Customer Reviews

Victory in the Opening!: The Art of Winning Quickly in Chess

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have a limited time to study chess but with the help of this book I have recently won several games against higher rated players. The secret is that Gary Lane manages to give opening tips on positions that are likely to be met by the average player. If you are looking for an improvement in the main line Sicilian on move 22 then this is not for you. The vast majority will like the suggestions in openings such as the Nimzo-Indian, Dutch Defence and even the Elephant Gambit! There are plenty of tricks and traps to catch out lots of opponents.

The first time I saw this book was when my coach used it to show me some exciting games. I borrowed it and enjoyed playing through the games so much that I tried to avoid returning it. The solution was to buy my own copy. Mr Lane gives comments to lots of interesting games all of which finish within 25 moves. I have learned new attacking ideas while having the pleasure of slowly going over the master games. A fun book.

I'm always surprised how badly organized and presented most chess books are, and this book is no exception.

There are 3 main opening objectives, speedy development,central control and king safety. Therefore there should only be 3 main chapters. However, Gary Lane's book has 9, which obviously means that most of these should be sub-sections of 3 main chapters relating to the 3 opening objectives, not chapters in their own right. For instance, Chapter 1, called Greedy Openings. is mainly about pawn grabbing at the expense of development, so it should be a sub-section of a chapter relating to development, not a chapter in its own right.

However, most of the games are very instructive, although the sparse commentary frequently misses the most important aspects
of these games.