• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Beating Unusual Chess 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, RГ©ti 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 .... Practical chess openings , Reuben Fine, 1948, Games, 470 pages. Dangerous Weapons: Anti-Sicilians Anti-Sicilians, John Emms, 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, Gawain Jones, 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 , Michael Stean, 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.

Load more

  5

Copy Link