MASTERING THE CHESS OPENINGS volume 4 (John Watson)
320
pages (248 mm by 172 mm).
£17.99/$29.95/€24,30
In this highly-acclaimed series, John Watson helps
chess-players achieve a more holistic and insightful view of the openings. He
explains not only the ideas and strategies behind specific openings, but also
the interconnections of chess openings taken as a whole. By presenting the
common threads that underlie opening play, Watson provides a permanent basis
for playing openings of any type.
This final volume draws together many themes in a
wide-ranging discussion of general opening topics. By looking at familiar
situations from new angles, Watson helps us greatly increase our understanding
of them. In the process, he covers a wide variety of opening structures and
variations not seen in the earlier volumes and presents a great wealth of
original analysis.
* Réti and Fianchetto Systems
* Reversed Openings
* Symmetry
* Irregular Openings
* Gambits: Primitive or Positional
* Universal Openings
In the final two chapters, Watson presents his views on the
importance of opening study and explains how players should best prepare and
choose their openings for the level at which they play. He looks at the future
of chess openings and explains which skills will be most important as chess
evolves in the forthcoming decades.
International Master John Watson is one of the
world's most respected writers on chess. In 1999, his Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy won 'Chess Book
of the Year' awards in the USA and the UK. He reviews chess books for The Week
in Chess and hosts a weekly radio show on the Internet Chess Club. As a
trainer, he has worked with many talented pupils, including Tal Shaked.
Gambit books by Watson: The Gambit
Guide to the Modern Benoni, Secrets of
Modern Chess Strategy, Chess Strategy in
Action, Mastering the Chess Openings volume
1, Mastering the Chess Openings volume
2, Mastering the Chess Openings volume
3, Mastering the Chess Openings volume
4, Chess Openings for Kids.
Download a pdf file with a
sample from the book.
"Watson is a lucid and often provocative writer who isn't
afraid to challenge conventional thinking and turn conservative theory on its
head." - Cecil Rosner, Winnipeg Free
Press
"In order to appreciate fully the achievement of John
Watson, you need to examine the four separate volumes as a unified whole. He
himself is fond of stressing that a game of chess is a unified whole and not
just a succession of distinct and unrelated parts (opening, middle game,
ending) and this is very much to the fore throughout the series. By emphasising
the underlying ideas behind the openings, and by showing how apparently
different opening systems often have common ideas at their root, he presents
the reader with a framework as the basis for handling all opening systems, both
familiar and unfamiliar, with confidence." - Alan Sutton, En Passant
"...a book any chess lover should have a look at - if not
for its openings, then surely for its general awesomeness." - Arne Moll,
www.chessvibes.com
"The section on gambit play is extremely well done and must
reading for any player coming up through the ranks. So to is the following
chapter 'Choosing and Preparing Openings' which is pure gold. Watson gives
well-considered suggestions for appropriate openings for players from just
beyond beginner to 2300 that will solve many amateurs' perennial headache.
Highly Recommended" - IM John Donaldson
"IM Watson's writing is never less than entertaining and
thought provoking. 'Mastering the Chess Openings' is a fine and deservedly
popular series." - Sean Marsh, marshtowers.blogspot.com
"Ideal for ambitious clubplayers - Watson doesn't just spray
you with variations, but rather shows the thinking behind them" - Bab
Wilders, Nederlands Dagblad
"As always with the acclaimed US IM, the material is
carefully sifted, informative and authoritative." - John Saunders,
British Chess Magazine |
