Mastering the Chess Openings Volume 1 - Watson

Product Code: 7143

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  • $29.95 USD
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Product Details

Understanding the Mysteries of the Modern Chess Openings. For many chess-players, opening study is sheer hard work. It is difficult to know what is important and what is not, and when specific knowledge is vital, or when a more general understanding is sufficient. Tragically often, once the opening is over, a player won't know what plan to follow, or even understand why his pieces are on the squares on which they sit. John Watson seeks to help chess-players achieve a more holistic and insightful view of the openings. In his previous books on chess strategy, Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy and Chess Strategy in Action, he explained vital concepts that had previously been the domain only of top-class players. Moreover, he did so in ways that have enabled them to enter the general chess consciousness of club players. Here he does likewise for the openings, explaining how flexible thinking and notions such as 'rule-independence' can apply to the opening.

In this major two-volume work, Watson presents a wide-ranging view of the way in which top-class players really handle the opening, rather than an idealized and simplified model. This volume, focusing on king's pawn openings, is a book that will make chess-players think hard about how they begin their games, while offering both entertainment and challenging material for study in openings such as the Sicilian and Ruy Lopez.

Author International Master John Watson is one of the world's most respected writers on chess. His groundbreaking four-volume work on the English firmly established his reputation in the 1980s, and he has produced a string of top-quality works since. In 1999, Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy, Watson's first book for Gambit, won the British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award and the United States Chess Federation Fred Cramer Award for Best Book. His former pupils include the 1997 World Junior Champion, Tal Shaked.

Specifications

  • 336 Pages
  • Paperback
  • Publisher: Gambit
  • Published: 2006
Reviews
  • "Put it on the Christmas list!" - John Lee Shaw, www.chessgateway.com
  • "A major release providing a powerful but easily read insight into modern opening theory. It may finally be time to ditch that old openings book and start to use this modern coverage of the openings and strategies behind them. Watson offers an opportunity to take your play to the next level. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED" - Michael Blake, www.bfcc-online.org.uk
  • "...seems to have what it takes to become another Watson classic!" - New-in-Chess, www.newinchess.com
  • "...promises to unlock the mysteries of modern opening play and as usual Watson is great in explaining the fundamentals and the basic ideas." - GM Lubomir Kavalek, Washington Post
  • "All openings are characterised by distinctive moves, but what Watson points out so cogently is that there are many inter-connecting ideas that apply to all these openings. The realisation of this fact by the average club player marks a tremendous leap forward in his understanding of the game. This, ultimately, is what the book is all about, and it should be high on the essential reading list of all aspiring players." - Alan Sutton, En Passant
  • "A book that is overloaded with a unbelievable amount of instructive text." - John Elburg, www.chessbooks.nl

Topic: Opening Manuals

Series: Gambit Publishing

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