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,
A Strategic Chess Opening Repertoire for
White.
Download a pdf file with a
sample from the book.
"I find the newly published 4th volume of John Watson's
Mastering the Chess Openings to be one of the most helpful opening
reference books that I have seen. The renowned American IM author presents his
chosen material using extremely instructive high-level games furnished with his
own characteristically crystal-clear annotations. Watson brings it all together
beautifully by making lots of insightful connections that will clarify in the
reader's mind numerous common threads and themes as well as giving a nice
compact summary of the theoretical status of different openings." - GM Paul
Motwani, The Scotsman
"...far from being just an opening monograph, Volume 4 is an
oracle of practical advice that everyone would benefit from..." - GM Glenn
Flear, New-in-Chess Yearbook
"This series is written in such a way that anyone rated from
1500 to 2400 will be able to benefit from it. This particular volume covers
openings that are less relevant for stronger players, because they will
infrequently encounter them, but to counterbalance this issue Watson sometimes
goes into very specific details. Whereas in earlier volumes, the strategic
discussions on more popular openings were drawn in more general terms for
understanding the ideas and aims for both sides. The collective effort put into
all four volumes is truly Herculean and should be praised as an opening book
equivalent to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I am astounded by the consistently
high level of writing in all four volumes." - Carsten Hansen,
www.chesscafe.com
"Gambit has become one of the standards for chess literature
and this is another fine example. Cover art is pleasing to the eye, spine and
pages well bound and the pages are clear with good diagrams. I would suggest
checking the Gambit website. To sum up; this book works on many levels. If you
want a book to learn variations, well I guess you better play the Reti or some
other flank opening to get this book. Should your interest be in extending your
knowledge of the theory of openings and their study then I think this should go
on your list immediately. On the chance that the reader of this review is
looking for insight from an experienced titled player into questions of opening
philosophy and how to formulate the self questioning mode of such a player,
then this book is a must. Very rarely does a player open up about how things
work in openings to the extent that Mr. Watson has here." - Bill McGeary,
www.chessville.com
"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 |
