What do you think?
Rate this book
Mastering Opening Strategy
Study brings wisdom. Practice brings perfection
This is the eagerly awaited follow-up to Johan Hellsten’s acclaimed Mastering Chess Strategy. In this new book Hellsten focuses exclusively on opening play. He examines a wide variety of key subjects, including development, the centre, attack and defence, pawn breaks, typical mistakes and how to punish them, and opening preparation, providing the reader with a vital foundation in opening strategy. Just like his previous book Mastering Opening Strategy is a product of Hellsten’s many years’ work as a full-time chess teacher and is specifically designed as part of a structured training programme to improve strategic thinking. In addition to the many examples there’s an abundance of carefully selected exercise games which allow readers to monitor their progress and put into practice what they have just learned. Following such a course is an ideal way for players of all standards to improve. Although designed mainly for students, this book is also an excellent resource for chess teachers and trainers.
* An essential course in opening strategy
* Contains over 350 pages of Grandmaster advice
* Includes over 200 examples and exercise games
This is the eagerly awaited follow-up to Johan Hellsten’s acclaimed Mastering Chess Strategy. In this new book Hellsten focuses exclusively on opening play. He examines a wide variety of key subjects, including development, the centre, attack and defence, pawn breaks, typical mistakes and how to punish them, and opening preparation, providing the reader with a vital foundation in opening strategy. Just like his previous book Mastering Opening Strategy is a product of Hellsten’s many years’ work as a full-time chess teacher and is specifically designed as part of a structured training programme to improve strategic thinking. In addition to the many examples there’s an abundance of carefully selected exercise games which allow readers to monitor their progress and put into practice what they have just learned. Following such a course is an ideal way for players of all standards to improve. Although designed mainly for students, this book is also an excellent resource for chess teachers and trainers.
* An essential course in opening strategy
* Contains over 350 pages of Grandmaster advice
* Includes over 200 examples and exercise games
- GenresChess
992 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 7, 2012
33 people are currently reading
180 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 26, 2017
One of the first things a young chess player does is to start reading books on specific openings, in the hope of obtaining an advantage of sorts out of the opening. But many times all they do is memorize a few lines and then get lost in the middle game. Johan Hellsten's "Mastering Opening Strategy" is a brilliant book that guides the player through the nuances of Opening play so that the student is comfortable with playing an opening - any opening, as the book is devoted to Opening Theory and not specific openings. Though, it does include coverage of all of the main openings, though they are given as game examples and not addressed as a specific opening.
Each chapter is devoted to a series of annotated games with various openings. There is a great deal of verbal instruction included in the annotations and your knowledge of opening theory as a whole will increase greatly. And if that was all that there was to the book it would be a decent book, but in this case the thing that puts it "over the top" is the inclusion of a section at the end of each chapter of multiple games in which you are asked for the next move in the game and perhaps even what the follow up plan should be. This leads to an even greater understanding of the opening principles discussed throughout the previous chapter. It is a brilliant concept and it works wonderfully. My opening play has become more dynamic and I'm always on the lookout for my opponent playing a "lazy" opening move and then try to take advantage of it. This is a must read for players of all levels.
Each chapter is devoted to a series of annotated games with various openings. There is a great deal of verbal instruction included in the annotations and your knowledge of opening theory as a whole will increase greatly. And if that was all that there was to the book it would be a decent book, but in this case the thing that puts it "over the top" is the inclusion of a section at the end of each chapter of multiple games in which you are asked for the next move in the game and perhaps even what the follow up plan should be. This leads to an even greater understanding of the opening principles discussed throughout the previous chapter. It is a brilliant concept and it works wonderfully. My opening play has become more dynamic and I'm always on the lookout for my opponent playing a "lazy" opening move and then try to take advantage of it. This is a must read for players of all levels.
June 8, 2021
222 well annotated games by theme. Mostly complete games.
December 11, 2021
I second Serge's review 100%.
In my opinion, there is no better book on this topic. Hellsten focuses on a few principles only (development, central influence, etc.) but if you understand those you will play decent moves even if the position is unfamiliar to you.
The vast amount of material with good annotations covering all main openings, and the exercise sections at the end of each chapter leave nothing to be desired.
In my opinion, there is no better book on this topic. Hellsten focuses on a few principles only (development, central influence, etc.) but if you understand those you will play decent moves even if the position is unfamiliar to you.
The vast amount of material with good annotations covering all main openings, and the exercise sections at the end of each chapter leave nothing to be desired.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews