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Mastering the Chess Openings: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Modern Chess Openings, Volume 1 | 
 enlarge | Author: John Watson
Publisher: Gambit Publications
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $17.99
You Save: $11.96 (40%)
New (29) Used (7) from $17.77
Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 30206
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 10.1 x 6.8 x 1.1
ISBN: 1904600603
Dewey Decimal Number: 794
EAN: 9781904600602
ASIN: 1904600603
Publication Date: October 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 Average November 2, 2008
This is a book about the general ideas of different openings, not the detailed variations. But IMO that idea is not really practical because in different openings there are different lines that lead to different kinds of positions (although similiar, there are subtle differences that may change the character of the position quite a bit) the author is sometimes forced to pick out the more popular line and that results in quite a bit of stuff missing out even for general understanding for e4 is the biggest system in chess. The author does not seem to give fair chances to both sides; for example, when introducing the chigorin variation of the Ruy Lopez, the 2 games that he used all ended up with white winning! what is a reader supposed to learn from Black's perspective then? Well, his comments were that Black doesn't really have a chance if White plays patiently and slowly! This is just ridiculous comment on a well respected opening of Black. (Spanish Repertoire for Black, an excellent book on the Chigorin written by a GM in 2007, seems to be useless if one follows the author's comments since if the opponent just be patient Black is bound to lose.)
Also, for those players who wish to purchase to purchase this book to decide upon a repertoire, this book can't really help you with that since he just explains the ideas of the opening briefly, but rarely touches on the subject of what kind of player should play this, etc. I for one, did not find it helpful in determining my repertoire against e4.
 Very good chess openings book September 19, 2008
This is a must have book along with volume 2. It begins with fundamentals and goes into details carefully. Notation is clear and it is easy to read.
Something for everyone September 12, 2008
Watson has done another fantastic job with this addition to the chess world. I am rated 2100 and my son is 1400 yet I found there was much to be learned for both of us. I found the chapter on structure significance to be most enlightening. Of course anything in this book will be helpful for class B players and below, but there is enough breadth of information to allow even A players and above to gain more knowledge as well. I would have liked to have seen a chapter on the Scandanavian, but the explanations of similar structures with regards to other openings somewhat covers this. Watson does not skimp on providing the reader with basic ideas and plans, an important part of any book with regards to openings. Watson makes no claim as to knowing all the opening variations and their subsequent evaluations. He equips the reader with a basic and general understanding of the main plans and structures, and advises the reader to pick up "specialized" opening books for those openings that you are drawn to. 4 stars for leaving out a couple of basic e4 responses, otherwise its a perfect piece of literature...well thought out and well written.
 Difficult to follow August 1, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have two problems with this book, first, the author flies from one topic to another, sometimes in mid sentence. There are frequent digressions into tedium, such as "This is all theory, that is, published knowledge. The centre has been cleared out and there's no way to make a simple assessment. Only a lot of brainpower, computer analysis and correspondence chess can solve this sort of thing; in fact, only those things got chess researchers this far!" At one point the author gives a brief history of openings that would challenge an advanced player, but at other times he puts forward the most elementary concepts, such as the slight advantage of a bishop over a knight, or the importance of not developing the queen prematurely. The second problem is not with the author, but with the notational printing. The moves are not separated visually and white piece symbols are used to denote even black's moves. The experience is akin to reading James Joyce, and I gave up in frustration in the middle of the second chapter.
Good opening overview May 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This volume covers the KP openings.
Like Volume 2 it explains the concepts concerning pawn structure and piece placement, rather than give variations to memorize.
If you want to understand WHAT to do in an opening, rather than HOW to do it, these are the books for you.
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