How to Win in the Chess Openings [Paperback]

I. A. Horowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 7, 1986

International Master Al Horowitz goes through every major chess opening system and provides just one line of play for White, one line of play for Black, and the reason for each move by White or Black. This book will not show the reader how to win every game, but it will provide an easy route which will enable the player to get a reasonable, playable position out of the opening with good winning chances, even against the strongest opponents, without having to memorize a bunch of opening lines. I am reprinting this book because I learned more useful information from this book than and other chess book I ever read. I memorized the entire book, every move in it, when I was 14. The way I was able to remember the entire book was that, for every move in the book, a reason for the move was given. So, if I was trying to remember what the next move was, I would remember the reason for the move. Once I remembered the reason for the move, then I could figure out what the move was. All of the lines in this book are still played at the top levels. None are obsolete. In addition, while some might consider them to be out of date, I think they are OK because the average chess book buyer is a 1300-1500 player, and they do not need to know the latest theoretical variations. The old lines will do just as well if not better. I will recommend this book to any player rated below 1700.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; New edition edition (March 7, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671624261
• ISBN-13: 978-0671624262
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #447,120 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

187 of 188 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Teaches General Ideas behind some selected openings, July 30, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: How to Win in the Chess Openings (Paperback)

This is not really a book on "How to Win in the Chess Openings" as the title says. It is a book that covers ideas behind some selected openings. You should not plan to "force" a win in the opening, but to be prepared for tactics at all parts of the game. But, to best be prepared for Tactics in the Opening you should be looking at a book on Opening Traps (there are a couple good ones published).
This book, which is not up to date on the openings, is written in the old form of Descriptive Chess Notation - these should be fixed by an updated version. I personally like "Understanding the Chess Openings" by Collins far better as a general book on the openings since it covers a lot more material and is up to date. I feel Collins book and an opening traps book together is the most ideal way for someone just starting out learning openings to get started.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad for the beginner., December 8, 2002

By 

"chandler27" - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Win in the Chess Openings (Paperback)

The first chess book I ever waded through, was all about tactics, mating patterns, etc. After reading it, I schooled all of my friends. But I had a rude awakening in my first tournament when I got had by fool's mate in the first game. So I commenced on learning openings in order to get into position to use my tactic skills. How To Win in the Chess Openings is a book I've studied in two phases. The first phase was just learning the different patterns and typical sequence of moves. I really didn't understand the theory and logic behind most of the opening moves. So at first, I was pretty disappointed in the book and left it alone. But now, 5 years later, I've been using the book to really get the logic behind the opening moves and it's finally making sense.

As some of the other reviews have stated, it only goes over a few different openings and not to a depth of being able to learn every variation. However, the openings covered are very common and the knowledge provided is very good for someone trying to get into the middlegame.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An essentialbook for club players, July 16, 1998

By 

N. Beach "romansperson" (Chapel Hill, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Win in the Chess Openings (Paperback)

Beginning players often pound out their first moves of a chess game by rote, merely imitating moves they've seen in a book or magazine. When they run out of pre-learned moves, they are often at a complete loss as to how to proceed because they do not understand the reasoning behind those memorized moves. In this little book, the late Al Horowitz uses lots of clear prose to explain every move -- not reams of confusing variations that are gibberish to most of us amateur players. The book covers only certain variations of openings popular in the 1950's, so one will not see the King's Indian Defense or Benoni. But warhorses like the French, Ruy Lopez (Spanish), Giuoco Piano (Italian) and the Queen's Gambit are given good coverage. A good companion book is Chernev's Logical Chess Move by Move. HTWITCO is suitable for players class E through B. After a few run-throughs, keep it for reference! I still refer to mine from time to time.