Sicilian Kan

Rating:
Summary: A nice guide for white, but lacking in the black side
Review: I am disappointed by this book. A few months ago I got very excited about the Sicilian Kan openning and was dying to try it in competition, and was looking for a good book to guide me through the learning curve. With this book, I expected a lot considering the 5 stars that it has received in the previous two reviewers. However, from black's point of view, I believe John Emms book is severely lacking in content. It appears to me that the author is clearly more biased for the white pieces rather than the black's point of view, which is seen by the substantial analysis given from white's perspective. I am going to buy the Ali Mortazavi book on the Kan, hopefully it will give me a more balanced view on this new and dynamic openning. If you want to learn on how to beat the Kan openning, buy this book, but if you want to win with it, better save your money on something else.

Rating:
Summary: A thorough look at a flexible opening
Review: I enjoy playing small center Sicilian positions like the Scheveningen, but want to avoid the Keres Attack. Unlike Kasparov, however, I am unwilling to devote my life to keeping current on the Najdorf theory that changes by the hour. The Kan (also known as the Paulsen variation) can easily transpose into the Scheveningen in many lines while avoiding the Keres variation. The Kan is strategic in nature and flexible. Many lines have a Hedgehog flavor to them.

If you like strategic opening variations that can be played according to general setups rather than meticulously crafted move orders, the Kan is for you. This book does an exceptional job of explaining the types of positions you are likely to encounter, and how to handle them.

I agree that the lack of an index is unforgivable, but it doesn't take away from the quality of the writing.

Rating:
Summary: Emms strikes again!
Review: What a great book! Emms is cranking out masterful works, and this is perhaps is best yet. It is densely packed with both explanatory text and variations, giving the reader the best of both worlds for opening books. It is mind-boggling to imagine the amount of work that went into this book. The Kan is a great line of the Sicilian, frequently called the "most flexible line" of the Sicilian. I have a couple quibbles that are not really book-specific. Like other Everyman books, it lacks an index at the back. This is a RIDICULOUS oversight by Everyman. They are churning out quality opening books, but none of them have indiexes in the back. THis is a serious handicap if you are looking for moves quickly in on-line games, and generally for research purposes. The end-of-chapter variation indexes are almost completely useless, because you have to spend time finding them too. The point of a comprehensive index at the back is that it is a quick and certain way of finding the line you are seeking. Everyman needs to change this, NOW! Also, my next quibble concerns all books made regarding a black opening: SHOW THE DIAGRAMS WITH BLACK AT THE BOTTOM!! I go through these games with black closest to me on my board (because, after all, I am trying to learn the Sicilian as black), and every time I have to re-set the board to the previous diagram, I have to turn my board around to re-set the pieces. It would be so much easier if the publisher simply put the black side of the board at the bottom of the diagrams. The only book where I have seen this done is Mike Basman's Chess Openings (which is, BTW, a very fine book). Again, a simple oversight by the publisher that would be a bigimprovement if implemented. so, Everyman, SWITCH THE DIAGRAMS IN BOOKS ABOUT BLACK!! Tremendous book!