Customer Reviews

A Strategic Opening Repertoire

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Donaldson's book centers around a system that uses the opening moves 1. Nf3, 2. c4, 3. g3. Donaldson writes that he is aiming the book at players at the Expert to Master level. Thus, the chapters contain game after game, with in-line variations and relatively terse but clear commentary. Despite being 200 USCF rating points below the stated audience (at the edge between B and A), I am finding the book exciting and helpful, because it does, more than any other opening repertoire book I've seen, fulfill its promise of providing a strategically based opening lines that work! The first five chapters deal with Black's attempt at a defense based on the King's Indian setup, which in effect turns into a Closed-Sicilian Reversed. As a player with a definite dislike for games that plunge into heavy tactics, these five chapters are an answer to a prayer. Since the center pawns don't get locked up as they do in the KID, Black rarely has the opportunity to launch the dangerous mating attacks so common in the classical KID, and White is safely able to bring play to the queenside where he retains an advantage. A nice plus is that the anti-KID system practically plays itself for the first 10 moves, and play continues in clear strategic directions thereafter. Dedicated KID players seem to be unfamiliar with this approach, thus I often find myself with big time advantages as well as a positional plus going into the middle-game. I don't know of any other work that deals with this opening line to this depth, and would give this book four stars for this section alone. Other chapters deal with other possible responses to Donaldson's opening moves: Symmetrical English, Catalan, Semi-Tarrasch, Queen's Indian, Hedgehog, and a miscellaneous chapter. These chapters seem to me to be good for the direction in which they point, even if they are not treated as completely as they might be in more specialized opening volumes. Of the two sections I've looked at more closely, the Semi-Tarrasch and the closed-Catalan, I've definitely liked the set-ups Donaldson recommends. They suit my style, and I feel like I have a definite sense of direction in them. I've closely compared Donaldson's recommendations to Nieshtadt's (who wrote a great two-volume work on the Catalan) and found that Nieshtadt's more complete work lists the line Donaldson recommends as one of the strongest for White (though with a very slight change in move order). Thus, I would say Donaldson's volume does a valuable service in pointing out strong strategically-oriented lines that are buried in other more specialized opening volumes. You will have to do a bit more work reading this book than many others, but if you are seeking strategic lines for White, and don't mind converting your wins in the endgame, this book is definitely one to check out.

If you are going to call something an "Opening Repertoire" book, it might be nice if the first line addressed on page 1 of Chapter 1 does not begin its very first variation and related commentary beginning with Black's 12th move. Some chapters here are even worse, not beginning variations until almost the middle game. While the advocated set-ups for White(essentially Closed Sicilian Reversed structures) have a tendency to avoid very early forcing clashes relative to other openings, that is far from guaranteed and most players simply are not going to get through this many moves of theory (incorporating some very subtle if not counter-intuitive moves by Black) to get to the promised land where these authors begin to offer some guidance. It is strange that this problem is so pronounced in this book because, in the book's introduction, the authors highlight (1) the importance of early move variations and (2) the assertion that most opponents will not have a previously considered response to this opening approach. Well guess what? It is either the case that your opponent indeed will not have a considered response OR will, as the authors assume by their exposition, follow theory 15+ moves deep. Both are unlikely to be true. I think it far more likely that many opponents indeed will not have a previously considered response. Hence, more in the way of early move variations is precisely what is required but lacking here.

To underscore this point, it is only in the introduction (and the book's back cover) that the reader is told that the advocated move order is 1.Nf3, 2.c4, 3.g2. An overwhelming majority of the 160+ games provided in the book have opening move orders that conflict with the line the authors advocate. Yet not a word is written about how one might deal with Black move order variables when you, as White, do follow the prescribed order. Moreover, with virtually all the games covered following move orders that conflict with the recommendation, one might wonder why the authors prefer their alternative sequence better. Keep wondering - while the reader might well intuit some thoughts about this, no meaningful justification whatsoever is provided in the book.

Most opening books fall prey to the exact opposite approach, with variations upon variations with no conceptual framework. The conceptual framework here arguably is provided, it just starts far too late and, for the most part, is less than explicit. I think any objective observer would say that this book has more information on middle game strategies in a set of related structures than it has on the "opening" sequence of moves. Indeed, you will find more commentary on the endgame of the game annotations than you will the first 15 moves.

It may well be that early Black responses other than those assumed here are simply bad, but to discover why you will be completely on your own. Unlike what one may expect from an opening book, there is no general commentary about the opening sequence of moves separate and apart from the annotated games (and, as noted, you'll rarely if ever see an annotation prior to Black's 12th move or a game with the prescribed sequence). Another observation that you may find indicative of the dubious nature of the claim that this is a "opening repertoire" book: no Index of Variations. If the authors endeavored to provide such an index, it may have helped their own organization of the sequence of games, which is all the more confusing due to a general lack of cross-references between games in the annotations. In many cases the annotations discuss an alternative line without referring to the games elsewhere in the book that cover that line. Worse still, some annotations critique Black's play as inferior, state that some other move is a far superior alternative, but say nothing whatsoever about White's proper response to the superior Black line. Once you get used to the lack of cross-references between games or index of variations, you might assume that, when Black's play is criticized in a game annotation and better alternative are offered, some other annotated game later in the book will equip White to meet it. Unfortunately, that hope does not always get realized.

I don't find this book without merit, but I do find it frustrating in a somewhat unique way. I actually assume that the authors easily could have dashed off a chapter on dealing with early black departures and, had they done so, they would have presented something useful and compelling. Such a chapter would give White more confidence to at least try -- come what may-- to head for the book's advocated lines.

Wittgenstein said of certain issues that "What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence." Remarkably, notwithstanding this book's title, the authors apparently feel the opening sequence of moves to achieve their advocated structures are among those issues to be left in silence. We are left with a set of 160 or so annotated games generally in the Closed Sicilian Reversed structure. Going over the games will, no doubt, teach one something about the opening, but mostly based on the reader's own speculations and divinations. Those intrigued by the concept of this book, if not its execution, can be referred to Bent Larsen's cult classic, "Zoom 001: Zero Hour for Operative Opening Models," which these authors plainly emulate. The relative advantages of Zoom 001 are a more useful introductory section, a broader thesis presenting a structurally related repertoire for both White and Black, and a somewhat more aggressive repertoire essentially based on a Grunfeld (or Grunfeld Reversed) structure.

This book has a good collection of games around the intended variations. Studying the games in each chapter can give the reader a good understating of the framework, common patterns and ideas of the chapter line. The book however doesn't provide much details beyond listing the games. To build a repertoire, the reader will need to do the hard work of linking these games together and finding any missing variations, since the book doesn't provide much help or explanation on that direction.

This lack of connection between the games is an annoying issue with the book and can be confusing to the reader. Comments about the same moves in different games appears arbitrarily and makes it difficult to find a variation the reader might be looking for. Here are some specific examples:
- In chapter 1, the same move 13.Qb3 appears in games 13, 14, 15 and 16, but it got its first comment only in game 15, while 13....Qd7 getting comments in both games 15 and 16, and 14.Rd1 getting the comment in game 16! I wonder why the authors didn't clarify each move the first time it appears, then in later games they can focus on new moves and explain the differences? This pattern repeats in other chapters as well.
- In chapter 7, games 77, 79 and 80 have the same position after 5.Nc3, 5....Nh6 got a ?! in game 77 comment (which is just a duplication of game 80 moves and could have just pointed to that game instead!) before it appears in games 79 and 80, while other moves got comments at different games.
- In chapter 11, just by looking at games 133 and 134, this issue is quite obvious, where in game 133 moves 2....e6, 3.d4 and 8...Rb8 got the comments, while in the same line in game 134, moves 1....Nf6, 5....Nbd7, and 7...b5 got it! I wonder since the games are accumulated and analyzed by the same authors, why did they select to put it this way instead of putting the extra effort of organizing the variations?

If you are going to call something an "Opening Repertoire" book, it might be nice if the first line addressed on page 1 of Chapter 1 does not begin its very first variation and related commentary beginning with Black's 12th move. Some chapters here are even worse, not beginning variations until almost the middle game. While the advocated set-ups for White(essentially Closed Sicilian Reversed structures) have a tendency to avoid very early forcing clashes relative to other openings, that is far from guaranteed and most players simply are not going to get through this many moves of theory (incorporating some very subtle if not counter-intuitive moves by Black) to get to the promised land where these authors begin to offer some guidance. It is strange that this problem is so pronounced in this book because, in the book's introduction, the authors highlight (1) the importance of early move variations and (2) the assertion that most opponents will not have a previously considered response to this opening approach. Well guess what? It is either the case that your opponent indeed will not have a considered response OR will, as the authors assume by their exposition, follow theory 15+ moves deep. Both are unlikely to be true. I think it far more likely that many opponents indeed will not have a previously considered response. Hence, more in the way of early move variations is precisely what is required but lacking here.

To underscore this point, it is only in the introduction (and the book's back cover) that the reader is told that the advocated move order is 1.Nf3, 2.c4, 3. Bg2. An overwhelming majority of the 160+ games provided in the book have opening move orders that conflict with the line the authors advocate. Yet not a word is written about how one might deal with Black move order variables when you, as White, do follow the prescribed order. Moreover, with virtually all the games covered following move orders that conflict with the recommendation, one might wonder why the authors prefer their alternative sequence better. Keep wondering - while the reader might well intuit some thoughts about this, no meaningful justification whatsoever is provided in the book.

Most opening books fall prey to the exact opposite approach, with variations upon variations with no conceptual framework. The conceptual framework here arguably is provided, it just starts far too late and, for the most part, is less than explicit. I think any objective observer would say that this book has more information on middle game strategies in a set of related structures than it has on the "opening" sequence of moves. Indeed, you will find more commentary on the endgame of the game annotations than you will the first 15 moves.

It may well be that early Black responses other than those assumed here are simply bad, but to discover why you will be completely on your own. Unlike what one may expect from an opening book, there is no general commentary about the opening sequence of moves separate and apart from the annotated games (and, as noted, you'll rarely if ever see an annotation prior to Black's 12th move or a game with thie prescribed sequence). Another observation that you may find indicative of the dubious nature of the claim that this is a "opening repertoire" book: no Index of Variations. If the authors endeavored to provide such an index, it may have helped their own organization of the sequence of games, which is all the more confusing due to a general lack of cross-references between games in the annotations. In many cases the annotations discuss an alternative line without referring to the games elsewhere in the book that cover that line. Worse still, some annotations critique Black's play as inferior, state that some other move is a far superior alternative, but say nothing whatsoever about White's proper response to the superior Black line. Once you get used to the lack of cross-references between games or index of variations, you might assume that, when Black's play is criticized in a game annotation and better alternative are offered, some other annotated game later in the book will equip White to meet it. Unfortunately, that hope does not always get realized.

I don't find this book without merit, but I do find it frustrating in a somewhat unique way. I actually assume that the authors easily could have dashed off a chapter on dealing with early black departures and, had they done so, they would have presented something useful and compelling. Such a chapter would give White more confidence to at least try -- come what may-- to head for the book's advocated lines.

Wittgenstein said of certain issues that "What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence." Remarkably, notwithstanding this book's title, the authors apparently feel the opening sequence of moves to achieve their advocated structures are among those issues to be left in silence. We are left with a set of 160 or so annotated games generally in the Closed Sicilian Reversed structure. Going over the games will, no doubt, teach one something about the opening, but mostly based on the reader's own speculations and divinations. Those intrigued by the concept of this book, if not its execution, can be referred to Bent Larsen's cult classic, "Zoom 001: Zero Hour for Operative Opening Models," which these authors plainly emulate. The relative advantages of Zoom 001 are a more useful introductory section, a broader thesis presenting a structurally related repertoire for both White and Black, and a somewhat more aggressive repertoire essentially based on Grunfeld (or Grunfeld Reversed) structure.

This book has convinced me, once and for all NOT to buy any more chess books by authors who don't use computer programs to check their analysis. Example: page 129, top right, first parentheses: (32...Rd8 33. Rfd6, Rxd6 34. Rxd6, Rc8 35. Rd7, Kg8). Any computer program would instantly spot 34. Rxc6 forcing immediate resignation. This is 1999, not 1899; there is no excuse for such sloppy analytical work, nor is there much reason to buy books featuring analysis that would be refuted by a casual glance at Fritz 5 or even Fritz 1, for that matter. Despite this annoying flaw, and a considerable number of typos and bad grammar, the book is far from being the worst of its type. The games are plentiful and mostly good, and the repertoire is sound. But if you're already at or near Expert strength, you'd probably be better off getting the games from chesslab.com and saving your money for a real chess book.

This is an Excellent book that provides an analysis of the openings based on 1. Nf3 that sets up long, positional games. There are no quick kills, but instead a great understanding of the importance of positioning in chess. One drawback is that some variations that I've encountered quite frequently are not analyzed in detail.