seirawan's book tries to fill both categories, but spreads itself too thin and ends up being frutstrating.
The structure of WCO is just like MCO, NCO, and all the other "CO"s: it systematically presents opening after opening, giving various explanations and lines. Seirawan's book is geared to much lower rating levels than more complicated books like Modern Chess Openings, but it doesn't cover enough CONCRETE ground to be of any practical use to any rating.
The best example I can find is in the section on Alekhine's Defence. Yasser (or "Yaz" as he's known here in Seattle) gives only a single line for the opening: 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.ed cd 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Nc3 g6 8.c5! and white apparently has a sizeable advantage. This isn't well supported by theory, and there are many other lines black can opt for (5...ed, 6...g6, 6...N6d7 etc.) that have better results. It's almost as if the author is unwilling to engage in a discussion of the more critical lines.
It may be argued that there is a lot of textual explanation for the openings. Yes, there is, but it doesn't mean anything if you don't know what moves to play. There is little concrete basis for how to play in the openings, so you will inevitably find yourself struggling as soon as you get to the 6th move in an opening Yaz discusses.
I'll spare it the harsh "sub 3-star" rating because Seirawan's style is very engaging and fun to read. Even given the "chessic" inadequacies of the book, it's still very fun to read, and Yasser is self-depricating and funny when he writes (his style is similar to David Norwood's).
In 272 pages, Seirawan manages only a vague definition of each opening. The book doesn't, as many reviews claim, give you a reperotoire for white or black, because there simply aren't enough variations to look at. If you want to pick out an opening for white or black, thumb through WCO. Otherwise, pick up something more specific. You could get the same value from a much smaller, cheaper text.
Not Recommended.......2006-11-10
If you seriously know nothing about the opening then this book will probably help you some. However, if you already have gathered all the basic concepts (which seem to be mentioned in pretty much every chess book ever made) then this book is a waste of money. Even for the complete beginner, I reccomend the recent books Openings for White/Black Explained by Lev Alburt, Roman D., etc., which can serve as both an introduction and a full course.
I thought this book would give me a repertoir, so I would know some actual openings. However, the coverage of any one opening is so minimal you definitely dont know enough to actually play it in anysort of competetive way. To repeat: this book will not teach you to play openings competetively, it is only an introduction. Seirawan briefly covers classical openings and then covers in slightly more depth his "opening solution" which is the Kings Indian Defense versus d4, the Pirc versus e4, and the Kings Indian Attack as White. First off, I found I do not enjoy playing any of those openings at all. What is the advantage of being able to play the same 5+ moves at the start of every game? Then what after that? Well these openings are not devoid of theory and once you reach the end of the first 5 moves you have just as much work to do as with any other opening; you have just delayed the inevidable conflict for the center--which means a slower, longer, duller game. Secondly, if you do like these openings you will still have to buy more books that actually cover them!
I would reccommend, even if you are a beginner, to buy the Openings Explained for White / Black by Lev Alburt, Roman D. Besides full coverage of the openings in the repertoir book, it also briefly covers some other traditional openings (just like winning chess openings). If you want an introduction you have one in the first chapter; if you want to really LEARN an opening then you have that too. Or if you already have an idea what openings your want to play then DEFINITELY don't get this book, instead get some thorough books on that/those openings.
The Best Openings Book.......2006-08-22
I never really got good at chess until I started focusing first on a simple e4 e5 with the relative strength of second moves and then relative strength of third moves and looked at it as a tree with branches in every direction. It makes sense not to go on to d4 d5 until you have explored e4 e5 out at least 10 moves out in each popular direction.
Yasser Seirawan uses a very logical arrangement of the classic games to take you down the branches of each possible move so that memorization is easy. Most importantly, he tells you WHY a certain move was made. He keeps returning you to the "main line" after he shows you the branches off to the side.
I wish I had this book about 10 years ago when I was playing in competition. I have bought a lot of chess books but I think this was money well spent. I think I will buy others in the series.
Opening Book for a Beginner.......2006-08-05
The author has selected openings where brief analysis is provided, some of the concepts that are important in the specific opening and then provided variations. Memorizing lines is not what a beginner should be doing. It is better to "understand" the ideas behind the openings - yes this book doesn't say "memorize openings" per say, but it that is what the actions of this book seem to call for.
Personally I feel that a beginner should be looking for "non" mechanical openings that contain a variety of both tactical and to a lesser degree positional concepts for learning purposes. The type of tactics that you will encounter at a beginning level in the openings you are using is important. I like the idea of getter a general survey type of opening book that has a good concentration of the ideas (like "Understanding the Chess Openings") along with a book that covers opening tactics (like one of a variety of Chess Trap books) is the way for a beginner to find the right openings and to gain an understanding of what they entail. You need a good variety of openings to be shown for you to get a fair grasp of what you might like - and this book falls short in this area.
Book Description
In Winning Chess Traps for Juniors, nationally-renowned chess coach Robert M. Snyder takes his Chess for Juniors book a step further by covering sixty-four additional opening traps. . Traps are arranged by opening to help students improve their knowl- edge of the most important openings. . Traps contain important tactical themes designed to improve pattern recognition. . Students are challenged at various points to find the best move. . Written for the beginner to intermediate player-this book is clear and easy to read, though not just for juniors!
Customer Reviews:
Improve both your knowledge of tactics and ideas behind the openings simultaneously! .......2006-11-08
In General about Trap Books: Books on chess traps should be an excellent way to learn tactics and openings at the same time. This is because you see all of the moves leading up to the actual tactic being employed (unlike books that give a diagram and the tactic starts from there). You can learn important ideas in specific openings also knowing how to avoid traps as well as well as executing them.
"Winning Chess Traps for Juniors": Has 64 short games with often numerous traps within a single game (unlike numerous other trap books that will create separate traps and use up space for nothing). They are arranged by type of opening (openings can be looked up quickly in the table of contents). The analysis is very accurate (I have computer checked the analysis and wow! Perfect in every respect, unlike some of the other traps and tactic books I have seen that contain faulty analysis). There are a nice variety of openings containing your most common type of traps and tactics. There is an analysis of moves leading up to the trap (unlike numerous trap books I have seen that have most if not all of the analysis when the trap is reached) and where the player went wrong along with the improvement is pointed out. This book fits in well as part of a series by the author with material being consistant (however, you don't need the author's other books to get full use of this book as this does just find as a stand-alone book).
Who this book is for: Written is easy to understand language, it is at about a fourth or fifth grade reading level. If you are an adult, don't let the easy language snub this book - it is perfect for adults! Once you know the very basics of chess (know how the pieces move, and have just been introduced to the ideas behind the openings) this book becomes very useful. However, it contains analysis that an advanced beginner or intermediate player will very extremely useful.
A sick mind wrote this book!.......2006-10-15
Author Robert Snyder plead guilt to charges of molesting one of his former students! (I also like how he ripped of the title of Chernev's classic book!)
One of the best ways to learn tactics and even a 3rd grader can use it!.......2006-09-21
I just got this book (in the new LARGE PRINT edition that is exactly the same book, except it is super-sized and is like a big workbook) and have not been able to put it down! Instead of just being given a position and trying to find the solution like lots of tactics books, in this book you get to see everything that happened before the tactics happen. This book also tells the ideas behind the moves and you are learning about the openings that have the tactics. You are asked to "find the best move" and there are plenty of diagrams to make it easy to follow along. You can use a sheet of paper to cover up the next moves so you do not accidentally see the answer. This is a fun book and I think it is one of the best ways to learn tactics and improve your understanding of the ideas behind the openings.
Effective way to IMPROVE TACTICS and IMPROVE OPENING KNOWLEDGE: My favorite book on Opening Traps and Tactics.......2006-09-01
I have finally found a book on opening traps that gives an explanation of the ideas behind the moves from the very beginning of the game (covering ideas behind the openings) to the end of the tactical trap. No cheap tricks! Good, solid analysis is given for both common and less common openings (very well rounded when it comes to having a variety of different openings).
You will learn the important tactics found in the opening such as, Legal's Mate, analysis of Philidor's Legecy, Noah's Arc Trap, Classic Bishop Sacrifice, Poisoned Pawn, Double Rook Sacrifice, with all of the usual forks, pins, skewers, and much, much more. Seeing the moves leading up to the tactics makes this a more effective way to learn traps and tactics than a book that has just diagrams with problems to work on. Within the sixty four short games there are actually hundreds of traps covered. The reasons why a weak move is weak and what should have been played in its place is explained. You have detailed analysis!
This is a book for any age. It is good for a beginner who has perhaps read an introductory book and now wants to learn tactics and openings. I also would recommend it for intermediate players or for chess teachers to use as material with students. Throughout the book the reader is asked to find the best move at critical points (makes it a fun challenge).
The traps are organized by type of opening with a good table of contents allowing you to quickly find different tactics you might be looking for or to focus on a specific opening. Where a lot of detail is covered in one of the author's other books the reader is told which other book and where it can be found. Most traps average 2-3 pages. This is a solid book with lots of material that is made clear and easy to understand. There are nearly 400 diagrams making so that an intermediate player can usually follow without a board.
I give this book my highest recommendation!
FANTASTIC MINI-LESSONS for a classroom use by CHESS TEACHERS or STUDENTS on their own........2006-08-06
As a chess teacher (and tournament player) who has been teaching grades 3 through 8 in local schools "Winning Chess Traps for Juniors" has been a lot awaited book.
When given a short period of about 20 to 25 minutes for instruction a chess teacher needs to maximize the use of time with the most efficient way to teach a variety of important ideas to the students. With this book I can cover the most important tactics along with teaching opening concepts at the same time - kill two birds with one stone! The students like being shown how a tactic is reached before it is executed! So, here we go with these 64 mini-lessons (each often containing many tactics and traps on the side - clearly pointed out) that the students enjoy.
This book has a nice lay-out making it easy to read. The language is clear (I certainly feel than an upper level elementary school student could easily understand the reading level). The games being are in order of openings with the main theme shown in the title (also covered in the table of contents). Therefore, a teacher (or student) can select games based on type of opening or type of trap/tactic and find them quickly. The 196 pages contain a lot of extremely useful information. There is a nice variety of openings (1. e4, 1.d4 and others) without an over emphasis on any one type.
The level of this book is ideal for children or adults who are just past having grasped the basic rules and maybe know some very basic strategy, right on up to the average tournament player. Because of the material being covered and the way it is presented this book is for beginning players rated from 500 up to intermediate players rated 1600.
I have seen most of the other books on chess traps. None of them provide the detail and quality of analysis found in this book (and most others are not up to date). I also have found going through a short game containing a tactic to be a far superior way of providing instruction as opposed to using a book that only has the tactic, but not how it was set up.
I am looking at this book from a "chess teacher's" point of view and highly recommend it for anyone running a chess class or for students of all ages who want to simultaneously improve their knowledge of tactics and openings.
Customer Reviews:
Hootmon!!.......2001-03-31
Instead of going into the more well-trodden paths, surprise your opponents as early as move 3. Playing 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 your opponent is probably expecting 3.Bb5 or 3.Bc4 but why not try 3.d4 which would seem to be a delayed Centre Game. Garry Kasparov has added a lot new tactical ideas which author Gary Lane points out. There are 4 main systems covered in 15 chapters. The only thing missing is The Goring Gambit. Also a good way to prepare for the lines as Black in case your opponent tries to sneak this one in on you.
Book Description
As cutting edge opening theory and one of Black's most exciting defenses, the Najdorf variation is a favorite of counter-attacking players worldwide. An ideal battle manual with complete illustrative games that highlight both sides.
Intermediate
Customer Reviews:
Elegantly simple, doesn't miss a beat.......2006-11-25
David Norwood summed up openings books with this quote: "There are almost certainly more books written on chess than other sport or hobby, and yet so few can be read with anything approaching pleasure. Many opening books are little more than print-offs of ChessBase variations, with the analysis courtesy of Fritz. Any monkey could write them and I suspect that a lot of the time, they do."
Chances are, if you're reading this review you're looking to pick out a book on the Najdorf and are sifting through the scores of books that come up when you type "Najdorf" in the search bar. This book is your best bet, regardless of skill level. It is singular in its ability to describe the Najdorf.
The above Norwood quote is especially true for an opening like the Najdorf, where many think that you're lost if you're not up to date on the very latest theory. True for grandmaster play, but almost universally false for anything below IM-level games. Danny King, however, doesn't get lost in tactics or the countless variations which arise. He simply focuses on the strategy and motifs that are often present in Najdorf games.
For example, the first chapter on 6.Be2 has lived on in my mind ever since I was a puny 1000. King shows a couple crushes by white and asks the reader "where did black go wrong?" Well, white sunk a knight into the d5-square, stopped ...b5, and steadied the e4-pawn. He then shows systematically how to avoid getting stuck with a bad bishop against a strong knight, how to counterattack the weak pawn on e4, and how to get ...b5 in through pressure on the c- and b-files. It's all very simple, and through six instructive games (with their annotations) a reader can learn more than from an entire book cataloguing the 6.Be2 sidelines.
Chapters on the Fischer variation, the Bg5 lines, and the aggressive f4 variation follow similar threads. He always spends at least two pages of text explaining what white wants to do, then breaks down what black has to do to stop this. The instructive games that follow are fantastic, well-annotated, and error-free.
The only issue that could be a problem would be the books date; don't worry, up-to-date theory is not a concern for this opening (gasp!). If you know how to set up your pieces and a few easily-learned structures you're in great shape. Don't believe that you have to know the 14th move deviations in the English attack; it's not true for untitled players.
There are likely skeptics who think that this is an elementary book because it appeals to many levels; not true. The BIG problem with books like the Najdorf books by Federowicz/deFirmian, Sammalvuo, and Nunn is that the reams of variations muddy your understanding. The variations make the book complete, but repeating so many subtle changes wholly obfuscates how to play the opening. After reading "The English Attack" by Tapani Sammalvuo I felt like I'd learned a couple attacking motifs and not a whole lot more. I'd run over all the variations but still wasn't sure what I'd gotten out of the book.
Even for someone who has played the Najdorf for years, coming back to this book always gives me a fresh perspective on the opening and refreshes the little idiosyncracies that this opening encompasses. It would benefit players of all levels, unlike any other Najdorf book I've ever read (plenty). The rest of the reviews of this book are testaments to the high quality and great explanations this book has.
finally something that explains the najdorf simply........2005-06-07
Ive always played the najdorf eversince i was in secondary school 20 yrs ago! cos everyone else was using it! i knew not what the main ideas for black or white were, except play 6....e5 against 6.Be2 or 6.f4 or choose the main line 7...Be7 against 6.Bg5. Of course there were also the Poison pawns and Polugaevskys. But what the hell all these lines were about I hadnt the faintest idea. My only source of reference were those 'worked examples' as found in games by good ol' Fischer - he played them like this, so i do like wise. Of course Fischer knew what he was doing when he formed those ideas and strategies, as these were his expressions or application if you like, of the basic priciples of the opening, whereas my ideas were based on the Fischer ideas hence were prone to errors/blunders when the situation on the board did not allow for such ideas. result - many losses.
Now with this book I finally learn something. Now at least i know what i should be playing for and form my ideas based on the basics. To hell with all those Najdorf books which give nothing else but copious amounts of latest variations and sub variations found by modern day analysts & chess theoreticians with the help of their Fritzs and Juniors. So what if the analysis or variations of this book are dated?? Ideas and variations and counter variations change but basics dont change.It has explained the idea of that 'mysterious' (to me) 5...a6, what to do against or how to play the 6.Bc4 line and what i should strive for when im playing 6....e5 against 6.Be2 or 6.f4. etc
The section on 6.Bg5 leaves me a little mixed. I'm pretty pleased with the main line coverage of this section as this is the system which i play exclusively nowadays, but somewhat saddened that the author chose not to include the polugaevsky on grounds that its too risky. Pardon my sentimentality here as i started out with that variation only to give it up as my mind does not have the abilty to calculate all sorts of numerous variations continuosly on the board. As a short digression, in many game examples from other references the black king does end up marooned in the centre after dashing white sacrifices by white on e6, d5, f5, f6 or b5. (So who says that the king's gambit (my favorite) is too loosening??). Black's compensation for this vulnerability are his wide open lines which produce very sharp counter attacking chances and counter sacrifices. Basically black skates on very thin ice thro out the game. The poisoned pawn variation is also too complex & too heavily analysed that the author did not bother to explore it further after a brief introduction. In any case it isnt a favourite of mine as i dislike the queen being somewhat out of play on a6.
All in all a good book despite its datedness. its written in a way that is easy to understand. The 'worked examples' illustrates the authors points well. naturally he uses Fischer's games as Fiscer can be considered somewhat as an 'authority' on the opening. Its just a pity that this book was 1st published 5 yrs after i retired from competitive chess to concentrate on my studies. Only now am I really getting aquainted with the najdorf after close to 20 yrs retirement!! Hope it comes in handy whilst playing in the internet chess clubs!
Excellent book.......2002-07-27
This is probably the best book on the Najdorf. While the theory isn't current, the author explains all the positions very well and gives you a feel for certain strategies. All the games were carefully chosen and illustrate recurring themes that can be helpful to Sicilian players. If you want "hot theory," there are are other books you can get, but they don't explain the positions like this book does. Daniel King makes the Najdorf seem easy to play and the games are fun to play through. Highly recommended.
How to Understand the Najdorf.......2000-06-06
A little background. I have played the Najdorf for years, loved analyzing it, but never felt I really understood it. My tornament score with this opening was around 50%, not good for the time devoted to it. I purchased this book, and proceeded to win the US Amatuer Championship twice, with the Najdorf winning key games. Too often books give reams of analysis or moves, ending with unclear evaluations after 25 moves. This book has tons of verbal comments. The chapter on 6.Be2 is the most important, as the author explains all the ideas and plans and the purpose behind black's 6...e5. In short, you must have this book if you play the najdorf! By the way, a sideline he recommends vs 6 Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 Qa5 has scored very well for me. He also covers the main lines with 8...Qc7
Well written & easy to follow........1999-07-07
This must be one of the more enjoyable Nadjorf Opening works to read & understand. No labyrinth of variations to get lost in .....
Anyone who reads through this particular work on Nadjorf will have a better appreciation of the opening.
Daniel King has been able to translate his knowledge on this subject to a readable & easily digestible form.
A refreshing Chess book from the English chess continent. Personally this ranks alongside my favourite Simple Chess, written by Michael Stean -an English chessplayer who wrote books that were easy to follow & guaranteed to improve one's understanding of the game.
Customer Reviews:
Best book on the gambit.......2003-06-25
Graham Burgess does a great job in not only organizing his work, but also presenting the tactical pitfalls that come up so frequently in this wild gambit. I do admit that his book is a little optimistic, but there is no proven way to get anymore than equality for black.
I recommend the Smith-Morra Gambit to anyone who plays 1. e4, is tactically inclined (positionally impaired?!), and doesn't mind a sharp struggle. And if you want to play the Smith-Morra Gambit there's no better book than Winning With The Smith-Morra Gambit. Note: Winning With The Smith-Morra Gambit is part of the Winning With... series (even though you may very well win with it.)
The Smith-Morra Gambit isn't for everyone, and consequently this book is not for everyone, however if you are failing to comprehend the complexities of the Open Sicilian, or your failing to make progress with your anti-Sicilian pet line, give the Smith-Morra Gambit a try, you'll be surprised at how many people blunder when only following common opening principles. For example, after 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cd 3. c3 dc 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 d6 6. Bc4 e6 7. O-O Nf6 8. Qe2 Be7 9. Rd1 the natural developing move ...O-O leads to a hopelessly lost game for black after 10. e5!.
Contrary to common belief, The Smith-Mora Gambit is a sound and very dangerous weapon against the Sicilian, notwithstanding a player has to have an excellent instinct for tactics, thus I cannot recommend it to anyone less than 1700, and of course, the timid.
5 stars because it's the best representation of the Gambit (it's organization is second only to Pirc Alert, it shows tactical patterns, and it's all you need in oder to play the opening confidently.)
Best current reference work on the Morra Gambit.......1999-09-21
The Smith(Morra)gambit is an exciting way for an agressive player to oppose the siclian defense (1. e4 c5). However, the gambit does involve some risk (for both players, really) which is why many players are put off by the variation.
If you are an attack minded 1. e4 player and you like razor sharp positions in which you may be more familar than your opponent - look no further. If you like to push wood for hours and play safe, unassuming chess - forget it!
Burgess does a very nice job of explaining the ideas behind the Morra gambit in the introductory chapters - something that I wish a whole lot more opening books would emulate! The book contains a large number of master game references for study. There is even a game featuring World Champ Garry Kasparov as black (and he nearly lost against the Morra!!).
The only reason I have given this book four stars instead of the full five, is that there are some places where I feel that Burgess is a tad optimistic about whites chances. All openings have good and bad points and the Morra is no exception. However, the book sometimes stretches a bit and tries to convince you that white can hardly ever lose. (If an opening could really promise all that everyone would start to play it and the game would become obsolete).
Very amateurish, but a great source of information.......1999-08-07
On the one hand, it's impudent to put together a couple of commented chess games and call it an opening book. If Mr. Burgess would have bothered to open ANY opening book published in the former Soviet Union, he would have seen what a decent opening book looks like. (There are even translations available.) Since he probably won't stoop to that (because the greatest chess nation on Earth is, of course, England), I better explain what I mean.
1. One thing that an opening book can't do without is system. Though Mr. Burgess has succeeded quite well in arranging the games in his book in a logical sequence, the reader will still have to write down his own variant tree with page references if he ever wants to find his way out of the Burgessian maze.
2. An opening book is supposed to analyze both good and bad sides of a variant. It is not considered solid to attempt to sell one's stuff whatever it takes. The title of Mr. Burgess's book is too pretentious, not to say misleading. Morra gambit (who's that Smith guy, anyway?) is by far not as powerful as Mr. Burgess claims (or as his sometimes not very thorough analyses attempt to show).
On the other hand, this incapable work, unfortunately, is the best source of information on Morra gambit I have seen. (However, I've been out of the active chess life for a few years, so there might be better books available today.) That's the first reason why I can't help giving it four stars. The second reason is that Morra gambit seems to be aggressive player's most promising way of avoiding Sicilian. I have experienced devastating disasters with b4 variants and, after that, played mostly 2. c3, which is, of course, a bit to passive. A few times I have played 2. c4; however, that is not quite my style. (You really should try it, if you like closed positions!) My first results with Morra aren't too great but it looks much better than anything else.
One thing I especially liked about the book was the introductory chapter which explained the main ideas of the Morra gambit. Well done!
If you are desperate to find an aggressive way of defending yourself against the perversity called Sicilian Defense, you really should consider Morra gambit. This book will give you a good start. If you're just curious, don't waste your money on Mr. Burgess before he has gained some experience on writing chess books.
Full of information and still readable.......1996-10-10
As a Morra-Gambit player I found this book to be very useful. All known traps are covered with the best way for white to avoid or counter-attack them. For all you black players, it also covers the best ways to beat the Morra-Gambit and it is a bit surprising to see how this is best done
Average customer rating:
- Outdated and Shody coverage...
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Winning With the Scandinavian (Batsford Chess Library)
Ron Harman , and
Shaun Taulbut
Manufacturer: Henry Holt & Co (P)
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Customer Reviews:
Outdated and Shody coverage..........2001-12-31
I will say this book is very outdated to say the very least... Still maybe for 9 dollars its not a bad idea to consider picking it up... Basically this book does not even know about the Portugeuse Gambit... Also it does not cover many lines that you run into with Scandy... Not to mention the covrage of the Icelandic Gambit(Palme) should of been more than 7 pages... They do not cover weird second moves by white, which is really annoying to say least... Also they do not have anything for 3 Nf3 by white, which happens more than other moves listed... How can you call a book Winning with something if you lack decent coverage of it... The book has about 8 pages for the Scandanavian Gambit, which really should get more... They give the Panov-Botvinnik attack about 13 pages... So if that is something you need to look at, that might be useful... So this is about an average book on the topic... Your most likely better off getting the Scandanavian book by Emms... Still for 9 dollars this might be worth it if you can find it...
Customer Reviews:
A book on chess traps with many cheapos! .......2006-09-22
This is by the same author of "Chess Openings, Traps and Zaps" and somewhat of a reorganization of much of the same material except that it picks a bit of the "cheapo" (a chess term meaning a move that sets up a trap that only has the trap in mind and is usually not the most sound move if the opponent sees it) type traps. Personally I feel that books that cover opening chess traps are a good way to learn tactics. But I prefer the trap books that don't use cheapos, but instead use sound and logical moves, where there is a trap behind the best move even if the opponent sees the trap. By the way the word "fish" in chess doesn't really mean a person who is a newcomer and is unskilled - it is a word used in the place of the chess word "patzer" meaning a person who has played for many years and "lacks ordinary skill" (no talent or ability to improve and when plays chess they "swim around without a plan"). Noone calls a beginner a "fish" in chess. And, chess players who play cheapo chess are often called "fish" or "patzers". This book has its limited use for beginners to learn what NOT TO DO! But the way the book is written it doesn't tell it that way.
I can't believe these pathetic ratings!.......2005-10-12
Most tactical books either group the quizzes by type (ie, pin, discovered attack, etc) or don't group the quizzes at all (and both types of books are helpful).
However, this book groups the quizzes by move (ie, Qh5, Qd5, Bxf7, and Nxe5 for example). It really helped me to locate winning combinations early in the game. It also showed me how to attack early in the game.
I think it would be of great value to any chess player ranked below USCF 1800.
I suspect that the people who gave this book such a terrible rating assume that it's trying to teach people to "win quickly." Generally, there is no way to "win quickly" against a good opponent. So why bother to study these "tricks" that you will probably never get to use?
Well, actually, there is much value in studying them, but you are not studying "tricks" but learning tactical patterns that can be widely used if your opponent should happen to make an opening mistake.
Whenever there is a winning combination available, anywhere in the game, it means that your opponent has made a mistake. Studying tactics is the way to learn to identify the winning combination when a mistake has been made.
I think many people study openings hoping to get an advantage over their opponent early in the game. However, studying chess opening "lines" is just not of much value to someone rated under 2000.
Frankly, I think it would be wiser to study and re-study books like this one (or Pandolfini's other opening books called Traps and Zaps and Traps and Zaps 2). As I have already stated, you want to learn how to punish someone if they should happen to make an error, but that doesn't mean you memorize the opening "line" and hope your opponent makes it. Instead, you learn the PATTERN, so that you will recognize it if an opponent should ever make it.
Of course, this is exactly what should be done when studying tactics in general. We don't try to wait for the identical postition to arise. We just learn the pattern, and then practice identifying it in many different positions.
If a player is ranked below USCF 2000, he should spend the bulk of his study time practicing tactics, and this book is one of the best.
Makes you wonna play again and again.......2005-08-16
For what it is worth: my present ELO-rating is somewhere around 1650, but I've only played about 20 games in tournement and feel there's lots of room for improvement - books like "The Winning Way" are certainly amplifying this sentiment. Best standard rating on ICC: 1820 (it went down lately, under 1600, but at the moment it's moving upwards again up to +1700 and going steady :-).
I've struggled my way through lots of chess books. Many of the tactics shown and explained by famous GM's like Nunn, Dvoretsky, etc. are very good to learn from, but it's always hard work. If you feel like getting away from this "serious chess studying" and just enjoy yourself while still learning something, then get this book. I can't play through more than one or two examples from "The Winning Way" without feeling the urge to get up and start playing on the internet (I prefer ICC).
So, while I always have trouble studying chess for a longer period of time (say, 15 minutes or so :-), this book makes me walk to and fro between my computer (playing games) and the chessboard (every time getting more amazed about the simplicity of the demonstrated "chess mechanics" - although, of course it really isn't that simple...), and so on and so on...
This book really is an eye-opener; after reading half way through it I found myself looking at the whole game in a different way (taking notice of loose ends in my opponent's set-up and trying to exploit them). And you know what? It's not just an impression, my rating went up and (contrary to what normally happens) it stays up now! Also, I feel much more confident behind the chessboard.
Get this book, it will improve your awareness of chess.
Good for beginners, but Traps and Zaps 1 & 2 are better........2003-06-03
The title is not quite accurate. This is really a book of opening traps. The explanations are not nearly so helpful as the traps themselves.
Unfortunately, this book is not nearly so useful as Pandolfini's other trap books. As another reviewer stated, the traps here are categorized by the winning move, e.g. Bxf7 or Qh5. That makes the book useless for drilling tactics, as the winning move is already named in boldface at the top of the page. Also, the diagrams do not always follow the blunder immediately.
However, this book has the broadest coverage of the three, with maybe 25% non-king pawn openings. Perhaps you could cut out the pages and clip off the headings, then go through these in random order.
Definitely read the Traps and Zaps books first. I find this one valuable in improving my pattern recognition still further, as I can go through several examples of a single motif in one sitting, but you might consider skipping this one altogether nd going straight to the deeper traps in Chernev's wonderful Winning Chess Traps, then on to Burgess's Quickest Chess Victories of All Time.
This book seems to have fewer errors than the others, so I give it 4 stars.
Avoid Traps the Easy Way.......2003-01-16
This book has gotten some undeserved bad press. This book simplifies the avoidance of falling into elementary traps. There are a bunch of books about the various traps, but they aren't systematic, and, therefor, they are impossible to remember. Here the traps are systematically presented and easy to spot. Most of the traps involve checks and hanging pieces. The book also teaches the pluses of early aggressive Queen moves. I found it very informative and have avoided falling into some of the traps in my games. It also teaches you to take advantage of the opponent's mistakes. If you are getting boloed in the opening, take alook at this book.
Book Description
You are all geared up as Black to play a sharp main-line opening - but then White opens with some unusual first move. Every chess player knows how disconcerting this can be, and how easy it is for Black to land in trouble if he reacts incautiously. This book is the first time that a master has provided sound practical advice on how to handle both the white and the black side of these openings. Dunnington's commonsense approach to such openings as the Bird, Nimzo-Larsen, Sokolsky and Grob is based on his many years of experience of club, weekend and international chess. This book contains concise coverage of White's alternatives to 1 e4, 1 d4, 1 c4 1 Nf3. It is written by an expert on subtle flank openings and equips the reader for all key transpositions. It explains winning strategies for White and Black.
Customer Reviews:
Very good overview of less common White openings........2006-03-05
The book covers the following in some details : 1.b4, 1.b3, 1.Nc3, 1.f4 and 1.g3. The book also discussed other bizarre openings such as 1.f3, 1.g4, 1.a4, 1.h4, 1.a3, 1.h3, 1.c3, 1.d3, 1.e3 but not in details (sometimes it is just a paragraph). I really enjoyed that book because I don't like to play standard opening moves based on memory. This book is about playing opening moves that will prepare middlegame play in a different way. If you like to go straight in middlegame play, those kinds of openings will just do that. Don't expect to "win" in the opening... anyway I don't beleive that you can win in any opening... you win with good middlegames and good endgames. If you want to learn openings in great details don't buy this book.. If you think that the opening is the most important phase of a chess game... don't buy this book. But if you want to understand openings in a different way, and I mean "understand", this is a good quality book to begin with. If you want to have a very good overview (short but good) of 5 unorthodox openings this is the book for you. It does go in great details (with numerous analysis for each opening)... it will teach you how to play them and which one to choose. If you are a 1.d4 or 1.e4 fanatic this book book will not help you. But if you want to learn how to play middlegames from offbeat openings, this book will do that.
Long needed and well worth the price.......2002-11-04
This book covers all white opening moves except 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.c4 and 1.Nf3. And the coverage is not biased towards either side: quite often the author actually favours Black's position. So the book could be better called "Unusual First Moves by White - Some Good, Some Bad".
I bought this book to get a solid repertoire against openings that are so rare that they are not worth to buy a book on each of them. According to my statistics of players averaging 2200 Elo, the openings in this book occur in 2% of all games if you do not play these moves yourself (which means 4% of my games as black). So I have to meet one of these freaks once in every 50 games.
Some of the reviewers below were pretty harsh, mainly because they disagreed with Dunnington's evaluation of certain oddball openings, or because Dunnington only includes independent 1st move oddities and not all unusual opening systems. The reviews for a book of this kind are bound to be distorted because of this.
But I think that Dunnington has done a good job in giving each opening the coverage that it deserves. If you are like me - studying these openings with a view to meeting them as black - the issue of what white opening move is worth exactly what is irrelevant.
Deceptive Book..........2002-01-16
The name of this book I find to be deceptive also the claims a bit much. What bothers me is that the author decides what is playable and what is not. The Grob is one of the more popular of the odd openings. So to just dismiss that or not really cover a3 properly is wrong. Fine used to play a3 at times and did rather well with it to be honest. The move is deeper and not so easy for people to understand. I myself have played it and won with it even against a computer. I could not give this book 1 star cuz it did not really have any clear errors. I could not rate it as average because of the falty claims and taking sides. If your gonna make a book winning with unusual openings. Tossing some away as not good is a bit pointless. The problem is not having enough pages to even attempt a book like this. So if nothing else you know your gonna get a sub par product in return. I would just get game collections of weird openings and break down lines from there. If you really feel you have an interest in one of them, get a book more focused on them. The Killer Grob is a good place for some to start. Im really not a fan of any of these openings. Still Im rather open minded about odd openings and interested in the psychology. I used to always play 1 g3 which isnt that normal really. The book should not just dismiss certan things so easily. Thats a problem many have when talking about openings. They say a3 is garbage white can have no chance of maintaining advantage. Or that is just white playing as black etc and all this. The move is only bad if you do not have a plan behind it basically. Granted a3 is better than h4, that don't mean h4 can't be useful. I bet money that most esp U1800 have no set system against many odd openings. So the psychological attack behind them can't be simply blown off. A good book on this topic would give best known theory and new ideas on these openings. Then leave it to the reader what can or can not be played. By already deciding he is tainting the reader with ideas against those openings. So how can you think of winning with them if told they can't be played.
A better idea to divide them might be to have a section for very insane moves. Perhaps stuff like a4, h4, Na3 and Nh3 would fit into there. Maybe put g4 in with b4, mix g3 in with b3 stuff like that. Rather than just saying this is not playable and this is. I think you will gain more from just looking over games played with openings. If none really exist on stuff like h4 and a4, well then study tactics. Or try to play transposing into some opening where you might play one of those moves. Many times playing weird opening idea is to get out of book. So not sure how much a book can really help you play those. Stuff like g4 and b4 perhaps has more coverage. Even stuff like b3 and g3, not to mention f4. So those openings you can probably get a decent book on. Even Nc3 might have a decent book out there, or a3. I honestly can't think of any off hand though. Least there are some fair amount of games using those openings. Might be best to check this book out in bookstore before ordering. Make sure it has enough coverage on openings you might wanna play that are "weird" or "unorthodox", etc.
The value of suprise ..........2000-09-19
The book, "Winning Unorthodox Openings," is a book by an English player, IM A. Dunnington, who has a reputation as a trainer for English players who participate in the Olympiad and also an excellent trainer of junior players in the UK. He writes concisely in a no-nonsense style of which I approve. I went through the first few chapters with a fine-tooth comb. I looked for errors in analysis, and I found none. I looked for games that were quoted in error, mis-spelled, etc., and I discovered no mistakes of this type either. I went through the entire book, looking for errors in the diagrams, (this used to be a plague to otherwise good chess books!), and I found none of those type of errors either. The PC and programs like ChessBase are having a huge impact on the field of chess books. Having said that, I must immediately point out a few things that grab my attention. The blurb on the cover, and one in a press release promises,
<
< Complete and concise coverage of all of White's alternatives to 1. e4, 1. d4, 1. c4, and 1. Nf3. >> This is not what you get when you plunk down your hard-earned dinero. First, he classifies the "Unorthodox" openings into two categories, good and bad, (or playable and unplayable). This in itself is a sticking point in my mind. I can understand such openings as 1. h4, or a4, or h3, being branded as bad. However, I find it odd he can label 1. g4, (Grob's Opening) as bad, (beware Basmaniacs!); but can throw Solkosky's/Orangutan Opening, (1. b4,) in the "playable" pile. It seems to me that they both do the same thing, just on opposite sides of the board. I guess players of the Grob will have to get IM Basman's book on this opening. Several other VERY playable openings are dismissed with a wave of the hand. One is Anderssen's opening, (1. a3, ); which is an opening I have personally used in tournaments and never lost with. The author does not seem to realize (or bother to take the time to point out); that this can be one of the most complicated openings you can play. I also used to use it, with tremendous effect on opponents' who are "booked out to the max," but have little or no understanding of the general principles of the game. I also used to make this opening a very effective "Anti-computer" line, when computers were still being allowed to play in tournaments with humans. It can also be a highly transpositional opening and can result in a "reversed" defense being played with an extra move in hand. That being said, there is virtually no Indian game, (Or virtually any reversed defense for that matter!); where the move a3/(a6) would not have come in handy. (Common sense should tell you this.) Another point is that the author covers 1. b4, and 1. b3. However, he does not bother to cover similar/related lines like "The Improved Solkosky's," with 1. Nf3 and then - and only then - 2. b4. (Or 2. b3.) This is a shame because this method has been used by dozens of strong GM's. He also dismisses a reversed French Defense or a reversed Pirc Defense in similar fashion. (I know a Master who liked his Pirc so much, he began playing 1. d3, so he could play The Pirc as White!!) But by now, the reader should get the general idea. The author also seems to confine himself to lines of "independent value."
So exactly what does the author cover? There are five very good chapters of material. Chapter 1, covers the Solkosky's/Orangutan Opening. (1. b4.) Chapter Two covers the Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack. (1. b3.) Chapter Three covers "The Dunst Opening," or as the author calls it; "The Queen's Knight Opening." (1. Nc3.) Chapter Four covers the "Bird's Opening." (1. f4.) (The From's Gambit is covered in sufficient detail, but the line 1. f4, e5; 2. fxe5, d6; 3. exd6, Bxd6; 4. Nf3, g5; 5. d4!?, g4; 6. Ng5!? [The author gives this move a dubious appellation.] 6...f5!; is probably blown off a little too lightly. [The position is very unclear and contains some of the most complicated lines in chess.] Dunnington stops here giving the impression that White is in trouble, but the fun is just beginning!) The lines recommended in the Bird's Opening are good and the theory is sound. Chapter Five covers, "The King's Fianchetto Opening." (1. g3.) This opening could transpose to an almost endless variety of other openings, but the author tries to concentrate on material that is unique and independent in nature. Chapter Six is the Chapter where the author blows off the reversed French or Pirc and perfectly reasonable openings like 1. c3. (As good or as bad as anything else in the book.) Instead, he gives minor coverage to the Grob's Opening, (1. g4.); and then wastes a lot of time on a game beginning with the move, 1. f3?
Now I think by now you may have gathered that these openings are not exactly my cup of tea. The coverage is not in great depth and could not be in a book of this size. A plus is a very detailed Index of variations. A slight minus is the absence of any Player Index whatsoever. So having said all of the above, could I recommend this book to a potential buyer? The answer is : Absolutely! In other words, if you are looking for something off the beaten trail or something unusual to surprise your opponent, then this book is for you. If you have ever thought about, or played the openings named above in a tournament, then you should get this book. If you are under 1800, were going to buy only a few books (say less than 10), and did not want to play "Main Lines;" then this would be a good book to buy. The author gives many (21) complete and very well annotated games. (I am a sucker for well-annotated games.) He also gives numerous games and lines in the notes and the sub-variations. The material is well thought out and organized very efficiently. If you like the unusual openings or were just looking for an opening to surprise your "booked-out nemesis," then this could be the book for you!
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- Chess Tactics for Kids
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- Dungeon Master's Guide: Core Rulebook II (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)
- Exalted Lunars (Exalted)
- Family Based Services: A Solution-Focused Approach (Norton Professional Books)
- Far Cry(tm) Instincts Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Official Strategy Guides)
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