Product Description
A major new title from Gambit Publications Ltd. For most chess-players, opening study is sheer hard work. It is hard to know what is important and what is not, and when specific knowledge is vital, or when a more general understanding is sufficient. Tragically often, once the opening is over, a player wont know what plan to follow, or even understand why his pieces are on the squares on which they sit. With this book John Watson seeks to help chess-players achieve a more holistic and insightful view of the openings. In his previous books on chess strategy, he explained vital concepts that had previously been the domain only of top-class players, and did so in ways that have enabled them to enter the general chess consciousness of club players. Here he does likewise for the openings, explaining how flexible thinking and notions such as rule-independence can apply to the opening. Watson presents a wide-ranging view of the way in which top-class players really handle the opening, rather than an idealized and simplified model. This is a book that will make chess-players think hard about how they begin their games, while offering both entertainment and challenging material for study.
Customer Reviews:
Not really mastering the openings.......2007-09-12
John Watson seems to have quite a cult following, and to a point I agree he is unique and insightful. One must appreciate an author who gives their opinion and deep research - that is why you pay for the book. However, I believe the title misses the point, and a couple of openings.
A book that covers the Giuoco Piano, Ruy Lopez, Two Knights Defense, Philidor bypasses the Scotch and Petrov. My database gives the Petrov as the second most common response after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3, and Scotch as the third most common after 2. ...Nc6. Heck, even the King's Gambit gets seven pages.
This is a good book, with tons of insights into the openings and positions covered, as well as a long overview of the goals of the opening and positional considerations. However, it has several large gaps, and can't be used as an openings reference by itself.
Outstanding book.......2007-07-05
The author explains several opening lines from a strategic point of view, and not only by giving variants. This book is both useful and entertaining.
Great Opening Primer.......2007-07-03
If you're a club player looking for a good starting point to actually understand the ideas behind the e4 openings, this is it. It may not go as deep as the standards like the Batsford/Modern/Nunn's Chess Opening manuals, but it's really not meant to. While there's a place for the more technical manuals listed above, they can be overwhelming to a club player. Watson goes out of makes the openings approachable & understandable, as well as giving some additional ideas you can expand on by yourself.
After you've read this and vol 2 of the series (about d4 openings), you should be able to learn enough to get a feel for openings that fit your style and expand your collection into specific opening guides if you feel you need to.
Highly recommended.
Book Title Tells All.......2007-05-30
Another great work by one of the best chess authors in the business. For selfish reasons I wish he could have tackled more variations and more games, but, hey, I understand the Mr. Watson has other books to write. The book definitely gives a great understanding in words and analysis of modern approaches by some of the most novel thinkers in the game today concerning popular openings. Can't wait for Volume II!
BEST OPENINGS BOOK EVER!.......2007-05-11
I am only an amateur chess player, but this book helped me more than any other that I've ever read. The basic ideas in the first three chapters made it easy to advance to the instructive and well-written chapters that follow. Instead of these books with rows and rows of moves I found one clear explanation after another. Yet the author also gives plenty of solid variations to build a repertoire around. It's the best of both worlds. You'll love this book!
Book Description
Between 1972 and 1975 alone, progress in the field of opening theory was more significant than in the entire preceding decade! Under the influence of Fischer, who imparted a great impetus to the development of the game, chess was radically regenerated. This process, with increasing acceleration, also continued in later years. As a result, the overall picture in the openings changed almost beyond recognition.
By studying this fascinating book, the reader will certainly learn a great deal, discover things that are unexpected, and see how rapidly and inexorably chess development approached the computer era.
*By the most famous chessplayer of all time
*Part 1 of the Modern Chess Series, follow-up to My Great Predecessors
Customer Reviews:
good book for the serious chess player.......2007-06-22
This book will probably be of most value to serious or aspiring chess players. Kasparov provides an interesting account of advances in chess theory in the 1970s, with a section in which he asked for the opinions of other leading grandmasters whose comments are also enlightening. A book that probably anyone seriously interested in chess and its history will find of interest and value.
Good book, great subject, poor chess proofreading.......2007-06-21
While I enjoy the material covered in this book as much as I have Kasparovs "My Great Predecessor" series', and the GM interviews at the end are delightful, there's numerous errors in the games throughout the book. For instance the Caro-Kann section lists games as starting out as a French (1.e4 e6), and while it's technically possible to transpose into the CK from the French these don't. The errors occur just often enough to be frustrating.
However it's still a great look back through time at the players and theory that shaped the modern game.
Kasparov is best when writing and playing on chess!!!.......2007-04-30
As Igor Stohl aptly commented, Kasparov is doing best on chessboard. Kasparov is arrogrant, that is a fact and sometimes not very cautious in commenting other chess players. But on chessboard and on writing chess, he is in his elements. This reminds me of Bobby Fischer, the behaviour is even more bezairre than Kasparov, but take a look in his " My 60 memborable games ", it seems to be a different person where the comment is candid and impartial. Kasparov also seems now be more rational.
( may be he has retired now???)
Revolutions in the 70's.......2007-04-24
Very inciteful look into the openings played by many grandmasters in the 70's and through today. Gary Kasparov guides you as if personally telling you about systems with exciting games played in them. It reminds me of New In Chess Surveys, but covering the most popular and often played openings explored by the masters. Although sealed in plastic from the publisher I was pleased with the content.
Customer Reviews:
Most Excellent Work!!.......2007-07-20
First, I must confess that I have only read the chapters on the Queen's Gambit Declined and the King's Indian Defense.
Queen's Gambit Declined chapter
He gives detailed descriptions of the major themes of both the classical and exchange variations. I especially liked his discussion of the Tartakower Defense. I found his discussion of move orders to be quite interesting, subtle and useful.
I should mention that the section, "Declining the Gambit; Other Second Moves", provides important information about the Marshall Defense, Baltic Defense, Albin Counter Gambit and Tchigorin Defense. In my view, the entire Queen's Gambit chapter is a "must read" for anyone who plays this opening or for all players who really wants to deepen their chess knowledge.
King's Indian Defense chapter
I have played the Strongpoint Variation (page 208) for many years but was not aware of many of the themes in this line. Watson's clearly describes various strategies that Black has used against 8.Be3, 8.Re1, and 8.d5. Again, a "must read" in my opinion.
To conclude, as always, Watson has a wonderful knack for describing specific strategies of openings and their variations while also providing interesting example games that illustrate these strategies.
Masterful.......2007-07-20
Well, I followed my own advice and got this book, even though I haven't
played 1.d4 in about 20 years. I wasn't disappointed. Just as in
Volume 1, this book is full of good practical knowledge and deep
insights, tying the 1.d4 openings to fundamental principles, and to
important concrete ideas. Through the theme of "cross-pollination,"
we can see the give and take between different opening systems. As
always with Watson, it is also beautifully written and a pleasure to
read. This book helps me to prepare lessons for my students, and who
knows, maybe I'll dust off that Queen's Gambit sometime.
Finally!.......2007-07-18
This is the book I've been waiting for. The usual approach to chess openings is to memorize piles and piles of endless variations, and hope to outbook your opponent. But we all realize how futile and unsatifsying that really is. Finally we have a book here that truly explains the ideas behind the moves. It also explains why certain moves are not played. It connects different openings to each other, so that you know what to do when your opponent inevitably veers away from theory. And furthermore, it helps you to handle tricky move-orders, which were always confusing to me before. With this book and his Strategy books, I think I'm starting to understand chess.
Book Description
The Caro-Kann is a reliable yet at the same time dynamic answer to White’s most popular opening move, 1 e4. It has the seal of approval of numerous leading Grandmasters including Vishy Anand, Evgeny Bareev and Alexey Dreev, as well as former World Champion Anatoly Karpov, who has utilized it with great success throughout his illustrious career. One of the attractions of the Caro-Kann is that it suits a variety of different styles; it can lead to wild tactical battles as well as quiet, positional play.
In Play the Caro-Kann, Jovanka Houska presents the reader with a concise and trustworthy repertoire within the opening, providing a solution against all of White’s main possibilities. Houska examines the important tactical and strategic plans for both sides, arming the reader with enough information to begin playing the Caro-Kann with confidence in his or her own games.
*A complete repertoire against 1 e4
*Written by a Caro-Kann expert
*Ideal for improvers, and club and tournament players
Customer Reviews:
A workable repertoire against 1.e4.......2007-07-09
Houskas aim with this work is to give solid and active lines against the major white alternatives. Not all of his reccomendations will be to everyones liking. For instance he reccomends the Botvinnik-Karls Gambit against the Advanced Variation (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5!?) where Black loses a tempo, but insists that White will have to work hard to achieve a playable game. His other reccomendations (classical,pannov-attack,exchange) are more "mainstream" but will offer ways to deviate and steer the game into lesser-known channels within the variation.
Each chapter is setup very nicely with a discussion of general ideas (ie: aims at which both sides would like to accomplish and the moves that will support each of these aims and moves that might nullify them). He also will bring up any sacrifices that both sides should be aware of in certain variations. Then he will dive into theory and will take time to explain the rationale behind key moves.
Overall, the book is a fine resource on the Caro-Kann. If one is looking for a playable repertoire all in one volume, you can find it right here. But this book is equally useful for players that have certain preference on variations "within" the Caro-Kann, and are looking for original ways to reply to a line that might be causing trouble in over-the-board play.
Excellent book .......2007-05-10
Great Caro-Kann book....followed the author's games in the recent European Cup in Dresden 2007.....Explains why he likes/dislikes certain moves is the diff variations...
Book Description
The Philidor is a dynamic and underrated answer to White’s most popular opening move, 1 e4. Christian Bauer, himself a renowned Philidor expert, uncovers the secrets behind this intriguing opening. Using his own experience and other top-class Philidor games, Bauer identifies both the critical main lines and the tricky sidelines. He also examines the key tactical and strategic ideas for both White and Black, while highlighting crucial issues such as move-order options – a major weapon for the modern Grandmaster.
Book Description
This major new work surveys all chess openings, providing a guide to every critical main line and featuring descriptions of the typical strategies for both sides. These commentaries will be welcomed by all club and tournament players, as they will help them to handle the middlegame positions arising from each opening better, and will equip them to find the best continuation when their opponents deviate from the standard paths.
Covers all chess openings, with verbal explanations of the ideas. This is the first book of the modern era to do this.
Customer Reviews:
Exceeded my expectations!.......2007-04-23
This book is very well organized. I am very pleased with it. By playing several of the openings in the book I have found myself (finally) able to defeat the computer at chess at levels where I couldn't do so before. I have also learned which openings are to be avoided as well, that way I don't have to spend time memorizing all of them. But it is still important to understand why some openings aren't good.
GREAT concise book that covers a lot of territory...........2007-01-18
There are many different openings books which focus on different aspects of opening play. This book is like a survey of the territory and covers the most likely openings to come up and the many variations of each. What I most like about it is that it is logically organized, well-written and easy to follow. It includes commentary, but the commentary is not comprehensive. This good or bad depending upon what you are looking for in a book on openings. In short, the text gets to the point with respect to the major tactical advantages and disadvantages of particular openings. However, it doesn't cover any of them in great depth.
I like this book because it doesn't repeat a lot of the ground covered in other books. It is a small volume at less than 225 pages of many different openings and the MOST important points about each. This makes it a great reference book to get one started with a particular opening. However, you need something with more depth to go along with it.
I am sometimes "turned off" by chess books which are 1,000 pages with very little text or diagrams. This is a bias that I have and learning anything sometimes seems overwhelming. This book strikes a nice balance between text, diagrams and presenting a series of moves. It makes the content more digestible and because of how its organized, easy to learn.
As far as I am concerned, this is a MUST own book for a serious chess player and particulary for someone transitioning from the beginner to advanced beginner or early stages of intermediate play. It uses modern notation and it is extremely well thought out with respect to layout. Both the author and the editor did an excellent job!
This book WILL help you to improve your opening play. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to any player and if you are turned off by poorly organized or cumbersome large volumes, you will like it even more.
BEST FIRST OPENING BOOK.......2006-07-29
If you have already read a comprehensive book to get your started on the basics of chess, you may well be interested in a variety of openings. You need to prepare an opening system to get get you going.
I have looked at all of the opening books out there (own over 500 chess books) and in my humble opinion (well maybe I am somewhat experienced as a chess teacher and tournament player) feel that there is no better book that covers the ideas behind the different openings. Certainly, this is not a reference book to look up all of the critical variations. But, if you are anyone ages 8 to 108 and want a "general assessment" of what you will get into with each opening this book is perfect.
[...]
A neat aspect of this book is that is does an excellent job of explaining the ideas and has enough lines to make it a more than worthwhile purchase!
A survey of the openings, easy-to-read but is it ultimately useful?.......2006-04-10
Opening books tend to fall into categories: "Find a move" encyclopedias like MCO and NCO; "Learn a particular opening" books which go deep in the Accelerated Dragon or King's Indian; and repetoires, which suggest a group of openings for your play. "Understanding the Chess Openings" is something else...a primer to all the openings, something which Collins in his introduction admits has fallen out of favor.
Yes, in 224 well-written, often entertaining pages ("Once thought to be merely dull and unambitious, the Petroff is now known to be dull, unambitious and a real pain in the neck for White"), Collins covers a huge number of openings, including not only the current standards, but the oldies, the non-standard, the surprises and the bizarre (Grob/Basman). Thus this book might be categorized as "Find an opening" or "Find a repetoire" or "What the heck was that?"
The downside of course is that the coverage of each opening is too brief to be useful. Clearly it is impossible to learn Alekhine's Defense in a page and a half. Very few variations are shown, which makes the book less dense and more approachable, but reduces the chance you will see the lines described "in the wild", especially since Collins admits he chooses sometimes idiosyncratic variations.
This is the first book I reach for when a completely unfamiliar opening comes up. It is easy to read, even when I'm tired (how many opening books can you say that about). Especially valuable is the coverage of the obscure openings. However, ultimately the coverage is too limited for more than the most cursory overview of the openings.
Unique and worthwhile.......2006-02-03
Note: This review first published in the Irish Chess Journal, August 2005
Following the success of his first book, An Attacking Repertoire for White, an extract of which was published in the last issue of the ICJ, former Irish Champion IM Sam Collins has written his second book, titled Understanding the Chess Openings.
I have to admit that I didn't quite know what to expect from this before I read it. It's not the kind of chess book that gets written any more, having been squeezed out of favour first by databases on dead trees - the likes of MCO and BCO, and later by their software counterparts. The proliferation of modern opening theory seemed to have killed the opening primer off. The thing is, even now, a database is not a friendly tool for the weak to average club player. A high success rate in a particular line against the Grünfeld in my million-move monster doesn't really tell me much. Even if the line hasn't been found wanting after some super-GM decided he'd really like his knight on h8 and won a game or two, statistics, and to some extent, raw game scores don't explain how the strategic complexities of the line work. As such, I'm rather pleased to see this book appear.
Sam has really tried to be comprehensive - he's got pages on such off-beat openings as the Grob (1 g4?! - the Basman in Sam's terminology), the Black Knight's tango (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 Nc6!?) and even a little sideline called the Sicilian. That's come at a price. There's only so much room, and devoting pages to the sidelines means that the well-trod paths get less attention than they might have. The Sicilian Dragon, for example, which Sam rightly describes as, "A truly critical test to the viability of 1 e4," receives a mere three pages, which seems almost criminal when compared with the half page of white paper under his assessment of Bird's Opening (1 f4).
That said, Sam seems to have mostly done his homework. The main line he gives for each line seems to be the critical test, especially for the slightly offbeat ones. Or, at least that's true for those parts of the book where my own theory goes as far as the book's (no, not just the copyright notice!). Particularly notable to me was the line he gave against the Blackmar-Diemar Gambit, which he seems to have a personal hatred for, 1 d4 d5 2 e4 de 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 f3 ef 5 Nxf3 Bg4 6 Bc4 e6 7 0-0 c6 "And, after ...Be7, ...Nbd7 and ...0-0, where did the pawn go?" This seems spot on and it illustrates the usefulness of the book for its target readership (I guess 1200 - 1900 at least, probably a little wider). Having played against the BDG just once so far in my competitive career (for lack of a better word!), I hadn't a clue what to play against it, but here is a line which will, should I meet it again, let me avoid all of the complicated mire that opening often drags the unwary into.
Judging his choices for the mainstream openings is a bit harder for me, as my own repertoire choices tend to be a little offbeat. However, I do note a couple of places where Sam has ignored (or been unaware of) a significant main line. For instance, in the French Advance, he mentions 6 ...c4 in passing, but doesn't elaborate. By way of contrast, Gary Lane, in his book on that opening, devotes 40 pages - the longest chapter, to that line. In the Modern Benoni too, Sam gives the Taimanov as the critical line, which is fair enough, but then totally ignores John Watson's entirely critical 9...Qh4+.
Those criticisms are perhaps a little harsh and are certainly nowhere near as important as they might sound, as the intention of the coverage of each opening is more to give a flavour of how it works, combined with pointers in the right direction if you want to explore one further. Certainly, you'd be mad to try playing something like the Modern Benoni having read just two and a half pages on it. That said, the coverage of some openings is really excellent. The four and a bit pages on the Guioco Piano encapsulate the opening like nothing else I've read, including a page and a half on the Evan's Gambit (including a key novelty from Grischuck which I hadn't seen before), an odd but lively and useful possibility in a very normal opening which many readers mightn't otherwise have known existed.
Before I wrap up, a note on the structure of the book. Sam organises the openings into Open, Semi-Open, Queen's Gambit, Indian Defences and Flank Openings. At the start of some sections, and several openings, he discusses some themes common in the positions arising from the opening(s) in question. While I would have liked to see more of this sort of thing, what of it is present is well-written and useful, while his notes to the lines as they arrive expand very well on the themes and plans in the positions. The next time I'm looking for something different, I'll open Understanding the Chess Openings, because it is a source of information unlike anything else I have. I've read people criticising books of this sort on the grounds that any strong club player can explain most of this stuff to you, but that argument doesn't hold any weight with me. I don't have a tame IM at home waiting to explain what on earth is going on in the Semi-Slav! I have no reservations recommending it for average to above-average club players as a reference book you'll keep dipping into, and to weaker players as a good general opening guide.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent One-volume Openings Guide.......2007-05-17
In my opinion, Nunn's Chess Openings is every bit as good as Modern Chess Openings-14, which I also own. NCO is denser and has more lines, but MCO-14 is slightly easier to use. Both books compliment each other. It is very interesting to note how each book often differs in their evaluations of identical lines. If you're an intermediate player or stronger, I recommend getting BOTH!
Pure Garbage Opennings.......2007-03-20
I am an amateur, but even though i can tell you this books is pure trash.
Here is a very small first pages sample of how bad this thing is.
The english openning is a well know White Openning, in which white plays
C4 rather than the usual D4 or E4 to fight for the center right from the start it is like a Sicilian for white. Black can reply with a variety such as F6 after which white can logicaly play D4, this stupid worthless books tells you to play NC3 which blacks counter attacks very strongly with D5..... so take a look and follow this books recomendation and you will certanly loose.......what a piece of garbage..........i play a lot against my CM 2000 i like computers better cause they TACTICALLy sound and you have to be VERY tough to at least DRAW which I have, this books is as worthless as a hoarse dropping on your shelf.........
I have drawn with CM 200 using the LOGICAL
C4 .. NF6
D4 .. E6
NC3......
etc....
Good reference on the openings.......2006-07-14
There are basically two popular 1 volume opening reference books, "Nunn's Chess Openings" and "Modern Chess Openings". I have heard many opinions as to which is better. I personally think that each has their individual strong points as to accuracy (I like Nunn better) and better coverage of more of the major openings (I like MCO better). So my advice? Get both and have the best of two worlds. If you are a beginner, or in search of that perfect opening to suit your style then you need a book that covers the ideas behind the openings and should book looking at books that cover that, such as "Understanding the Chess Openings" or a good opening trap book. You want to know the ideas behind the openings and not to just memorize lines.
More complete than MCO.......2006-06-08
This one volume openings book is more complete than MCO - 14, since it has smaller font and packs more information into the pages.
Requires work on your part in order to be useful.......2004-07-14
The general sentiment that I've read about this book is correct: there is little in the way of explicit explanations as to which line is better. What this means is that you will not be spoon-fed reasons why a given line is better for white or black; you'll have to do the legwork yourself through an analysis of the position.
Frankly, I wouldn't have it any other way. People often complain that many books don't give "the ideas" behind openings, but the truth is that there are so many ideas that the truth of a position can't be summed up with a one-liner like "White is better because of his active bishops". It's only though analysis of typical positions that arise from your favorite openings that you will understand the complexities that arise from said openings.
Before buying this book, I recommend playing until you consider yourself to be at an intermediate level in the fields of tactics, analysis and strategy before buying this book.
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
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 Black, Explained covers the game from the black side. The authors thoroughly ground you in the grandmaster-openings of modern chess, teaching you the opening that scores highest against 1. e4 on a master level. Fully illustrated with two-color chess diagrams throughout.
Customer Reviews:
Chess Openings for Black, Explained.......2007-09-03
Excellent explanations of various black openings.
Very instructional....Good reference
Really useful.......2007-06-09
Useful for players of all the levels. A powerfull and complete repertoire for black. Typical positions, key ideas. Very good designed by Jami Anson and also it is possible to read without a board. A five stars book!!
Benchmark Repetoire Book.......2007-01-10
This is a repetoire book, not a games collection, not a treatise. From a repetoire book I want to know what to play in each situation and what kind themes arize when I do. And this one does just that: it is an excellent repetoire book. Mine is already tattered. I use this book a LOT. I buy other books to complement this one.
What makes it good is the presentation: lots of diagrams, good summaries, good "quick review" pages. Each chapter has its own outline of variation with page numbers to lines. These are slightly abbreviated and are awesome for quick reference and self-testing.
When you evaluate the choice of lines, you'll always find a few places you disagree. Since this is somewhat inevitable, I don't think it's fair. A repetoire author MUST advocate something and making choices means some people feel their pet line is excluded. You buy this kind of book because you WANT this. These authors deliver.
And mostly, they have a consistent criteria for why they chose the lines they did. They want to prepare you comprehensively, so you have a something to play against anything that's thrown at you. This means covering the anti-sicilians and all the d4 deviations. They do. They also insist that the lines be technically sound. Mostly they succeed, but I'm a little suspect on their response to the Alapin. They also, generally, want lines that lead to middlegames with clear themes, and best of all, these themes are often similar across divergent openings. There's lots of cross polination here. Finally, the usually want openings with compact theory, which is good for club players.
There are a few flaws relative to the above criteria, but in a work this ambitious, it's inevitable. I thought the Nimzo as the main defense to d4 is reasonable, but it's breaks their "compact" rule since there are nine (!) different plans for white on move four. And as I said, the way they respond to the Alapin, delayed Alapin, or Smith-Morra leaves me a little uneasy. There also some dumb chapters on the history of e4 and the history of closed openings. Useless filler. The chapter on illustrative games has 13 games. Why bother? It's clear you need to supplement this book with games based opening books, so don't give me a token gesture, admit it and recommend some books.
Overall, quite an impressive undertaking. This is surely the benchmark to compare repetoire books against. I'd be very happy to see copy-cats adopting the basic format and presentation, but putting their own spin on what they advocate.
Openings for White is better........2006-09-17
I bought both this and the repertoire for white book, which I reviewed with 4 stars. This one I feel a bit sceptical about. Basically I have found i don't really like playing the Bogo or Nimzo Indian, which is a big chunk of the book, since it is the response to all d4 openings. The positions resulting from these openings are completely foreign to me and seem like they are taking too long to adjust to. Other opening reccomendations seem good though! The accelerated dragon is generally reccomended all around, and it is covered quite thoroughly here. But you can take what you want and ignore the rest.
Some good analysis and opening suggestions for Playing Black.......2006-09-02
Personally, I take most chess books that offer a suggested opening system with a grain of salt. They tend to be biased in favor of what they suggest. But this book is one of the best I have seen that doesn't become overly biased to to point of recommending moves that are less than sound.
I really like the idea of using the NimzoIndian Defense agaist 1.d4 with 1..Nf6 2.c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4. It is an active way of playing against d pawn openings. The lines suggested against 1.e4 using the Sicilian with 1..c5 is not to my taste. So you as well as I may pick and choose what we like. To go along with this book I suggest getting "Understanding the chess openings" by Collins for a good general servay and a good book on chess traps (to learn not only traps in the openings but the tactics that go along with type of opening you choose).
This along with this author's same book on playing White are well done.
Book Description
Why is
Modern Chess Openings called "the chessplayer's bible"? Because since it was first published over a half-century ago, it has been one of the most trusted books in the chess world. Because it is the world's most current and comprehensive one-volume reference work on the chess openings. And because it has been completely revised to reflect the changes and advances made in chess over the past eight years, including major tournament matches and published theoretical works.
Customer Reviews:
The book suits intermediate players and upwards though beginners will benefit.......2007-05-08
As you can expect, the sections on popular openings such as the Sicilian and Ruy Lopez are large because these openings are extensively studied. Meanwhile, irregular openings receive small coverage. If you would like to prepare yourselves for a tournament, you need another book that covers a specific opening in depth. In conclusion, I think MCO is good for a survey of openings and give you important variations in a given opening. Apart from the desire to explore the openings universe, I bought this book to prepare for tournaments. To give an example, before reading MCO I played the Sicilian counterattack as Black (with e6 and Bb4 pinning white N on c3). The author says this line contain some tactical points for Black but is bad if White knows what to do. After many games of this line as Black, I agree with him. You can use this book to evaluate whether your chosen variations are strong enough in competitive play. In conclusion, I think MCO serve its purpose as a comprehensive one volume reference work, a book that can give you a lead to some openings or some variations which you have not played or discovered before. For example, over my more than 20 years of playing chess, I just discovered that the Latvian Gambit (1.e4 e5 2 Nf3 f5) is not only playable but often leads to a very exciting game. The opening should receive more attention.
My experience tells me the other side of openings which perhaps no book has ever touched upon it. Many players I played with avoid playing along any line of opening especially among casual games. These out-of-the-book openings may not look strong but some are quite hard to refute. The difference is that 'book' openings often involves pawn push to the fourth rank (1e4 1d4 1c4 1f4 for white and the fifth rank for black. One player who is lower rating than me played 1.f3 and with some elaborate system after that: he developed KN on h3 and then f2. At first I think his opening system was bad but I found it hard to crack his position (actually I lost the game). Therefore, despite many centuries of opening studies, this unexplored side of the openings at least is better than it looks. Among the less played openings (e.g. 1.b4), many are better than its reputation. So I think a book like MCO is not complete without this coverage, though this kind of openings is hard to classify and analyze as the established ones.
Over-rated and Outdated.......2007-04-18
A good book if you want a lot of superficial variations and lines to play that have a good chance of being outdated or maybe even busted. 30 or 40 years ago, during this books halcyon days, this type of compendium info was a blessing, but with the advent of on-line databases and PC databases, this book has become a dinosaur and is destined to become somebody's doorstop on a blustery day.
The book's real value may be only for stronger players (2200+) to see what outdated and recommended (but now busted) lines some unlucky sap will play into so as to be led nose-first into the slaughter-room.
Great One Volume Reference Book on the Openings.......2006-06-16
Every series chess player should have at least one good reference book covering the openings. "Modern Chess Openings" goes through regular new editions to keep it updated.
You will not find the ideas behind the moves explained (for that get "Winning Chess Traps" or "Understanding the Openings" along with this book), but the important lines and a general idea of who stands better at the end of each line is given.
I have not seen a more complete and accurate one volume opening reference book than this one. Definately recommended.
Nice book to look up the major opening lines.......2006-06-15
Modern Chess Openings does a good job of giving you a general idea of the most important lines in all of the major openings. It will not teach you the ideas behind the openings (get Understanding the Openings or Winning Chess Traps to learn ideas and tactics in the openings) but it will give you a general idea of what is considered to be up to date theory.
I don't know of a better single volume book to be used as a reference on openings. So as far as I am concerned, and want to express my opinion here, this is a good book for a dedicated chess player to get.
The Chess Openings Bible.......2006-03-01
This is pretty much the quintessential reference guide for chess openings - it has been called the chess "bible" by many players. Any serious chess player needs a good openings reference book in their library for reference purposes. But remember this book is an overview of EVERY opening so it doesn't spend too much time on each opening for that you need to buy individual books on individual openings. But this book starts each chapter/opening with a brief overview of the opening, it's history, the main ideas of the opening and the sub-variations. Then it list columns of variations that you can memorize (good luck!) or play through to get a feel for the main ideas in the opening. And lets face it, if you make mistakes in the opening you will likely feel them the entire game so surviving the opening is important! I wouldn't bother with this book if you are rated below say 1500, it would be a waste of your study time.
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Mastering the Chess Openings: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Modern Chess Openings, Volume 2
Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner To Master
Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy
Chess Strategy in Action
Understanding Chess Tactics
