Mastering the Opening (Everyman Chess)

Rating:
Summary: New standards in presenting ideas in chess?
Review: I was quite amazed when I got this book. The presentation at amazon.com said it used 'revolutionary' new layout to present the ideas behind the openings. It turned out the revolution consists of a systematic listing of issues like "what is white's strategy", "what is black's strategy", "is the opening tactical/positional/dynamical". Is there really any other way of presenting openings? If it is indeed true that this is the first book to employ such a systematic presentation of ideas and thoughts, it clearly defends its label as revolutionary.

Having said that, the format of the book is too small. Within the hundred or so pages, there is not enough room to elaborate on the ideas. First, not enough openings have been evaluated. Second, the evaluations merely consist of lists of moves. I also read Jerry Silman's "How to Reassess your Chess", and I would really have liked to see the various positions evaluated with respect to Silman's imbalances.

All in all, I think the largest impact of this book will be that other authors get ideas on how to present and compare ideas in systematic manners in future books. Or it may be that I am just not ready for the material presented here.

Rating:
Summary: some useful guidance for club players
Review: Openings covered are Sicilian (Sveshnikov, Scheveningen, Dragon, Taimonov, Closed and c3 systems); Spanish (main line with Be7 after a6/b5); French (Winawer, Tarrasch, Advance); Caro-Kann (main line and Advance); Alekhine, Center-Counter, and Pirc/Modern; King's Indian (main line, Saemisch, Four-Pawn attack); Nimzo-Indian, Queen's Indian, Bogo-Indian; Queen's Gambit Declined, Slav, Semi-Slav; Queen's Gambit Accepted; Gruenfeld; Dutch; English

......(Note: there just isn't enough in this book on the double king pawn openings if that's what you are looking for)

.....So that's what he writes about. Each opening is discussed under the headings 1) What is white's strategy? 2) What is black's strategy? 3) Tactical/strategic/dynamic? 4) Theoretical? 5) How popular is it? (and Annoted Illustrative games follow).
.....I find these headings interesting and basically helpful. 1) and 2) give you a sense of what the opening is all about. 3) gives you a sense of what kind of typical positions arise out of the opening. 4) is a nice addition and lets you know what how much you need to worry about booked-up opponents (or not...sometimes he is confident that you won't need loads of theory to play a variation well). 5) is interesting just for showing whether an opening is played much or not, or sometimes whether you see it more frequently or less frequently at club level vs. master level.
.....I found the book helpful to me because he explained some basic stuff to me that gave me some confidence in my games. For instance, I'd been experimented with 2.c3 in the Sicilian and finding the games more tactical than I'd expected. Jacobs pointed out in this book that in the c3 sicilian white usually plays for active piece play with an open center...which encouraged me to think more about having active pieces as I play than nursing central pawns. I also found myself being encouraged on the black side to try the sveshnikov, which I'd always avoided because black's pawn structure looks so bad...Jacobs made it clear that black basically accepts the weak pawn structure in return for active play...so again, instead of wondering what "grandmasterly" strategic ideas were embedded in this strange pawn formation, I realized I simply should be looking for active piece play! I think little pointers like this are a nice help, like having an IM give you a little advice over a cup of coffee.
.....Yes, the book suffers for lack of comprehensive detail. But I think it still is useful for giving you some basic knowledge about openings that you are actually likely to face at a club level. This book is an encouragement to get a little sense of what an opening is about and then go try it. And if he has recommended that you have a little theoretical knowledge in a particular line you like, then you can go fill in as needed. I like that style.

....Note: Everybody knows that amateur players spend way too much time studying openings! ...this book helps you get some opening knowledge without falling into that trap!

Rating:
Summary: A superbly presented "how to" title
Review: The opening phase of chess receives strong attention in Mastering The Opening, a superbly presented "how to" title devoted to dealing with every major opening. Chess players will enjoy the attention to numerous thematic games and a layout which requires basic chess knowledge but still proves easy to understand.

Rating:
Summary: some useful guidance for club players
Review: The opening phase of chess receives strong attention in Mastering The Opening, a superbly presented "how to" title devoted to dealing with every major opening. Chess players will enjoy the attention to numerous thematic games and a layout which requires basic chess knowledge but still proves easy to understand.

Rating:
Summary: Good for beginning and low level club players.
Review: This book gives a nice survey of today's most popular openings, with tips on planning and strategy for both white and black. For a book of this size (176 pages), obviously each opening is covered very briefly. A player looking to build or change his opening repetoire may find this book useful in deciding which opening to choose. But to 'master' any opening, the player will need to go get a few more detailed books. Hence the title is very inappropriate - maybe something like 'Introduction to Modern Chess Openings' would have been more fitting.