Mastering the Chess Openings 1

En fremragende bok der forfatterguruen IM John Watson ikke mindre enn gjennomgår både ideer, eksempler og viktig teori sett fra begge sider i alle de viktigste åpningene med 1 e4. Det er som vanlig en usedvanlig innholdsrik, instruktiv, leseverdig og vesentlig bok fra Watsons side.

Den gir utbytte for spillere med ratingstyrke fra omlag 1100 og oppover og andre slags utbytter for enda sterkere spillere, ja faktisk til langt opp i eliteklassen.

Fra et par av anmeldelsene:

Even though volume one mostly deals with 1 e4 and volume two deals with 1 d4, the books nonetheless represent one body of work that should best be enjoyed together, and they are written by one of the finest authors of the last several decades. ... To say that these books are about opening strategies or opening theory would be a disservice to the importance of the material covered in them. ... I found his chosen examples excellent and his commentary instructive and very enlightening. Whether you are an inexperienced improving player or a seasoned tournament player, you will learn loads from studying these books. His discussions of pawn structures and their interconnected strategies are worth the price of both books. Even I feel as though my game has improved after having studied both volumes at length. ... The books convey an understanding of the opening that even specialized opening works do not provide. ... I highly recommend the two volumes of Mastering the Chess Openings to anyone who truly wants to improve their understanding of the openings and of chess in general.
Carsten Hansen, www.chesscafe.com

If you are aspiring to be a strong player you should really like this book. ... I've been putting off writing about this book because there is so much in it to read it's hard to figure out where to start. The section I started out with this morning was the Sicilian Poisoned Pawn, Fischer's contributions, and latest theory (which by the way holds that Black has excellent winning chances, AND, so does White!). In fact, it seems that this is the currency of this book-openings where the better prepared player and student has chances of winning. ... In the beginning he writes about 'Fundamentals' and covers 80 pages on that, structure, opening ideas and positional features, and the introduction to the Open Games. Here's a thought - read those 80 pages if you read nothing else. You will learn a lot about chess and it will probably spur you on to looking at the later chapters. This section has been very ably written and it explains a lot of the things the rest of us take for granted, but for which we really don't know all that well. Seriously, read this. ... In fact, just get this book. Full retail is $29.95 and it's worth every cent - it'll teach you chess.
Bob Long, www.chessco.com