Beating Unusual Openings, Richard Palliser, Everyman Chess, 2007, 1857444299, 9781857444292, 223 pages. You may be happy with your main openings – sorted with the Sicilian and content with the King’s Indian – but are you afraid of the unknown? Do you fall to pieces if your opponent plays something strange in the opening? Here’s some good news... Beating Unusual Chess Openings is a godsend to those chess players fed up with struggling against all opening moves other than White’s main two: 1 e4 and 1 d4. From the respectable (English Opening, Réti and King’s Indian Attack) through to the offbeat (Nimzo-Larsen Attack, Bird’s Opening) and the totally bizarre (Orang-utan, Grob); everything Black needs to know about facing unusual openings is covered within these pages. Richard Palliser gets to grips with all of White’s possibilities, examining their strengths and weaknesses and in turn organizing a reliable and practical repertoire for Black. He discusses the key strategies, tactics and move-order tricks for both sides, arming the reader with enough know-how to face this assortment of chess openings with renewed confidence. *Everything you need to know about facing unusual openings *Written by an openings expert *Ideal for improvers, and club and tournament players .

Concise Chess Endings , Neil McDonald, Oct 1, 2002, , 288 pages. Confident about endgames? Even many experienced players would admit to a serious lack of knowledge in this department, and yet it’s in this section of the game where many ....

Easy Guide to the Bb5 Sicilian , Steffen Pedersen, Jul 1, 1999, , 128 pages. All players who open with 1 e4 need a good weapon against the Sicilian. The Open Sicilian demands a lifetime of study, while other systems tend to be positionally dubious or ....

Alekhine Alert! A Repertoire for Black Against 1 E4, Timothy Taylor, May 18, 2010, , 285 pages. Former US Open Champion Timothy Taylor takes a contemporary look at one of Black’s most ambitious counters to 1 e4, the Alekhine Defence. This is a sharp, creative opening in ....

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Dangerous Weapons: Anti-Sicilians Anti-Sicilians, , Richard Palliser, Peter Wells, May 1, 2009, , 285 pages. Prominent opening specialists take a revolutionary look at a popular group of openings – the Anti-Sicilians – and select a wealth of 'dangerous' options for both Black and White..

Play the King's Indian A Complete Repertoire for Black in This Most Dynamic of Openings, Joe Gallagher, Nov 1, 2004, , 208 pages. The King's Indian has always been one of the sharpest, most complex, and popular openings that Black can play; it still provides the setting for many encounters at the elite ....

The Bb5 Sicilian A Dynamic and Hypermodern Opening System for Black, Richard Palliser, Oct 1, 2005, , 208 pages. The Bb5 Sicilian is a logical and practical weapon against Black''s most popular defence to 1 e4 and is an excellent choice for White players who are fed up of constantly .... The Attacking Manual, Volume 1 Basic Principles, Jacob Aagaard, May 30, 2008, , 264 pages. Volume I deals with bringing all the pieces into action, momentum, color schemes, numbers to seize, weakest and strongest points, evolution/revolution..

The Benoni and Benko Dazzle Your Opponents!, Richard Palliser, John Emms, Chris Ward, , Aug 21, 2008, , 270 pages. Four opening experts take a revolutionary look at the Benoni and the Benko. They concentrate on fresh or little-explored variations, selecting a wealth of вЂdangerous’ options ....

Bird's Opening Detailed Coverage Of An Underrated And Dynamic Choice For White, Timothy Taylor, Dec 1, 2005, , 224 pages. Bird''s Opening is an underrated and dynamic choice for White that immediately directs the game into relatively unexplored territory, setting Black players early problems and ....

Simple Chess , , 2003, Games, 160 pages. Written by a Grand Master, this guide isolates basic elements and illustrates them through Master and Grand Master games, breaking down the mystique of strategy into easy-to ....

Dealing With D4 Deviations Fighting The Trompowsky, Torre, Blackmar-diemer, Stonewall, Colle And Other Problem Openings, John Cox, Dec 1, 2005, , 144 pages. This book fills an enormous void in chess literature. There are a countless number of players who are very happy to defend the black side of the Queen''s Gambit or play the ....

Pawn Sacrifice! Winning at Chess the Adventurous Way, Timothy Taylor, Jul 17, 2008, , 239 pages. It was the chess legend Philidor who wrote: 'The pawns are the soul of chess', and yet it is these modest infantrymen who are always the first to die for the cause. Pawn ....

Beating Unusual Chess Openings is a godsend to those chess players fed up with struggling against all opening moves other than White’s main two: 1 e4 and 1 d4. From the respectable (English Opening, Réti and King’s Indian Attack) through to the offbeat (Nimzo-Larsen Attack, Bird’s Opening) and the totally bizarre (Orang-utan, Grob); everything Black needs to know about facing unusual openings is covered within these pages. Richard Palliser gets to grips with all of White’s possibilities, examining their strengths and weaknesses and in turn organizing a reliable and practical repertoire for Black.

As most people should be aware Richard Palliser writes excellent chess books and this book is no exception. He covers all possible Black defences to all non-e4 and non-d4 openings. Three openings are covered in particular detail, as you might expect the English, Reti and Kings Indian Attack. In general, as Palliser states he concentrates on fairly solid lines for Black e.g. Symmetrical English. In most lines he does also include a secondary option to try and get White away from the types of positions he would be familar with. Pallisers coverage is to the usual high standard. For example, as he is aware that many English players use Kosten's excellent "Dynamic English" book, the lines Kosten recommends are examined in great detail. Similarly for the recent book on the Reti by Davies. Also, part of the problem for Black with the English/Reti openings are the many transpositional possibilities that arise. Palliser does a great job dealing with this. With the Reti he gives coverage for the three major black replies 1...c5, 1...d5 and 1...Nf6 carefully noting transpositions between the three and the symmetrical English. There is a lot of detailed analysis in this book but I still think Palliser has enough explaination of the typical plans and ideas in each line.

Under the "annoying" systems Birds, Nimzo-Larsen, Sokolsky, Grob, 1g3 and 1Nc3 are all given substantial coverage with both a solid line and a more tricky variation. Each chapter is excellent, giving you a detailed understanding of the opening. The 1Nc3 chapter is particularly interesting considering how new this system is. Again, any recent books on these openings have been checked by Palliser. In conclusion I would recommend this book to club/tournment players (with rating 1600 - 2000) to fill an important gap in your Black repertoire. The lines he recommends tend to be logical and precise. He doesn't offer a lot of speculative or "double-edged" responses, but often goes with the theoretical main line. This means this book will also be of value to those people who play "unusual" openings as white, since few strong authors produce books on these openings.

It's also worth noting that these openings (such as the King's Indian Attack) are very unusual for professional players but are actually rather common for lower-level club players (i.e. most of us). These lines are not at all obscure for the average player and this book is an excellent resource to prepare you to face such things with confidence.

Most important, however, is his cover of the English Opening (1.c4) which takes up about half of the book. In brief, his recommended defense has now become my personal choice, thanks to his lucid explanations and convincing analysis. In fact, I often play 1.c4 myself as white and I'm very glad I got this book since it helps me prepare to face it from the other side of the board. I honestly think it would be worth the price of the book just for this coverage alone.

But Palliser also presents several different defensive setups against 1.Nf3; depending on what the rest of your repertoire looks like (i.e 1...c5 would allow 2.e4!? and a Sicilian Defense). This is particularly valuable since many strong white players (i.e. master and above) have started using 1.Nf3 more often thanks to Khalifman's series on Kramnik.

I believe this is a must have for players under 2000. It will get you started on developing a repertoire for these openings. My opening rep has numerous holes in it and this helped me clear up in my mind what to do after 1)Nf3. I was constantly getting snookered into a QGD (I am a Benko player) after 1)Nf3 Nf6 2)d4 d5 3)c4. After whites first two moves I believed they were going to play a Colle or Zukertort but lately I have been seeing a lot of c4. A great starter book for players around 1600 or more casual players for these openings.

At the same time, this book requires quite a good level of opening knowledge and general chess ability to use. For example, after 1. c4 c5 (the recommended reply) 2. Nf3 Nc6 (the recommended reply), what if White plays 3. e3, blocking the rest of the recommended defense? The suggestion then is that Black should "probably" try 3 ... Nf6 4 d4 cxd4 5 exd4 d5, transposing to a Semi-Tarrasch or to a Panov-Botvinnik. And if you're not armed to defend those openings? You should be! Your options then are obviously to buy more books, or tough luck.

Beating Unusual Chess Openings: Dealing with the English, Reti, King's Indian Attack and other annoying systems isn't really everything you need in one place (other than your usual defense to 1. e4 and your usual defense to 1. d4), and it doesn't really aspire to be, even though it sounds from the title like it would. It needs to be looked on as a supplement to your own repertoire of defenses to "unusual" openings, which you need to have put together using your own judgement and information from other purchases. And whether Palliser's recommendations will mesh well with what you need to have put together yourself is a lucky dip.

Finally, I also like having one source for the theory on openings like 1.g4, 1.b3 and 1.f4 since (as I said) few quality writers discuss such lines and yet you really NEED to be prepared to face such things. Often a writer will dismiss these lines are inferior and doesn't treat them objectively or thoroughly. This can lead to disaster since more white players use these systems quite a lot and often have a substantial "home field advantage" in these lines. Other writer try to sell such openings for white, in which case they tend to gloss over the most critical defenses and instead focus on brilliant wins for white against weaker . You can't really blame them for publishing 'propaganda' for these openings since, hey...they got to sell the book somehow!

In a nutshell, this book is very impressive and is clearly one of the best opening books for black. I'd recommend John Cox's book on d4 Deviations to help you against 1.d4, I can recommend Marin's book on Beating the to help against 1.e5, and finally this book against basically everything else. I only hope my opponent's DON'T buy it. 31 books reviewed: Playing the Queen's Gambit - Lars Schandorff, Dangerous Weapons: Queen's Gambit - Richard Palliser, Glenn Flear & Chris Ward, Chess Explained: The Queen's Gambit Declined - James Rizzitano, Play the Queen's Gambit - Chris Ward; 175 pages, Starting Out: Queen's Gambit Declined - Neil McDonald, The Queen's Gambit Declined Exchange Variation - Nigel Davies, Chess Explained: The Main Line Slav - David Vigorito, Starting Out: The c3 Sicilian - John Emms; 207 pages, Chess Explained: the c3 Sicilian - Sam Collins, Sicilian Defence with 2 c3: Alapin Variation - Sergei Tiviakov, Dangerous Weapons: Anti-Sicilians - John Emms, Richard Palliser & Peter Wells, Kill KID 1 - Semko Semkov, Beat the KID - Jan Markos, Dangerous Weapons: The King's Indian - Glenn Flear, Richard Palliser & Yelena Dembo, Fighting the Anti-King's Indians - Yelena Dembo, The S?misch King's Indian Uncovered - Alexander Cherniaev & Eduard Prokuronov, The Classical King's Indian Uncovered - Krzsztof Panczyk & Jacek Ilczuk, Play 1 b3! The Nimzo-Larsen Attack - Ilya Odessky, 1.b4: Theory and Practice of the Sokolsky Opening - Jerzy Konikowski & Marek Sosynski, Play 1 b4! - Yury Lapshun & Nick Conticello, Beating Unusual Chess Openings - Richard Palliser, Dangerous Weapons: The Benoni and Benko - John Emms, Richard Palliser, Chris Ward and Gawain Jones, Chess Explained: The Gr?nfeld - Valentin Bogdanov, Play the Gr?nfeld - Yelena Dembo, My Best Games in the Gr?nfeld - Alexei Shirov DVD, Starting Out: The Accelerated Dragon - Andrew Greet, Scandinavian Defense: The Dynamic 3...Qd6 (2nd ed.) - Michael Melts, Dangerous Weapons: Flank Openings - Richard Palliser, Tony Kosten and James Vigus, How to Play against 1 e4 - Neil McDonald, A Strategic Opening Repertoire (second edition) - John Donaldson & Carsten Hansen and Bird's Opening - Timothy Taylor.

This column contains 31 reviews of opening books and DVDs (including some mini-reviews), which will supplement the 20 from the last column. That by no means covers all the opening works in the past two years, but it's all I have the energy for! As in the previous column, I will group some opening books and DVDs by subject, making some comparisons, and fill the rest of the column with descriptions of other books which I think the reader might be interested in. The books and DVDs that I've looked at in this and the last column are ones that I can recommend, even when I have mild criticisms. Therefore I can justifiably be accused of being too positive, and of neglecting my duty to criticise. But there are many worthy books out there that I won't get to write about at this time, and I'm moving away from openings for a while; so I've chosen not to use up space with books that I feel are of inferior quality. My advice is always to try to get a look at any product before you purchase it, perhaps at a bookstore, a friend's place, or a tournament bookseller's table; there are also samples on publishers' websites. Unfortunately, that's often not possible, so the next best thing is to assess your needs in terms of the subject matter, your own strength level, and your desire for completeness and technical depth as opposed to explanation and (possibly) readability. I've tried to supply some information and opinions about those matters below.

These are all main lines which have the benefit of being reliable, professional openings; they produce winning chances in most variations, regardless of whether White gains an objective advantage. Unfortunately, the average player would be overwhelmed by having to learn all of these systems, and because of their critical nature there's absolutely no substitute for loads of memorization. Thus, I'd recommend the main lines for masters and above, whereas lower-rated players can pick and choose one or two systems to flesh out an otherwise simpler repertoire. I certainly wouldn't recommend playing even a couple of these lines for White if they're to be mixed in with Variation versus the Grünfeld or the Classical Main Line of the King's Indian!

Schandorff covers all of the important variations very well. The analysis is naturally somewhat slanted towards White, but only in the fully acceptable sense of picking out exemplary lines which show how White can get an advantage; the idea is that these will be the most instructive, while most technical difficulties reside in the notes. I was wondering how the author would handle the variation with 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Be7 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Bf4 c6 6 e3 Bf5 7 g4 Be6 8 h4 Nd7 9 h5 Nh6 (Karpov), because I've never been able to find much against it, and in fact he is completely objective, showing how Black can achieve dynamically equal play; he could have simply quoted the most famous game in which White got the advantage and left it at that. To me, that shows that the author really cares about the true assessments of the variations he has chosen. Schandorff also uses more directly relevant verbal commentary than most of the other technical books from Quality Chess, constantly making instructive points about even 'small' moves. And excepting a few distinctly odd paragraphs and the occasional slip, his English is both readable and superior to what we've seen in many of the books by that company; it's not terribly important in an opening book, but for some reason their editing of non-English-speaking authors hasn't been a strong point.

Both books agree that 4...Bb7 5.axb5 Bxe4 6.Nc3 Bb7 7.Nf3 Nf6 8.Bxc4 e6 9.0-0 Be7 falls short of equality. Schandorff calls 10 Ne5 better for White, and Flear cites 2 games with 10.Qe2 , one of them Anand-Huebner, Dortmund 1997: 10...0-0 11.Rd1 Nd5 12.Ne5 c6 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Bd3 Bd6 15.Bf4 Qe7 16.Rdc1 with a large advantage. http://edufb.net/1473.pdf http://edufb.net/1216.pdf http://edufb.net/2402.pdf http://edufb.net/203.pdf http://edufb.net/2073.pdf http://edufb.net/1156.pdf http://edufb.net/309.pdf http://edufb.net/2787.pdf http://edufb.net/1661.pdf http://edufb.net/1525.pdf http://edufb.net/303.pdf http://edufb.net/1303.pdf http://edufb.net/1521.pdf http://edufb.net/1573.pdf http://edufb.net/1793.pdf