Chess Book Reviews on Openings
Duke of Brunswick reviews...
by Anatoly Karpov and Mikhail Podgaets, B.T. Batsford, London 2006. 284 pages. £15.99
This book is the second of a series dealing with the Caro-Kann opening. The first volume covered the Fantasy and Advance variations and gave the fullest coverage of any book to date on these lines of the Caro-Kann.
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The Chigorin Defence According to Morozevich
by Alexander Morozevich & Vladimir Barsky
(New in Chess, 2007)
Chigorin Defence 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 (fully revised English edition, Kania)
By Valeri Bronznik
Why should you play the Chigorin Defence to the queen's pawn opening (1 d4 d5 2 c4 Nc6)? Like its sister opening, the Verseov (1 d4 d5 2 Nc3) it drives the game into the territory which it's practitioner wants. Already on move two you will be calling the shots as Black in an opening which, even in this day and age, has received little attention. Why should you not play the Chigorin Defence? Well, apart from Chigorin over a hundred years ago, no great player has made it an important part of his repertoire. True, Colle played it in the 1920s (and was soundly defeated by Alekhine for his pains) and a number of Soviet players, notably Smyslov, used the Chigorin on occasion in the years after the war. But it never caught on.
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The Chess Advantage in Black and White
By Larry Kaufman
Opening repertoire books have become the staple diet of chess publishing houses. Typically, you will be told how to play a play a particular opening, what will cause your opponent the most difficulties and how to get the maximum results with the minimum effort. Armed with this knowledge you can expect to sweep away the hapless opposition in the next club match. But all too often, it doesn't happen this way.
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Transpo Tricks in Chess
by Andrew Soltis Paperback £15.99 June 2007
This is the first book about transpositional tricks in chess. Since Chess is so much a practical game this seems surprising when you look between the covers. What you find is a massive treasure trove of tricky transpositions in the openings and there really is something for everyone.
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How to meet e4 with e5!
Beating the Open Games by Mihail Marin, Quality Chess, Gothenburg 2007, 288 pages, £15.99. This volume is the first of two from the Mihai Marin , the Rumanian Grandmaster and much admired chess writer. They will gives a complete repertoire for Black after 1 e4 e5.
Play 1 e4 e5! by Nigel Davies, Everyman, London 2005, 192 pages, £14.99. Nigel Davies has been the author of a number of interesting books in recent years, his books on the Alekhine and Veresov are particularly worthy of mention. In my opinion, this one on the Open Games is his best. It is no less than a complete system for Black against 1 e4 in the space of one book.
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Play the Ruy Lopez
by Andrew Greet Everyma
You play 1 e4 and want to be a serious chess player? It's time to stop playing all those half-baked gambits, the Danish, King's and I don't know what else. You are going to have to learn the opening that every World Champion has played after 1 e4 - the Ruy Lopez.
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Caro-Kann Defence: Advance Variation and Gambit System
by Anatoly Karpov, B.T. Batsford, London 2007. 284 p.p. £15.99
Chapter One is an account of the 'Gambit' or 'Fantasy' variation against the Caro-Kann. This is an opening which has been played by Morozevich and Polgar with success. For people with little time to devote to chess, they need look no further than this enterprising and little explored line. Read Full Review ...