Product Description
Rizzitano, author of Understanding Your Chess, presents a full repertoire for Black against 1 d4, based on the Queen's Gambit Accepted (QGA). The QGA is an extremely popular opening amongst players of all levels, as it gives Black free development and counterpunching potential, especially if White takes up the challenge and tries to set up a broad pawn centre. The QGA's soundness is shown by the number of top-class grandmasters who have used it in critical games - it was a key factor in Short's victory over Karpov, and has even been used by Garry Kasparov at world-championship level. Rizzitano has chosen to recommend dependable main lines of the QGA, and throughout emphasizes how Black can create winning chances and White's typical ways to go wrong. The repertoire is completed by a set of weapons against White's alternatives to offering the Queen's Gambit, ranging from the stolid Colle to the weird Hodgson Attack and the reckless Blackmar-Diemer.
Customer Reviews:
An average repertoire book.......2007-06-04
This book is divided into three parts. Part 1 consists of queen gambit accepted lines which not include the classical variation, part 2 handles the classical variation and part 3 handles openings where white do not follow up with c4 (Colle, London, Veresov, etc.)
Rizzitano handles the 3 parts very differently. While the classical variation is very deeply explained (as for 2300 players), Rizzitano handles for instance the Torre Attack more lightly (as for 1700 players).
So this book is not for ordinary club players. In many positions where white has more than just one alternative, Rizzitano often just describe just one alternative. The other alternatives may be less attractive, but for an ordinary club player who plays black, it is not easy to understand why. This book is full of variations and variations. Rizzitano surely knows how to use a chess database. But I miss some informative text, and not just variations after words like: Alternatives:, then:, now:, White has some alternatives here:, Let's examine: When someone write "Let's examine" I want some explanation text, not just variations. I believe it may be difficult for a normal chess player to benefit 100% from this book, without doing his one opening description from this book.
So I will not recommend this book for players rated below 2000.
What I also miss in this book is a more specific description of strategically ideas about each variant and some complete games showing when these strategically ideas are successful.
Great Book.......2007-05-11
This is an amazing book, extremely detailed and thorough. It is a totally complete repertoire against 1.d4. I don't know what the last reviewer is talking about. Contrarily, this one of the most complete and thorough opening repertoire books I've ever seen.
This is your road map when white plays 1.d4. Keep in mind that it's a repertoire book, not an instructional manual on how to play every single move in every single position. (But it comes close!) One thing the book lacks is an "Illustrative Games" section. If this is your only reference, then you will need to either find a supplemental book, well annotated QGA games, or a coach to help you work through the positions once the analysis stops.
The good news is that he basically quotes his sources on every book, game fragment, and annotator. If you want to see more, just pull the game up on your computer and have at it. This is a window into a titled player's opening preparation, so be prepared to do some work to digest the material.
I think this is good for players rated 1800+, because it can be an overwhelming amount of material at some points. It is definitely *not* the "Easy Guide" to the QGA.
I am looking forward to seeing more from the meticulously thorough Rizzitano.
Good Repertoire Book, But...........2007-04-29
Missing a couple of critical lines that Black should be aware of.
Of course, all the initial analysis through the earlly stages of the ooening is spot-on, but at that nebulous threshold between the end of an opening and the onset of a full-blown middle game, this book serves the function of dropping us off at a couple of key (and very complex) intersections with a map that does not show all the avaliable roads that can be taken. Of course, this is not an real big deal if these are options for our side (the good guys!-- it is a repertoire book afterall), but when these options are important (and powerful) moves that are opponent can spring, and they are not even mentioned, it makes me wonder what the full intent of the author really was.
Don't get me wrong, I like this book, and if the player with the white pieces cooperatively stays within the confines of the repertoire proffered, Black is doing fine. But for a volume of this size and reputation, I was disappointingly surprising to see it completely overlooks some key lines that Black will probably see OTB.
Won my first two QGA games after reading this book.......2006-03-26
I'm an ICCF Master Class player and I recently bought Rizzitano's book "How to beat 1.d4". I ever had problem with black vs 1.d4 and I read with great interest Rizzitano's book. The book was clear, extremely interesting, up to date, with all strategic ideas behind the opening well analysed and explained.
I recently tried the QGA in an ICCF Master Class tournament (EM-M-307) and the result was : +2 =0 -0 that is 100% for the first 2 QGA I ever played!!!!
Compliments to the author: the good result I get in the tournament is fully due to his book!!!
Dr.Mauro Marchisotti, Torino, Italy
An Exemplar of Chess Opening Books.......2006-03-26
Rizzitano's "How to Beat 1 d4" is an example of how opening repetoire books should be written. The reader can tell how meticulously the author approached this work- all the relevant analysis, along with many suggested improvements from the author himself. The book presents the Queen's Gambit Accepted as the centerpiece of the repetoire, and also offers lines against all of White's second-move alternatives. A welcome bonus is analysis of 3 e3 e5 in the QGA, which allows Black to play alternatives such as 4...Bg4 in the main line after 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 e3. A great work.
Book Description
Former world champion Anatoly Karpov is a living legend, the winner of more tournaments than any other player in history. His opening analysis is absolutely definitive. In this indispensable resource for every serious player, he covers the main positional variations of the Caro Kann: the Classical System (1 e4 c6, 2 d4 d5, 3 Nc3) and the Advance Variation (3 e5). These lines may not be as fast and furious as the Panov Attack (the subject of another book in this series), but as Karpov shows, precision and good timing can give Black a successful defense and even a strategic advantage.
Customer Reviews:
CaroKann from the theoretical and practical expert........2007-02-04
For decades, A. Karpov has been the world leading expert and supporter (both in theoretical discusion and practical results) of this very solid defence. This book is focused in the sharp advance and gambit lines (ECO B10-B12) and accomplishes the task of pointing out the best continuations and ideas for both sides in a wonderful way. Either you like to defend the resourceful positions arising from this defence or to crack it, this book will help you to choose the best way to do it. The variations follow a prelation order helping the reader to identify them from bad or dubious to recommended ones.
Overall, an excellent book which surpasses the good old work from V. Kotronias on the same subject.
Good book BUT..........2006-11-11
This is a great book. This is not a repertory book but a reference book. I found every variation I was interested to learn. I would say that this book is for people +1900 and for seasoned Caro Kann players. This is not a good book for starting to play the Caro.
There is something I did not like about this book... it is very hard to follow the variations. You have to be patient to find your way thru pages and lots of variations and sub variations.
If you already play the Caro, you are +1900 and have a lot of time to follow thru hundreds of variations then this is the book for you.
If you want to learn to play the Caro and want to learn the structure and plans look somewhere else.
This one is exceptional.......2006-10-30
If John Watson and David Bronstein were to write one on the Caro Advance, this would be it, except it's Anatoly Karpov, and Mikhail Podgets, of wich the latter is probably responsible for the lucid, insightful, and highly entertaining prose comments. Jimmy Adams was the translator. Coverage is balanced and exceptionally comprehensive, presented in a tree style. There are detailed tree indexes for every chapter, but it lacks an index for the hundreds of embedded games, just giving listings for the dozen plus illustrative games added on at the end. That's about the only flaw I see. The volume assumes some acquaintance with the main variations, but is probably accesible to anyone who's gone through Starting Out: Caro Kann or something similar. Anyone from A or B class through GM should find it more than useful.
Advance Variation and Gambit System.......2006-10-19
I just recieved this book in the mail and wanted to throw out a quick review of the publishing job and some of the content. I really think this is how an opening book should be made. Very easy to read and follow, multiple indices, an average of about 2 diagrams per page for 260 pages. The prose is conversational and direct. This book looks to be an excellent resourse for both black and white players who want to enter these variations. About 230 of the 260 pages cover the Advance system. I eagerly await the next volume, and I don't even currently use the C-K defense. This looks to be one of the best opening books I've seen. Very clean, professional. Buy it if you are at all interested in the Caro-Kann.
Book Description
The 1...e5 systems of the English Opening lead to positions rich in tactical and strategic subtleties, making them suitable for players of all standards and temperaments. These lines have not been properly covered in chess literature for twenty years, and this thoroughly researched book fills a gaping void. The main systems covered include the Reversed Dragon, where the position is balanced on a tactical knife-edge; the tense Closed lines, where Black adopts a King's Indian set-up; the fashionable lines with a very early ...Bb4; and the main lines of the English Four Knights, as used in many top-level games. The unique GAMBIT System makes it easy to use the book to the maximum practical advantage. "Quick Summaries" introduce the main themes of each system, where appropriate suggesting a coherent repertoire of reliable lines. Then comes detailed, unbiased coverage of all the critical lines, for reference and detailed study. Whether you're looking for a quick ! ! introduction to an opening system for surprise use, a refresher course in a favorite opening, or to research an opening deeply, the GAMBIT Guide is the ideal choice.
Customer Reviews:
A very useful chess book on 1...e5 in the English Opening.......2005-07-29
I think a chess player ought to know at least a little about how to play the most typical first moves for White. That means having some sort of repertoire with 1 e4. And 1 d4. And 1 Nf3. And, yes, 1 c4.
That's where this book comes in. Black may answer 1 c4 with 1...e5 (you'll need to find out what to do about other replies in other books, of course). Now you play 2 Nc3 (if you want to do something else, maybe this isn't the right book for you: it spends 230 pages on 2 Nc3 and 17 pages on everything else combined). And Hansen shows you what you can do in response to all the popular Black systems at that point. Namely:
2...f5
2...d6
2...Bb4
2...Nf6 3 Nf3 (my choice as White). Black can try 3...e4 or 3...d6.
2...Nf6 3 g3
2...Nc6 3 Nf3. Black can try 3...d6 or 3...Bb4 or 3...f5 or 3...g6?! Or 3...Nf6.
After 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Nf3 Nf6, White has a bunch of choices: 4 a3, 4 d3, 4 d4, 4 e4, 4 e3, and the most popular, namely 4 g3. My recommendation, for what it is worth, is 4 d3. Hansen spends three pages on this move, while the rest combined get 73 pages.
Of course, there is another potential use for this book. You can prepare to use 1...e5 as your defence to 1 c4. I'm happy that Hansen spends over 18 pages on 2...Bb4. That's an atypical system that I'd recommend looking at, just to see if you like it.
Why would anyone want to play 1...e5 with Black against 1 c4? I'll tell you why I do it. Many years ago, I had to play a tournament game against someone who liked to play the English. I told a friend, a novice at chess (USCF rating 1017) that I'd probably be facing 1 c4. He asked if I wanted to try a practice game. I secretly doubted that playing Black against a 1017 player would help me much, but I consented. Our practice game, however, was a shock that I still remember vividly:
1 c4 c5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 g3 e6 4 Nf3 (4 Bg2?! is not good) b6 5 Bg2 Bb7 6 d4 cxd4 7 Qxd4 Be7 8 0-0 d6 9 Rd1 0-0 10 b3 Nbd7 11 Bb2 a6 12 Qe3 Qc7 13 Nd4 Bxg2 (so far, everything has gone well, of course, I'm still in "book") 14 Kxg2 Rab8 (this was the book move, but obviously it is not very good) 15 Nf5 Nc5? (Black is still alive after 15...Rfe8 but not after this) 16 Nd5! Nxd5 (now White has a forced mate) 17 Qh6 gxh6 18 Nxh6 mate
In the tournament game, I decided to avoid 1...c5. I'm sure you can understand why. In fact, I tried the unsound Bellon Gambit, mainly because I'd come up with what I thought was a new move for Black:
1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 Nf3 e4 4 Ng5 b5 5 d3 bxc4 6 dxe4 Nc6 (this was my "new" move, and I was proud of it, since, as this book explains, an immediate 6...h6 loses to 7 Nxf7) 7 e3 h6 (this move has to be played now!) 8 Nf3 Bb4 9 Qc2 Qe7 10 Nd2 Ne5 11 Be2 Ba6 12 0-0 c6 13 a3 Ba5 14 Nf3 Nxf3 15 Bxf3 Qe5 16 Qa4 0-0 17 Nd5 c3 18 Nxf6 gxf6 19 Rd1 Rfb8 20 b4 c2 21 Rd4 (a forced move that I had overlooked) c5 22 bxc5 Rb1 23 Qxa5 Rab8 24 Qd2 Rxa1 25 Qxc2 Qxd4 26 exd4 Rbb1 27 White Resigns
Since then, I've used 1...e5 to answer 1 c4. I even tried the Bellon Gambit once again, in a friendly game. The first seven moves were identical to the above game, but now my opponent tried 8 Nxf7. Obviously, if this move actually works, the Bellon Gambit is not merely unsound but unplayable. The game continued 8...Kxf7 9 Bxc4 d5 10 Bb5 Ne5 11 f4 (Hansen's recommendation for White at this point) Bg4 12 Qb3 Ned7 13 exd5 Bc5 14 e4 Re8 15 e5 a6 16 Bc6 Nxe5! 17 fxe5 Rxe5+ 18 Kd2 Be3+ 19 Kd3 Bf5+ 20 Kc4 Rb8 21 Qa3 Nxd5 22 Nxd5 Qh4+ 23 Kc3 Qd4 mate
This book gives the Bellon Gambit a little over two pages. Hansen quotes Bagirov, who gives the 8 Nxf7 line as well as 8 Nf3 Bb4 9 Bd2 0-0 10 Bxc4 Bxc3 11 Bxc3 Nxe4. In this final line, Bagirov and Hansen say that White can get an excellent game with 12 Rc1 and an even better game with 12 Qd3. However, I think Black still has some practical chances even in these two lines.
One complaint that I have about my particular copy of this book is that pages 129 through 160 are upside down! I wonder if there is a quality control problem here.
Nevertheless, I think the book itself is a great text and reference and I recommend it.
Excellently Written Book on the English Opening with 1...e5!.......2003-04-22
The 1...e5 systems of the English Opening lead to positions rich in tactical and strategic subtleties, making them suitable for players of all standards and temperaments. These lines have not been properly covered in chess literature for twenty years, and this thoroughly researched book fills a gaping void. The main systems covered include the Reversed Dragon, where the position is balanced on a tactical knife-edge; the tense Closed lines, where Black adopts a King's Indian set-up; the fashionable lines with a very early ...Bb4; and the main lines of the English Four Knights, as used in many top-level games. The unique GAMBIT System makes it easy to use the book to the maximum practical advantage. "Quick Summaries" introduce the main themes of each system, where appropriate suggesting a coherent repertoire of reliable lines. Then comes detailed, unbiased coverage of all the critical lines, for reference and detailed study. Whether you're looking for a quick ! ! introduction to an opening system for surprise use, a refresher course in a favorite opening, or to research an opening deeply, the GAMBIT Guide is the ideal choice.
good choice for english' lovers.......2001-07-10
The "english opening" is one of the most complex chess playing systems. In this book Hansen deals with the variations called "reversed sicilian". Hansen analyzes main lines and side lines through 10 chapters. An useful index of variations at the end of the book allows to easily skip through many transpositional lines. The games analyzed are numerous as in every "Gambit guide" book. Hansen's analysis includes many correspondence games, too. I think this book is the perfect choice for everybody interested with the "english opening".
Book Description
Volume I
New ideas, technical novelties an more on the age old Italian game with 4,d4!, allowing the sharp and forcing "Italian Gambit" to emerge. This move, a surprising one to many, transforms the classic "Giouco Piano" or literally the quiet game into anything but its revered and somewhat sedate namesake.
Black's third move, 3...Bc5 seems "safe" and allows the second player plenty of time to develop (quietly) for positional play. This will occur on White playing almost any reasonable move, except for the center assaulting initiative gaining 4.d4!...being the main focus of this endeavor.
4.d4! is clearly a forcing move, Black must react! Whatever unfolds from this point, White will have central control, lead in development, the initiative and it is White not Black who will get the first emerging opportunitites.
Accurate play by Black is necessary to hold and neutralize the initial gains of opposition, and it will be difficult to demonstrate anything better than equality, or that White cannot claim real compensation for the gambit pawn.
This Book involves no less than three (3) years of study, Master analysis; including complete computer verification of all important variations.
Volume II
This masterful work is short, yet concise and to the point, guiding the 1.e4 player in handling and management of all of Black's classing opening responses.
1. Nf6 - Alekhine's
1. e6 - French
1. d6 - Pirc
1. d5 - Scandinavian
1. c6 - Caro Kann
1. c5 - Sicilian
1. Nc6 - Nimzowitsch
These lines have been studied and developed over many years by the venerable Chess Master and teacher Jude Acers, they are the essential and recommended lines for all play that commences 1.e4, but are especially effective for the new "limited" time controls in present and future tournament play.
All levels, whether they be the first or second side of the board will discover fresh arsenals for both attack and defense. As White, once you embrace (and you will) these "to the point" openings, this book will take you via clear reference to the sources of future study. As Black, you must be prepared. The reader will not be overwhelmed by masses of theory or endless analytical variations, but shall discover how and where to find such material.
- A clear opening guide for the newer player
- A no nonsense opening system for the more advanced player
- New concepts for the Upper Echelon of chess to meet the coming evolution of "Knockout" and "less time" in serious tournament play.
- STAY ON TOP, become a world super star in the global phenomena of mass appeal.
Author: Jude Acers
For more information please visit www.italiangambit.com
"There is brand new theory and some re-discoveries of old forgtten games and ideas...This is a very rich book."
"The Miami Variation (1. e4 e52.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4 Bxd4 5. Nxd4 Nxd4 6. Be3[6.0-0 Nf6 could transpose to Koltanowski's line]) was the brainchild of amateur George Laven."
Review by FIDE Master Allan Savage,
SQUARES Magazine (Fall issue, 2003)
FOREWORD by NM Randy Bauer
To read Jeremy Silman's review of this book please visit www.jeremysilman.com
Customer Reviews:
eccentric but fun.......2006-04-15
I enjoyed the references to classical games and the way the author showed how the theory developed. I play the Max Lange whenever possible but castle first before pushing the pawn. Knowing more of the theory here would have saved me working it out myself through a lot of trial and error over the years. There is much in this volume to think about.
That said, it is a rather eccentric piece of modern publishing. The layout and even the typefaces are all over the place. Some of the games referenced annoyingly don't have dates. The Classical Giuocco Piano header notation on page 128 doesn't match its diagram.
The book is a bit like Alice in Wonderland, things get 'curiouser and curiouser' although it is fun to look around.
Very badly organized.......2005-02-27
This book has a lot of original ideas and a lot of colorful stories, but the arrangement of the material is very bad. It is rarely clear what "best" play is supposed to be, and when Acers encounters a theoretical problem he will often cop out with a remark that the line gives good practical chances or is very strong in fast-time-limit games, rather than trying to get to the objective truth. The reader must do a great deal of work to construct a real repertoire from this book -- there are enough good chess ideas that it can be done, but a lot of irrelevant material is thrown in, because Acers can't resist name-dropping or showing some famous brilliancies that don't actually bear on the analysis in the book.
The main theoretical contribution is Laven's "Miami variation" -- 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 d4 Bxd4 5 Nxd4 Nxd4 6 Be3!, which appears to give sufficient compensation to equalize and good practical winning chances against an unprepared opponent. This means that 4.d4, previously thought bad, is actually quite playable, and has many transpositional advantages. The other valuable analysis is in the Two Knights variation 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 d4 exd4 5 e5! d5!? 6 Bb5! Ne4 7 Nxd4, where it is shown that Black cannot fully equalize and White can maintain an endgame bind with a small advantage (and no losing chances).
A Unique and Entertaining Chess Book.......2004-12-16
This book contains much analysis not found anywhere else. How many currently published chess books can say that? What makes this book so entertaning is the collection of personal stories by Master Acers that permeate the volume. One sees a unique perspective on chess in the trenches and learns unique twists on classic games. This is a great chess book to study or just to read. I highly recommend it.
JUDE ACERS - Great Chess Player and Storyteller.......2004-02-15
It's Awesome!! The simplicity of the read is breathtaking! The Italian Gambit System is one of the best gambits I've ever seen. No other author writes like this!
Italian Gambit -awesome book.......2004-01-31
Jude Acers has written an awesome book ! I love the graphics, the chess stories, the chess analysis, and Jude's commentary. Jude brings to life many American chess players, who played the game with great heart and spirit. Jude's prose is filled with the fighting spirit of Bobby Fischer and Ken Smith. Jude's passion for the game comes out in his lively prose.
HIs chess stories remind me of the oral history style put to prose by the great Studs Terkel. This book is a must read for anyone interested in chess, or the history of its players, including many great american chess players who are not known that well. Honor is due Jude ACERS on his outstanding book ! I hope his book will spark a new american renaissance in chess!
Book Description
The only thing more humiliating than losing a game quickly is to lose a game quickly to a known opening trap. On the other hand, the easy point scored by the trapper is a great confidence booster, and allows the winner a good rest before the next game in a competition.
This book shows that no-one should feel safe from an opponent armed to the teeth with cunning traps. Steve Giddins (who lived in Russia for a time) has collected his material from a wide variety of sources, some not normally available in the West.
Customer Reviews:
Ignore this review.......2007-09-21
I have not read this book! I ask that Amazon doesn't post this review and that they also remove someone else's review.
There is another review for this book that indicates 'Winning Chess Traps for Juniors' should not be sold by Amazon because the author ROBERT M. SNYDER is a pedaphile. That review has nothing to do with 101 Chess Opening Traps by Giddins. When I read that review I thought it was about Giddins' book, and that is just not right.
Terrific book on traps.......2005-10-28
I can't recall ever seeing such an awesome book on opening traps. The emphasis is on:
A: traps you can play for without compromising your position
B: traps that are easy for an opponent to fall into
Giddins has done a great job compiling this collection, and he gives background and history to bring each example to life. The traps are catagorized by opening variation, so traps 26-33, for example, feature the Caro, and traps 91-95 the QI Defense.
I spotted many old favorites, such as the Cambridge Springs trap and Fischer's Ne6 against Reshevsky, but also found loads of evil-looking traps that were new to me.
Highly recommended.
Stimulating selection - bound to win you some games.......2005-09-27
I've been meaning for a while to review this excellent little manual on pitfalls in the opening, as it is easily the best book published on this subject. Although written in a lively fashion, these are not frivilous opening lines. Numerous strong players have fallen for these clever traps. The author gives informative background on each, and the emphasis is firmly on lines a player might get to use in practical play.
Good idea, lacking in execution........2001-08-29
Someone got an idea that went "Hey, let's make a collection of quick opening traps that don't involve really awful play from one side", and an author must have said: "Yeah, I'd love to do that!" I then expect he sat down and realised what a large number 101 is.
This book contains a good number of opening traps covering a very large repertoire. It also contains a lot of stuff that doesn't seem particularly trappy, but just seems to have been put in there because the author had to reach his 101 target, and doesn't qualify as opening stuff, tactics or anything else for that matter.
I suggest giving Mr. Higgins another two or three years to gather more traps to put in there, and ask him to make a second edition, cause there's a good book hiding in there, but there is just so much pointless padding I wouldn't recommend buying it as it is.
Great for beginners and even better for advanced!.......2000-06-20
In this book you will find how to open your chess game perfectly.
Customer Reviews:
A few good spots but depressing.......2006-07-19
I agree with the other reviewers...McDonald simply didn't seem to find much excitement about playing/discussing the opening. His basic assessments were usually favorable towards black in the critical lines - even in some of the lines that Joe Gallagher judged good for white. A few times in these spots he would only leave a "I prefer black" backed by no analysis.
What's also disappointing is that when white did reach a difficult position, McDonald offered no real possibilities for improvement. It's as if he had given up long ago, and was merely documenting his reasons to abandon the opening.
It was fun seeing some of Gallagher's opinion about the new lines for black in Nunn's Chess Openings. In fact, there were more new ideas for white in three pages of numbers (albeit with no analysis) than there were in the whole of McDonald's book.
That said (and I'm obviously biased as a proponent of white in this opening), there was some decent analysis and some enjoyable games used. McDonald also resisted the temptation to copy many games from Gallagher's earlier book so it does get a rating of 3 stars from me. It probably deserves fewer, but I eat up anything about this opening.
Author Loathing The King's Gambit.......2005-11-29
Is it just me or does the author seem to take special delight in seeing black come out on top in many of the lines he provides? He seems to be cheering everytime black is doing well and shaking his head with disdain every time white tries to create some fun and magic with the King's Gambit. I think if we pin McDonald down we can get a confession out of him "okay okay, I admit it, I hate the king's gambit! It has the giant balls that I'll never have!" Gallagher's book is much better, more complete from a guy who plays it regularly because he believes in it and it doesn't come with all the heavy cynicism.
Review from a 1600+ tournament player........2002-12-26
This book is pretty brief in the lines it covers and it doesn't even cover many lines. McDonald makes the presented material clearly legible, but should have considered making an "Accepted" book and a "Declined" book. I bought this with book with the intentions of learning an opening that would stun my opponents right off the bat, but McDonald almost convinces one to try a different opening. The King's Gambit is meant to be an all out aggressive win or lose approach to chess and McDonald fails to emphasize this. At the end of most of his variations he gives unclear positions where it looks to me like black might even be better. If you are considering taking up the King's Gambit I suggest that you learn the Bishops Gambit (3.Bc4). This is an ultra aggressive variation that Neil reluctantly mentions in his book. If you don't mind sacrificing material for development then this opening is for you. I have used the King's Gambit successfully on several occasions and those wins remain as my most exciting. I suggest taking up the King's Gambit if you like exciting chess but do not recommend that you start here. This book is mostly for a player who is looking for a little more on a specific variation. This is not a good book to try to get an overall feel for the King's Gambit.
Good update on the opening.......2001-05-06
This provides an interesting update on the opening. Contains reasonably good descriptions of various lines as illustrated by latest games played by top players, but still cannot remove the general doubt that the King' Gambit is quite over-ambitious and risky in modern times.
Come back, Joe!.......2000-11-17
Well, there are some good things here; the explanation of the ideas behind Shirov's 5. . .d6 in the Kieseritsky gambit sticks out in my mind as very helpful. But McDonald just isn't a romantic; he's one of those guys who, if he's playing say a Modern defense, erects a light-square blockade, trades off the QB for a N, and hangs on for dear life. This book betrays similar instincts. Far from stirring up your enthusiasm, it is actually in danger of convincing readers that the KG is unplayable! And it isn't. Oh ye of litle faith!
Book Description
In this book, openings expert Jan Pinski investigates the different strategies and tactics in the Italian Game and Evans Gambit. Using model games for both White and Black, Pinski provides crucial coverage of both the main lines and offbeat variations. This book arms readers with enough knowledge to play the Italian Game and Evans Gambit with confidence.
Customer Reviews:
rather boring opening.......2006-08-12
What a quiet opening! Rather boring in fact. It saw its heyday over a century ago. Nowadays, this opening seems to be favoured by top players when they want an easy draw with their peers.
Still, Pinski points out that the opening is useful for pedagogic reasons. (If nothing else.) It is easy for beginners to learn the basics of a good opening, and how to quickly develop the pieces in support of each other. The positions in the book tend to be closed. Which may also help beginners. To some, it's easier to recognise patterns in closed positions than in wild tactical scenarios.
Good study!.......2006-03-09
For anyone studying these two openings used so often by Paul Morphy I recommend this book.
Evans Gambit.......2005-09-24
I have only been reading the "evans gambit" portion of this book. Not the part on the standard italian game. I have used this book to supplement another title on the Evan's - Michael Rohdes' "The Great Evan's Gambit Debate" - an excellent book. This book was a little difficult for me to navigate initially, because many of the games cover positions that i only reach via transposition (particularly in the 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. Qb3 line). In fact the games that can come from this line are not even all covered in the same chapter. This is not a fault of the book, and probably would not be bothersome to some people. It did make the book a little more challenging for me to navigate. Anyway, this book coveres many variations in much more depth than Rohdes's book. I have learned a lot from this book, and I am really glad I picked it up. The book has much more information than Rohdes' book. It is not in repertoire style, rather it is completely objective and impartial. Rhodes' book may gives stronger recommendations, telling white what the best move is and offering lots of original analysis, although he doesn't delve very deeply inot as many lines or as deeply into the games. There is a line of the Evans called the Wallers attack. Pinski covers 3 or 4 move options for black compared to one move covered by Rohdes. Both books are really great. If you want a brief summary of the opening with lots of original incite and a tendency for a repertoire style from White's perspective then get Rohdes book. If you want more complete coverage and more impartial - then maybe go with Pinski. Personally - I suggest that anyone really interested in playing the Evan's should get both.
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
Book Description
TACTICS, TRICKS AND TRAPS! For casual players and club players.Every chess player loves to win early in the game with a deadly com-bination or a cunning trap. On the other hand, nobody wants to betricked by his opponent before the game has really started. The popular series Tactics in the Chess Openingteaches how to re-cognize opportunities to attack early in the game. You will also learnhow to avoid standard pitfalls in the opening. This book explains, inmore than 230 carefully selected and annotated games, all the tacti-cal themes and typical traps of the main lines in the Queen's Gambit,and Queen's Pawn Openings like the Torre, the Colle, and the popularTrompowsky. After studying these brilliant surprise attacks, or justenjoying them, the adventurous chess player will win more games.
Book Description
Most chess players are fed a set of dogmatic rules about how the opening must be played. The result: stereotyped, unimaginative play. The opening surprises in this book land like bombshells in the apparent calm of standard openings and disorientate your opponents as they grapple with original problems. This book is a treasure-trove of unusual ideas at an early stage of the opening, yet running against the grain of conventional play. Each idea has quick-strike potential and is supported by enough concrete analysis to enable you to try it with confidence.
All major openings are covered. There are surprises for both White and Black, deeply researched and up-to-date. Each idea is assessed in terms of its soundness and its ability to surprise and shock. A thought-provoking introduction examines the underlying concepts of opening play and considers how the standard principles need to be modified in the light of the highly combative handling of the opening now favoured by the world's top players.
Customer Reviews:
Entertaining book of a combination of OPENING CHESS TRAPS and IRREGULAR OPENING MOVES.......2006-10-03
I really found this to be a FUN book to read. Like after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a5! OPPS! I meant to move the Pawn to "a6". Your opponent will look at you and say, ah "touch move!". Then he thinks your are a real FISH and will relax thinking he has "gotcha!". Then you play your best and play well. This isn't really sound chess, but it is fun chess, and I wouldn't really do that. But what about 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 h5! - OPPS! I meant to put my Bishop on "h5" not the "Pawn", can I take it back? Your opponent will say "touch move!" and then falls for the trap by greed, 6 hxg4? hxg4 7 Nxe5? (he just cannot stop feeding his army!) Qh4 8 g3 and checkmate cannot be stopped. I like this book, but give it four stars intead of 5 because it might give a beginner some bad ideas to play weak moves to try to trick your opponent instead of playing sound moves. I would also therefore suggest getting a book on "sound" opening traps like "Winning Chess Traps, Tactics in the Opening". Also, "Winning Chess Traps" is old but still good. Do I recommend "101 Chess Opening Surprises" - I do if you are getting it for fun first and understand that you shouldn't really use some of the ideas in it, but get some fun reading them.
Puts the fun back into playing the openings.......2005-10-05
I remember back to when I first began playing chess, and the excitment that came from springing a big opening surprise on an (equally) inexperienced opponent. To me this book recaptures the experience, and boy does it deliver the promised bombshells!
Each surprise is graded for soundness and surprise value. An example at the extreme end of the Soundness scale would be surprise 16, the Spanish Bulgarian Defense. The shock move 3...a5 is assigned a Soundness ranking of 1, but can you imagine the effect on your opponent? As Burgess says, the move has never been clearly refuted.
An example of a more main-stream idea is Surprise 71 in the Queen's Gambit, 7 e4. Burgess reminds us that this old pawn sacrifice has been resurrected with some dangerous new ideas. The Soundness ranking is 4, a tribute to the quality of players adopting it with white, including Sokolov and Gelfand.
As with the other 101 titles, it is pleasant to be able to browse at random. Great book.
By the book ?.......2005-04-14
He's (or she's) playing chess by the book'is very often a disdainful remark. But every chessplayer, sooner or later, wants to increase his knowledge of chess. He won't be able to do it on his own. He will need help, help from '101 Chess Opening Surprises', say. This book is very userfriendly. It has only 128 pages but the most important openings are discussed. The notation uses co-ordinates (the easiest way it seems to me) Moreover, on every page are three diagrams to illustrate the moves that are discussed. A must!
Opening traps and curiosities.......2003-08-25
This book is intended for light entertainment, not for instruction. I cannot see how anyone could benefit from more than 20% of the lines in here, because they are from various openings and sometimes require very cooperative play from the opponent.
Basically I saw this book as a collection of more or less amusing opening traps. If I play an opening, I usually buy a specialized book on it, and those books usually include all the lines that you find in this book, and tons more.
I read this book through in half an hour, and found little reason to return to it later. But it is not badly written. If your local library has it, why not borrow it for a train trip.
A condensed version of larger books........2002-02-11
Not enough variety to make it a general opening book (Winning Chess Openings by Yasser Seirawan), nor a book specifically focused on one repertoire (The King's Indian Attack by Eric Schilling). The Openings discussed are somewhat in random order and therefore there is no real focus. Though a good book, very instructive and well written, I would not consider it a necessity for players. If you want to cram on a few popular themes then this book will fit your needs. All levels can read this book, but intermediate players (1200-1600) may utilize this book best.
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Play 1e4 e5: A Complete Repertiore for Black in the Open Games (Everyman Chess)
Win with the London System
Dealing with d4 Deviations: Fighting The Trompowsky, Torre, Blackmar-Diemer, Stonewall, Colle and Other Problem Openings (Everyman Chess)
Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner To Master
Mastering the Chess Openings: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Modern Chess Openings, Volume 1
