Customer Reviews

More Basic Chess Openings

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Much like 'Basic Chess Openings' by the same author, this book covers many of the more common 1 d4 and other openings. Queens Gambit, Kings Indian, and a couple of others are covered in-depth with many of the variations discussed. Unlike some books, Grandmaster Kallai really tries to describe what you are trying to achieve with each opening/variation. For basic/intermediate level of play, I really recommend this book. The only reason it doesn't get five stars is because some openings are simply glanced at - almost as if it was a rush finish.

This book and the first volume (Basic Chess Openings) (...) are an excellent opening book for players between class D and class A. They cover the basic ideas of the openings. In particular they look at all the alternatives that your normal opening book assumes you already know how to refute.

So for example: 1 e4,e5, 2Nf3 Nc6, 3 Bc4. This is a line that everyone knows (the italian) and everyone knows the "correct response" is Bc5. But why?

Kallia first goes through the very natural Nf6 and how the two knights defense makes life very tough for black. He covers in detail the major lines of the two knights
a) Violent central attack (4 d4)
b) Attack on the f7-pawn (4 g5)
and their sub-variations

Having shown why 3 ..Nf6 isn't so good he then looks at 3..Nd4 (and shows how it is refuted by 4Nxd4 (while telling white to avoid the trap of 4Nxe5). Then he looks 3..Be7 and how this ends up too passive. Thus 3..Bc5 seems to be the only move left. From here the 3 main lines of the Italian are discussed, etc... Detailed thorough discussion of the basics for people who are capable of understanding opening theory but just don't know it yet. This book lays the groundwork for you to read an MCO level book. I strongly recommend it for the player with a USCF rating over 1000 and under 2000.

I heartily disagree with the other reviewer who questioned the necessity of having these books (that is, assuming it is necessary to have any chess books at all, which, for the sake of argument, I am assuming that it is). In this age of internet chess, where the VAST majority of games played by people are blitz games, it is more important than ever to get out of the opening in good shape. These two books by Kallai are the absolute best opening books that I have, because not only do they set out variations and plans for all major lines in ALL openings, but they also have odd but frequent second and third moves in all major lines as well. For instance, in the queen's gambit section, you can quickly and easily find the Albin and Chigorin lines dealt with. Far too often, books do not discuss these very common second moves by black. But this book has it all right there. Have you ever seen an opening book explain why white does not play the exchange variation of the queen's gambit immediately on move three? This one does. Kallai tells you succinctly that white wants to wait until black plays Nf6 so that the exchange can be followed up with Bg5. It is all there. I have read Sadler's book on the queen's gambit, and although he has that question-answer dialogue, he does not address many of the practical questions that come up, such as the one above. This Kallai book magically does that. It is the only book that addresses nearly every opening point you can think of. I only have one complaint about these books (I did not play nearly full price, so price is not an issue for me): that is, the bindings are total .... Some Cadogan books were fine, while others fall apart on repeated usage. On my copies, the pages are beginning to fall out. This is inexcusable in a $... book. But, nonetheless, these books are the best. I use them more than Nunn's Chess Openings, more than Fine's Ideas Behind the Chess Openings, and more than all other opening resources that I own.

I own this and Kallai's BCO, which is about moves beginning with 1-e4. The title makes them sound they're for beginners, but I think they fall midway between Seirawan's Openings and books like NCO and MCO, and may lean more towards the latter. MBCO is more thorough than Seirawan and just as recent, but has less text and theory. On the other hand, Kallai explains some moves and traps which would be obvious to the expert, and also gives tips on how to play the middlegame. There are no complete games given, just openings.

There's a good deal of information here for a short book. But a price is paid in terms of layout: there are no neat tables as in NCO. Also, I personally dislike the notation, which is figurine algebraic.

This book fills a niche as a pre-NCO/MCO openings reference guide, but is it a big enough niche to justify $40 (you'll need both volumes)? Maybe you're better off buying MCO if you need a thorough reference book (not everyone does), or going elsehwere if you really need to learn how to play openings. I like Kallai's two books, but am not convinced I should have bought them.

Edit 2/08: I should also point out that this book has no index or decent TOC. To find, say, Dragon, you have to go to the beginning of the Sicilian, see which roman numeral it is, and then flip through until you find the first page. It's cumbersome.

That being said, despite my mediocre review seven years ago, I have gotten a lot of use out of this book (and its companion). In my defense, 9/11 changed everything.

The book arrived a little later than date needed , but a lot sooner than expected and in very good condition.

This book is excellent choice for those who want to learn more about playing Chess. Though I have yet to read this book I highly recommend it due to the popularity of words in its title. The focus of this book seems to be opening moves, rest assured that this exciting topic will be at least mentioned.