Beating the King's Indian and Grunfeld (Everyman Chess) [Paperback]

Timothy Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Series: Everyman Chess | Publication Date: December 1, 2006

In this book, Timothy Taylor gets to grips with the King’s Indian and Grünfeld, providing White with a number of easy-to-learn and effective weapons which are specially designed to cause Black maximum discomfort. Taylor examines the typical tactical and positional ideas for both players, highlighting the tricks and pitfalls one must look out for. A study of this book will allow the reader to battle against the King’s Indian and the Grünfeld with renewed confidence.

*Written by a renowned openings expert
*Weapons against two of Black’s most popular defences
*Ideal for club and tournament players

International Master Timothy Taylor is an experienced tournament player who has enjoyed several notable successes, including winning the US Open. He is also a skilled chess writer, one of his previous books, How to Defeat the Smith-Morra Gambit, becoming a US Chess Federation bestseller. This is his second book for Everyman Chess; his first was Bird’s Opening.
Outside of chess, he is the author of two published novels, Elaine the Fair and Amanda, while he directed the film Wicked Pursuits.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The King’s Indian and the Grünfeld are two of Black’s most popular answers to 1 d4; unsurprising given that they were long-time favourites of chess legends Garry Kasparov and, before him, Bobby Fischer. Brimming with complexity and dynamism, these two openings often leave those playing White scratching their heads wondering how to squeeze even the slightest of advantages out of the opening and, just as crucially, how to avoid becoming swamped in a morass of complicated theory.
It’s time for White to strike back! In this book, Timothy Taylor gets to grips with the King’s Indian and Grünfeld, providing White with a number of easy-to-learn and effective weapons which are specially designed to cause Black maximum discomfort. Taylor examines the typical tactical and positional ideas for both players, highlighting the tricks and pitfalls one must look out for. A study of this book will allow the reader to battle against the King’s Indian and the Grünfeld with renewed confidence.

*Written by a renowned openings expert
*Weapons against two of Black’s most popular defences
*Ideal for club and tournament players

International Master Timothy Taylor is an experienced tournament player who has enjoyed several notable successes, including winning the US Open. He is also a skilled chess writer, one of his previous books, How to Defeat the Smith-Morra Gambit, becoming a US Chess Federation bestseller. This is his second book for Everyman Chess; his first was Bird’s Opening.
Outside of chess, he is the author of two published novels, Elaine the Fair and Amanda, while he directed the film Wicked Pursuits.

About the Author

International Master Timothy Taylor is an experienced tournament player who has enjoyed several notable successes including winning the US Open. He is also a skilled chess writer, one of his previous books How to Defeat the Smith-Morra Gambit becoming a US Chess Federation bestseller. He is resident in the US.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (December 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857444280
• ISBN-13: 978-1857444285
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,051,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More of a 'Not losing' book., May 21, 2007

By 

Ron Hermansen "Reboare" (West HIlls, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beating the King's Indian and Grunfeld (Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

If the reader is looking for systems against the King's Indian and Grunfeld that narrow their study and give them safe play then buy the book. But if you want to maximize your opening advantage then I think you will be disappointed. Taylor mentions how the 4 pawns attack (which is what he recommends against the King's Indian) has been considered a drawing weapon and although he shows white winning games I am not sure there is enough to overturn that stereotype. As for the Grunfeld he recommends pawn to e3 and an attempt to stear the game toward Queen's Gambit Declined type of play but with White's Q-bishop behind his pawns -- can that really be "Beating" the Grunfeld?

There are good and bad things about this book. Good: 1. Taylor challenges some superficial analysis of other 4 pawns attack authors! 2. Taylor uses a practical approach to his suggested openings. 3. Taylor narrows what White needs to study.

Bad: 1. Too many of the example games are "Quick" or "Action" chess games and of non-GMs. There happens to be two games of mine in the book, both from Game in 30 tournaments. And although I might be a "solid master" as Taylor describes me, I am not a good contributor to opening theory.
2. Unconvincing analysis. I don't think there is enough meat in this book for most readers. Taylor makes conclusions about variations based on little analysis. For example, the second game of mine that he uses has very little analysis; yet he writes off the whole Schlecter Grunfeld setup based on it!

Now if you play or defend against the Four Pawns Attack you will get use out of this book, but a few hours skimming it might be enough.