Concise Chess Openings (Everyman Chess) [Paperback]

Neil McDonald (Author)

Book Description

Series: Everyman Chess | Publication Date: October 1, 2001

A pocket openings manual for weaker players. The basic lines and plans in every possible opening are covered.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Learning new chess openings can be an arduous task, even for seasoned players, never mind those with less experience. Finding the right openings to suit your style can be a very time-consuming task. In Concise Chess Openings, Grandmaster Neil McDonald provides the reader with a reliable and up-to-date reference work. On every single opening the reader is likely to face, there's enough information to play the variations with confidence, but not too much so as to drown the reader with waves of theory.This book is written by a renowned openings expert and includes all the latest theory and examines every main opening. This pocket book is ideal for club and tournament players alike. (4 1/2 x 5 1/4, 304 pages, b&w diagrams)

About the Author

Grandmaster Neil McDonald is an experienced player on the international chess circuit and has a string of tournament successes to his name. He is a talented chess coach who has trained English juniors at many international events. His successful books include Modern Defence, French Winawer and Dutch Leningrad.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857442970
• ISBN-13: 978-1857442977
• Product Dimensions: 4.9 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #843,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Small Pocket Guide on major openings, August 8, 2006

By 

David Cohen - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Concise Chess Openings (Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

This is a book well suited for a beginner who just wants a general idea of what the major chess openings are. It is certainly not "concise". If you are a beginner and want to look into the various openings and want some very general ideas and not a lot of tedious variations, then this is a good book. Though I like the more detailed book of this same nature, "Understanding The Chess Openings" by Collins, and would recommend to gain a grasp of opening tactcis getting a book on opening traps - a book on opening traps will give you a good idea of the strong points and pitfalls within the openings.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Up to date summary introduction to the major chess openings, October 30, 2001

By 

Riccardo Schiaffino (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Concise Chess Openings (Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

This is an excellent book, suitable for people that need an introduction to the major openings, but don't want as yet to invest the amount of time necessary to learn any opening thoroughly.
This book is going to take the place of Znosko-Borovsky's "How to Play the Chess Openings" (which was written in the '30s), and Fine's "The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings" (from the '40s) as a summary overview to all the major chess openings. The advantage of McDonald's book is that it is really up to date (it includes moves from games played up to 2001). Unlike the two older books, Concise Chess Openings does not include a section on the principles behind the chess openings (e.g. develop light pieces before heavy ones, don't move a piece twice in the opening without good reason, etc.); however, since such "principles" are to be found in most beginners' chess books, one does not miss them in McDonald's book. (An excellent feature of the book is that it indicates very clearly what White's and Black's plan are for each opening or major variation.)
The only reason I did not give the book five stars is the price, which is really high for such a small book (smaller than a mass-market paperback).

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars interesting and useful, October 31, 2003

By 

Brian E. Mitchell (Dunwoody, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Concise Chess Openings (Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

This is an interesting book. It gives you the ideas of the openings, much more so than theory-laden books, and it is also quite small. The detail here is not great, but it's certainly an interesting book.

My problem is what is it useful for. I can only guess based on its physical size that you are intended to take it with you to tournaments to help review your games when they are over, but yet the detail of the game is not really sufficient, and nco or mco seem like they would be better suited for this task.