Chess Opening Essentials: The Ideas & Plans Behind ALL Chess Openings, The Complete 1. e4

by Stefan Djuric, Dimitry Komarov, Claudio Pantaleoni

Most chess opening books are either too detailed or too shallow. Chess Opening Essentials has exactly the right balance and is an accessible primer and a reference book at the same time. It gives a flavor of how every opening works and points at the various middlegame plans that apply after the opening has ended. Chess Opening essentials helps beginners to develop a solid understanding of fundamental opening ideas, gives casual players the ability to choose the opening that suits their style and taste and is a tool for club players to test and review their opening repertoire as well as a reference book to which advanced players keep returning. The authors do not propagate forcing tactical variations to be memorized mechanically, but explain what you should actually be trying to achieve when playing the opening of your choice. They include the main alternative responses and give clear indications for further study.

Genres: Chess, Nonfiction

358 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2007

Reviews

[JStanz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This whole 4 book series is excellent. Depth and detail, simple and clear.

[Cormac Zoso · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first of a four-volume set where all the openings are covered. This first volume covers everything 1. e4, the second everything 1. d4, the third everything Indian Defences, and the 4th everything leftover, covering 1. c4 and 1. Nf3 with the remaining seldom-played openings at the GM level but ones you see at chess clubs and online so while they are usually categorized as lesser-played, for most of the people buying these books, they aren't that rare.

So covering all of the four in this first review is all that needs done. Each has everything you can pack into it about the various openings under that particular first move. Each opening is accompanied then by at least half a dozen excellent examples of GM play so you get what you need to start off and keep handy for reference. Additionally, there are plenty of excellent board diagrams not juts showing positions but arrows showing various choices of where the lines are going and goals being aimed at.

If there is one criticism I have is that they for some reason decided to use what I call the 'overkill-annoying-algebraic-notation' ... such as 1. e2-e4 or 2. Ng8-f6 ... there's no need for the first half of that notation since, in the case of the Knight's example, only the Knight on the g8 square can possibly reach the f6 square so it's completely unnecessary and frankly, imho, incorrect algebraic notation (these particular volumes use Figurine Algebraic Notation which is the easiest to read, again imho, except for the unnecessary listing of the piece's current square location. I don't know why some publishers/editors/whoever-is-in-charge-of-this-at-the-company insist on doing this. Algebraic Notation was finally and officially adopted as the standard chess notation to replace the old-fashioned Descriptive Notation which was 'long-winded'. Thus this type of Algebraic Notation defeats the purpose of the shortened and more accurate form most common over the last 40 years or so.

Other than that, if you're looking for a very nice gift for a young player, these four volumes would make a great addition to their burgeoning library. Plus they look great, very high-quality paperback assemblage, tightly glued spines that look like they will last through plenty of study, and no-gloss paper of better-than-normal quality. The set also looks darn nice together on the bookshelf.

[Timm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concise yet descriptive.. great examples and easy to understand. If you're a fan of e4 openings and looking to expand your defenses to counter e4 openings, this is a must have for your chess library. Am looking forward to volumes 2-4.