Complete Defense To Queen Pawn Openings (Cardoza Publishing's Essential Opening Repertoire Series) [Paperback]

Eric Schiller (Author)

Book Description

Series: Cardoza Publishing's Essential Opening Repertoire Series | Publication Date: June 1, 1998

"Complete Defense To Queen Pawn Openings" covers Black's opening systems against virtually every chess opening, including most flank games, based on the exciting and powerful Tarrasch Defense. This great defensive system will have chessplayers completely prepared to sway the direction of Closed Games in their favor .

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Cardoza; 1st edition (June 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940685809
• ISBN-13: 978-0940685802
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Chess

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor organization and editing hurt useful book, May 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Complete Defense To Queen Pawn Openings (Cardoza Publishing's Essential Opening Repertoire Series) (Paperback)

The problem with this book is that it really seems like the author and editor didn't care about putting out a great product.

There are lots of problems with this book. There are far too many typos (it's hard to edit a chess book, but come one!) and the organization is horrid. It's easy to miss crucial subvariations, and the lack of proper indexing, combined with poor organization, makes it very hard to find the game you need.

Schiller's "strategic overview" in the beginning is a great idea, but it's executed poorly. A few examples concerning advancing the d-pawn here (rather than just scattered throughout the book) would work wonders.

So why two stars? Well, because despite its numerous flaws, I find myself using this book a lot. There aren't any other good books on the Tarasch defense these days, and it's an excellent weapon for the club player. There is a lot of good information in here, it's just so hard tofind!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love the Enthusiasm and Material; Hate the Proofreading, August 17, 2007

By 

Mr. Fred (Honolulu, Hawaii) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Complete Defense To Queen Pawn Openings (Cardoza Publishing's Essential Opening Repertoire Series) (Paperback)

This is a typical Cardoza book in that editing, proofreading, and careful production were not part of the equation. I can't understand why this publisher seems to take pride in sloppy work. That out of the way...

Schiller admittedly loves to hype the things he loves, but that's fine. He is a big fan of the Tarrasch, but he backs this with solid knowledge and extensive practice, so it all works to the good. And that's the upside of Cardoza's line of books: they brim with enthusiasm, excitement, interesting ideas, and above all a philosophy of getting out there and winning. After a couple of hours with this book, you just can't wait to get out there and play and try out your new ideas. That's no small thing--- how many chess books make you want an afternoon nap instead?

There are few full books to be found about the Tarrasch. Schiller's book fills a real hole. (The other book I know of is Aagaard and Lund's "Meeting 1. d4" which, while quite good, is more theoretical and dry.) Schiller definitely concentrates on ideas and typical plans and tactics for both sides. The writing style and presentation is cogent and easy to follow. You cannot get through this book without having a thorough conception of the flow of the Tarrasch. Enough material is presented on variants and alternatives to make the book a reasonable enough reference, though you might have to hunt around a bit; of course the book is not "theoretically complete" but it never seemed intended to be. As a good practical introduction, this book will have you playing the Tarrasch in tournament games rather quickly (as it is doing for me).

Later on if you want to become a complete Tarrasch specialist you'll need a little more material, such as a game collection. But for getting going and learning the concepts, this book will take you quite far. You just have to grin and bear it when really obvious typos appear multiple times in one line.

Overall 4 stars for content and sheer enthusiasm and energy; one star off for poor editing.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Complete Queen's Pawn is a great place to start, November 28, 1999

By 

John Prather (Orange, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Defense To Queen Pawn Openings (Cardoza Publishing's Essential Opening Repertoire Series) (Paperback)

After reading this book I am pretty much at ease defending the Queen pawn opening. The strategy presented here will get you through the first 10 or so moves and keep you out of trouble. After that you are of course on your own but not without some ideas and places to look for white weakness. I liked the summary of the strategy that was given in the Overview and Strategic Goals chapters. The short study of alternatives in the last few chapters is also very helpful if the game does not open exactly as planned.