Customer Reviews

The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings: Algebraic Notation

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

IDEAS BEHIND THE CHESS OPENINGS gives you a general idea of what most of the openings are about. Don't look at this book to find the most modern and detailed analysis of any specific opening as it is very general. Since this book was written over 40 years ago, though updated some, it will not cover modern ideas. "Understanding the Chess Openings" in my opinion does a better job of what this book is intended to do. I also can suggest to understand the ideas and tricky parts of openings you get "Winning Chess Traps" as well. Do not just memorize moves - understand the ideas!

Although I realize a lot of people think highly of this book, I really did not like it or find it useful. This was one of the first three books on chess that I ever bought. (That was 20 years ago; I now have about 30). I found it to be useless then and I have picked it up a few times since then and still don't find it to be useful. For the life of me I don't see where the IDEAS are that this book is named for. I see dozens of opening lines with very little in the way of explanation about the IDEAS behind the opening(s). I found Horowitz's How to Win in the Chess Openings a lot more useful in that regard--explaining the IDEAS behind the chess openings. (Although Horowitz's book is no panacea either). If you are starting out, I'd suggest thinking twice on this one. Maybe check it out at the library and if you like it, then think about buying it.

This is truly a great book for beginners and medium-level players. It really helps in understanding the reasons behind the first or so 10-15 moves, rather than mechanically following what the grand masters play. This book should be one of the first in every chess player's library.
Why only 3 stars then ? I hear you ask. Well, this edition "supersedes" previous ones by converting the moves to the now-popular algebraic notation. Unfortunately, I counted over a dozen mistakes in the conversion. It's already hard enough to follow the hundreds of variations as it is, without inserting red herrings. The proof reading done on this edition is really quite unacceptable !
It's quite difficult to follow through the variations to their end using a normal chess board. Too many times positions need to be restored to a certain complicated position. My solution: I went through the book using a chess program on my lap top. It was then easy when required to reset the board to a given move.

The original edition of this book is now over 60 years old and obviously much has changed in opening theory, making this book seriously outdated and misleading when it comes to most specifics and some generalities.

Don't read this book if you want an idea of lines to play. In fact, don't even read (at least most of) this book if you are looking for reliable ideas on specific openings. The section on the Sicilian, for instance, is almost hopeless.

Instead, read the book to learn more about how to think about openings and how to convert principle to practice, following the procedure I describe below.

The whole book can in fact be a useful aid to critical thinking if you look up a certain opening here and then go on to study it in a modern guide. Contrasting the ideas and supporting moves will lead to a greater understanding, not only of how ideas have evolved, but how they are expressed in practice. For instance, if you read in Fine's book about the aforesaid Sicilian, and then see what has changed in modern practice, and make a real effort to understand *why*, you will benefit greatly.

But never read this book in isolation. It would be like reading a 50-year old physics text.

Bobby Fischer, when asked by a young boy how to improve the boy's chess, picked up a copy of "The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings," and advised the boy to "read this book. This book has everything. It's one of the best chess books, and can definitely help to improve your game." Whenever the legendary Fischer speaks of how to improve one's chess, I have just a word of advice: Listen.

In comparing the 1943 edition of this book to the more recent 1989/90 works, it appears that most of the revisions involve the Indian and Sicilian Defenses. For good reason: These are still the overwhelming choices of many an international grandmaster to 1 d4 and 1 e4, respectively. Other than that, the text is about the same. In fact, the more recent editions even have a few misspellings and caption-reference errors to boot.

Still, I think that's a trivial reason for chess players to shy away from this book. The title states the principle: As long as you understand the IDEAS of the openings you play, you will be ready for nearly any surprises--curve balls, if I may--that your opponent might have in store. It made sense in 1943; it still makes sense today.

I would recommend this book to those in the beginner-to-intermediate range. I believe that, once you understand the ideas of your preferred openings, then and only then should you begin to intensify your studies of opening theory. After that, I feel that everything will fall into place naturally.

I learned to play chess over 37 years ago but didn't play much after college. I recently started studying it when friends at work got me back into the game. I'm sure I'm only in the 800s if was to get a rating.
A friend loaned me this book and other than the 10 principles in the first chapter it immediately loses a beginner. The errors identified in the other reviews are a big clue that this is not a great work. I had a terrible time trying to follow several of the games on a board and so I gave up.

For a beginner, I have found, "Discovering Chess Openings" by John Emms to be very good book. At least I understand what the author is saying and he starts at a level I can grasp and builds from there.

Every player who aspires to have a systematic understanding of the openings must start with Fine's Ideas Behind the Chess Openings.

As a beginner before, I used to play grandmaster games on chessbooks, magazines and memorize the first ten to fifteen moves without knowing the underlying ideas behind the openings. I could thus play booklines, but I didn't really know what the opening was all about. When my oppponent deviated from my memorized lines, I didn't know how to continue.

Then I read this book and I realized that you don't need to memorize very long variations to play the opening sensibly. Rather, the openings must be understood as a system, which entails knowing what white's or black's aims are in in a given opening. I learned, for example, that in the Sicilian defense white strives for a kingside attack while black counters in the queenside. In the King's Indian, on the other hand, black goes for a kingside attack while white, for a queenside breakthrough. I drastically improved my performance, and I won games not by tediously memorizing opening lines, but by designing my play consistent with the peculirities and the patterns in the different openings. I knew the proper continuation when my opponent had deviated from my book, or when the variation I studied had ended.

Only after one has exhaustively studied this classic book must he explore more detailed and lengthy openings book like Modern Chess Openings and Nunn's Chess Openings. In fact, anyone can hardly get substantial information from those two books, or from any opening encyclopedia for that matter, without Fine's Ideas Behind the Chess Openings.

I've purchased four opening books over the past couple of years. If I had bought this book first instead of last I believe I would be proficient in the major openings now rather than just starting to learn them.

Fine does exactly what the title suggests, he explains the ideas behind the openings. He groups them into four broad families which share important features. Where many books simply drown you in countless variations Fine clearly presents the major lines in terms of these shared features. Even if you can't keep the names straight or remember the entire move sequence of an opening you will know the primary strategic ideas involved.

This book is not an encyclopedia of openings or a presentation of the latest in opening theory. It is, however, the only book I have ever seen that will help a recreational player develop a logical framework for understanding the opening. If you often find yourself unsure of what your plan should be after the second move then you need this book.

Finally, I strongly recommend against buying Seirawan's "Winning Chess Openings".

One of the world's best players in the 1930s, Reuben Fine was also one of the great writers of chess as well. Before abruptly quitting chess for a professional career, he wrote several books on the game, however, two really stand above the rest: his classic Basic Chess Endings and the above title. Almost all serious chess players eventually read "Ideas" for one simple reason: Fine explains the concepts and ideas that underlie chess openings in a clear and concise manner. The eight chapters cover all the openings: e4 e5; e4 other; d4 d5; d4 other (Indian systems); English; Bird's/Nimzovich; and Irregular Openings. You won't find the latest lines in this book, rather, Fine presents variations that illustrate basic ideas, e.g., Black has two basic choices after 1. e4 e5: the strong point method or counter attack. The variations used illustrate typical methods of play. The original date of the book, 1943, makes a few of the general conclusions out of date--chess knowledge has progressed--but overall, there is no better introduction to chess opening theory. (A nice companion volume to this is Andy Soltis' Pawn Structure Chess.) The moves are given in figurine algebraic and there is a surprising number of typos, however, none that should cause real confusion. Every beginner should read this from cover to cover before selecting an opening system to play. Once you understand the ideas, tactics, and plans behind a particular system, the current "trendy" variations will make much more sense. This volume really should be in every chess players library.

I completed this book around late 1998. I have to say I got a lot out of it, but I was progressing through it at THE WORST possible time in my chess development; when I had just started playing in USCF tournaments. It was a bittersweet experience because I was enjoying learning a great amount of openings, but, at the time, my knowledge of the middlegame, and especially the endgame had yet to begin. My opponents said they were impressed with my opening play, but that means nothing when you can't understand the obvious aspects of the middlegame and can't close the deal and win the game in the middlegame or in the endgame.
Fine explains early in the book that you can't memorize variation upon variation for each opening. Some players are good at memorizing long lines of variations, but overall it is much better to understand the ideas behind the chess openings. You must understand what openings are going to lead to an open game or to a closed game, etc.
Fine shows that there's an idea for playing each opening and once you approach learning all openings with that thought in mind you can do better right from the beginning of the game.
But, I would suggest that no one make the same mistake I did; that is, reading this book as you embark on tournament life while not being well versed AND experienced in the middlegame AND the endgame.
You can at least read this after you fully understand middlegame principles.
I also have the very popular Nunn's Chess Openings. You should understand this one thing: Nunn's Chess Openings, the Modern Chess Openings and other "telephone book"-sized chess books are touted for there current lines and diversity of variations of opening play. The MCO, for instance, is like the world almanac in that it will most likely continue to have updated editions to be published. All this to say that Fine's book is often criticized as being a poor openings book because it was copyrighted back in approximately 1954 and all the openings in it are thus outdated by today's playing standards. But, Fine is more interested in stressing the importance of understanding the Idea; those other books don't do this as well as Fine did all those years ago. Understanding the idea will stay with you much longer than memorizing a multitude of possible lines. As I have found out, you can spend all month studying an opening and never see it in an upcoming tournament. But, the thing is, you will see it when you haven't been studying it! Understand it's idea and you'll still have a good handle on the situation.