10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
White to play and Win, August 10, 2003
This review is from: Ideas Behind the Modern Chess Openings (Batsford Chess Book) (Paperback)
If you start with 1 d4 then this book has plenty of ideas to help you to win. The backbone of the openings that Lane wants everyone to play is the London System. This has never struck me as being particularly aggressive but it is perfect to make sure that White enters the middlegame with no fear of falling into a trap. The London System is no good against every opening and the author is honest enough to admit this rather than give a game which just happens to demolish the Dutch or something! I have found that how to deal with the side-lines such as the Clarendon Court are very useful. In the main lines the easy to follow guide in the Benoni and the Dutch are well worth a look.
Basically, I have improved my openings as a result of this book and that really is the true test.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
How to Play 1 d4, May 14, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Ideas Behind the Modern Chess Openings (Batsford Chess Book) (Paperback)
This is a book dedicated to making it easy to play 1 d4 against everything. Mr Lane wants us to play the London System because it is easy to learn and there are possibilities to attack. It looks good to me who has a rating of 1860 and has been playing this opening for years.I particularly like the ideas against the Benoni and the Dutch. I now know about the Barry Attack and the 150 Attack which are good despite the odd names.
Can this book make me play better, yes!
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15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Somewhere between guidelines and memorized moves., May 2, 2003
This review is from: Ideas Behind the Modern Chess Openings (Batsford Chess Book) (Paperback)
This is not exactly similar to Fine's Ideas Behind the Chess Openings, as the title might suggest. It's not a modern version, and it's a bit more complicated than just basic ideas.
This is more like a repertoire book in that it has sometimes deep lines of annotation for variations of an opening, and I normally advocate against studying repertoire books. However, if you absolutely must have an opening repertoire as White, you could do worse than the London System, which is a large part of what this book teaches. (Usually, 1.d4 ... 2.Nf3 ... 3.Bf4)
Strictly speaking, this is a "system", not a repertoire, since the idea is to develop your pieces into a typical structure largely independent of what Black does. You can play nearly the same move order, with nearly the same basic plans for almost any response by Black, and you will have attacking chances on the kingside.
Other systems are the Colle System, the Barcza Opening (explained in Seirawan's Winning Chess Openings), and Purdy's System in his 24 Hour Opening Repertoire book.
1.d4? Hmmm. I think it makes more sense to stick to open games (1.e4) while you're learning tactics below master level. If you want cheap, occasional victories, try gambits. But a system can be useful if you want a chance to reach the middlegame against stronger players. (You'll still lose, but the game will SEEM even for longer.)
If you think you want to learn the London System, I suggest that you start with Saddler's Tips for Young Players (not really for young players at all!) where he demonstrates the London System with a thorough explanation of all his moves in a single game, in a way which early intermediate players can comprehend. Then tackle this book if you're still interested.
Still, this book does a good job of explaining the goals and strategies behind many modern openings which are common in club play. If you follow one of the basic systems described here (including the Barry Attack and others) you won't have to memorize moves in order to have a decent game against such modern defenses as the Grunfeld, King's Indian Defence, Nimzo-Indian Defence, Dutch, Benoni, etc.
Or, you could play 1.e4 and study tactics instead of openings...
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