Chess Opening Names - Volume 2: Even More Enthralling & Amazing History Behind The First Few Moves

by Nathan Rose

When we play chess, the first few moves define the game . You may know the names the Italian Game, the Cambridge Springs Defense, the Smith-Morra Gambit, the Max Lange Attack, the Colle System, the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, the Paulsen Variation, the Damiano Defense, and so on.

But most chess players don't know WHY the openings are called what they are.
In this entertaining book, bestselling author Nathan Rose lays out the origins of over more 50 chess openings and their names. This second volume of Chess Opening Names dives deeper into the history of the lesser-known openings, because the stories behind the lesser-known chess opening names are every bit as interesting as the better-known ones. 

The names of the chess openings tell the history of chess.
You will meet seminal chess figures such as Anatoly Karpov, Judit Polgár, Tigran Petrosian, Emanuel Lasker, Saviely Tartakower, José Raúl Capablanca, Mikhail Botvinnik, and Viktor Korchnoi. Some of them won their fame in the world chess championship, while some gained renown for reasons other than their ability to play chess.
You will also travel through the places and events that defined chess in the early years. As David Shenk showed in "The Immortal Game", the history of chess has often mirrored the history of society. There's the 1972 world chess championship that pitted the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky against America's irascible Bobby Fischer in the "Match of the Century". The 1939 chess olympiad in Argentina which coincided with the outbreak of World War II. The unveiling of the "Mechanical Turk" chess-playing contraption in 18th-century Vienna. And let's not forget the triumph of Deep Blue over Garry Kasparov.

Over 50 standard chess openings and variations.

The 19th Century &
Lucena Defense
Damiano Defense
Polerio Gambit
Salvio Gambit
Greco Gambit
Allgaier Gambit
Napoleon Opening
Cochrane Gambit
Lewis Countergambit
McDonnell Gambit
Bourdonnais Attack
Urusov Gambit
Horwitz Attack
Kieseritzky Gambit
Barnes Defense
Max Lange Attack
Paulsen Variation
Blackburne Shilling Gambit
Zukertort Opening
Lasker Variation
Pillsbury Attack The 20th Century &
Mieses Opening
Schlechter Defense
Janowski Variation
Spielmann Variation
Colle System
Sämisch Variation
Tartakower Attack
Capablanca Freeing Maneuver
Bogoljubov Defense
Euwe Variation
Trompowsky Attack
Blackmar-Diemer Gambit
Keres Attack
Botvinnik System
Bronstein Variation
Smyslov Variation
Tal Variation
Petrosian System
Taimanov Attack
Donner Variation
Spassky Variation
Smith-Morra Gambit
Sveshnikov Variation
Korchnoi Variation
Karpov Variation
Kasparov Variation
Polgár Variation The
Italian Game
Swiss Gambit
Yugoslav Variation
Russian Defense
Chinese Variation
Cambridge Springs Defense
Frankenstein-Dracula Variation
Impress your friends with superior opening knowledge - without the tedious study!
Knowing the history of chess will prove your cleverness even more effectively than winning over the board. Once you have read this book, you can speak of your temptation to play the Tal Variation, but instead play the Keres Attack. Then, you can explain the origins of the names to your opponent. Even if you lose the game, your opponent will still be impressed!

Enjoy this capitvating romp through the names of the first few moves.
Grandmasters and patzers alike are sure to enjoy this entertaining tour through the people, places, and events which have given their names to the first few moves.

Genres: Chess

248 pages, Paperback

First published March 9, 2021

About the author

Nathan Rose is a bestselling author of books about technology, creativity, and strategy.

Author of "Equity Crowdfunding", "Chess Opening Names" (Vol 1 + 2), "The Crypto Intro" and "Rewards Crowdfunding".

Currently working on "Citizens of the World" - an enquiry into stories and impact of the digital nomad movement.

SUBSCRIBE for updates, tools and free sample chapters.

✰ Website: www.nathanrose.me
✰ Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/author/nathanrose
✰ Goodreads Author Page: www.goodreads.com/author/show/7707546...
✰ LinkedIn Profile: www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhrose/

"To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." - Buckminster Fuller

Reviews

[Darcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be an excellent book without the opening chess moves! That is the joy of Nathan Rose. His insights and history of the players makes this volume a pleasure to indulge in. It is one thing to provide some insight into a player's life, but to find the quirks and idiosyncrasies, to milk a laugh or two, that is the trick here. His dry sense of humor along with his ability to seek out the relevant moments of a life in a few pages, that is what makes this book a joy to read!

Following from volume one, this is a collection of lesser known (Frankenstein and Dracula variation?) but equally entertaining opening moves that are discussed. The author mentions at the beginning that lots of admirers of his first book wrote in to say, "What about ...?" Volume two addresses this. We get some terrific ideas and some flubs but it is how they came about that provides the grist here. One important fact that he discusses is that almost every opening move is named after a man! I was brought to this realization with a start as this is yet another area where women were excluded for years. However, he does address a Hungarian family that set out to reverse this trend and I must say, that anecdote was perhaps my favorite entry.

This was a worthy follow on to the first book and I enjoyed it greatly. I only hope that Mr. Rose will continue with more in the same vein. Perhaps discussing some great matches or even some of the great names in the game. I would buy it.

[James Weakley · Rating 5 out of 5]

History and strategy

The second volume in this series of books continues to pair strategy with great history of chess events, people, and philosophy.