A Killer Chess Opening Repertoire (Cadogan Chess Books) Paperback – February 1, 1999

The home work was not done 100% for this book.

The main theme of the book is the 150 attack and the Barry Attack. Now the Barry Attack is a facinating idea vs Grunfeld and Kings Indian Players.

The problem of the book it does not mention the main line of the Barry I feel. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 0-0

6.Be2 c5 7.d:c Qa5 8.Nd2 Now why this book does not mention this line of the Barry is just beyond me. I feel this is by far whites best way of getting an advantage. Not the Ne5 stuff the book suggests.

But the book has some awesome ideas in it! But you need to study them on your own from other sources.

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The name of this book is deceptive, this is really for d4 only as white... Maybe if you play 1 Nf3 you can transpose into some of these lines. They do least a few games that start out like that and its one reason I got the book. Mostly I bought the book just for 3 of the chapters... For the Barry attack in chapter 1, 150 attack in chapter 2 and The Anti-Dutch in chapter 7... Ill give a basic review of the entire book though... The introduction explains the basic goals of the book and is worth reading... Basically is for people 2000 and below in STR...
Chapter 1 deals with what is called the Barry Attack... The chapter runs from page 7 to page 35 so its decent sized... He gives a basic intro as to why to use the Barry attack and some other things about it... Then gives games and the coverage seems pretty complete to be honest... He does not just data dump so if you actually spend the time and read... You should have a pretty good understanding of the Barry Attack... He gives the basic move order as 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 0-0 6. Be2... So you can try that out and see what you think for yourself... Many times the h pawn is sent down the board and is not that easy to stop... The name Barry attack sorta means it looks naive but can have some bite... This is also one of the few books I know that has any coverage of it at all...
Chapter 2 deals with what is known as the 150 Attack... This is good to use vs. Pirc and Modern defense setups... It got its name cuz people in England about 150 rating were using it... That would be about 1800 under most rating systems if you were to convert it... It starts on page 36 and ends on page 51... He gives an introduction about it and some games and for the size of book coverage seems good... He does not data dumb and talks so you should be able to least understand it... This is another opening Ive not seen talked about really in any other book... So I was happy that this and Barry attack were in same book :)... Unlike the Barry Attack chapter he does not have any games that start with 1 Nf3 in this chapter...
Chapter 3 he gets into the Colle-Zuckertort System... Im really not a huge fan of this system... Still I do not really think its totally bad or anything... Just the style I play it does not seem like it will work well with me... He gives it as an alternative to Queen's Gambit games... I prefer the Levitsky attack in these cases personally... Still he starts on page 52 and ends on page 69... I feel this system can be a bit on the drawing side and hard to get a real advantage... The basic setup he gives is 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 c5 5. b3... He also has least 1 example using 1 Nf3 and going into it... So this can be good to know if you play 1 Nf3 at times... Figure more options of openings you have to transpose into the better...
Chapter 4 deals with Beating the Anti-Colle systems... The basic setup is 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 in this chapter... Black responds with moves mostly like ...Bg4, ...Bf5, ...c5, ...Nc6 and also has some 3rd moves by black... The coverage seems pretty decent and at worse you should have basic idea what your doing. It runs from page 70 and ends on page 89 so its got a fair amount of coverage for size of book...
Chapter 5 is the Classic Queen's Indian, this chapter tells what can be bad about using Colle-Zuckertort setup all time... Seems mostly for those having trouble with Queen Indian experts... Starts on page 90 and ends on page 102 so maybe not the most coverage on it... Still if you play Colle-Zuckertort probably will need to check this chapter out as well...
Chapter 6 is the Anti-Benoni which Im not sure how good a chapter it really is... He takes a shot at the Hawk and does not seem to worry much about Benoni... Still says it can get dangerous for either side in those openings... He does not cover any d4 c5 games of the Benoni... That is really what bothers me about this chapter... It starts on page 103 and ends on page 127... So with all those pages could of least touched on that a little bit... Since as white those are the Benoni style games I have the most trouble with...
Chapter 7 deals with what he calls the Anti-Dutch... This guy must of really had a positive childhood using all this Anti stuff in names ;)... I use this sometimes so I was kinda glad that it was in this book to say least... Since really not sure any other books that cover it... Basically the moves are 1 d4 f5 2 Bg5 and the games can get tricky... This can be annoying to black also if they want a certain setup... The chapter starts on page 128 and ends on page 137... I just wish they gave more pages to this chapter and less to one of the others... White wins all 4 games they use as examples... So I guess this must really crush the Dutch :)...
Chapter 8 is a great number but sorta weak Odds and Ends... This chapter is kinda cheesy and has only 1 d4 h6 as the only real game it talks about... He gives some other small examples of other second moves... The coverage he gives to them really is not worth a mention... Just to give an idea he thinks that 1 d4 c5 will end up 2. d5 f5 the Clarendon Court variation which he brags about being 100% with... Also is kind enough to mention beating Hebden with it :)... The chapter starts on page 138 and ends on page 141... So not really sure I consider that much if at all a chapter ;)... The Index in the back is actually done rather well for the 3 pages it gets :)...
If you play 1 d4 or 1 Nf3 I would think about getting this book... I would say its a solid 4 star book and would of been 5 if not for a few things... The final chapter is kinda weak and maybe some of the systems he talks about are not the best... I would of rather Levitsky attack over Colle-Zuckertort... Still to each their own on that part... Really he left some gaps that I run into and that annoyed me... Many games I play I do 1 d4 and they reply ...c5 or ...e5 and wish he covered that... I really got this book for 3 chapters so I can't complain... I know someone that used this book to get over 1700 on ICC... He swears by the Colle-Zuckertort and other systems in book... This is not for those who like to play early c4 as white... Or who are against blocking their c pawn before pushing it... This is good for those that play 1 d4 and hate pushing c pawn and don't mind blocking it... Also for those that play 1 Nf3 and want more systems to transpose into... Not to mention the Anti-Dutch is worth a try... I have won a few games with it and it can really annoy black... I would say of the newer books this one is better written than most I see... Also he does not just data dump he talks about stuff and gives general ideas...

Opening repertoire books for white are a tricky proposition for a chess author. It is more common to find repertoire books for the black pieces - often based around a particular first move which thereby ensures that whatever white's continuation, the game will be channelled for at least a few more moves in the system of black's choosing. I am thinking, for example, of Yrjola & Tella's excellent 'Explosive Opening Repertoire for Black' in which 1 ... d6 is played against any white opening move. The difficultly is that a white repertoire must be able to cope with a vast variety of black responses - from the Nimzovitch (1 ... Nc6) to the Modern (1 ... g6) and everything in between - yet must not overwhelm the reader by presenting endless variations. Yet there are some successes in presenting a repertoire for the white player - Kosten's 'Dynamic English', Palliser's 'Play 1.d4!' and this book by Summerscale.

In many ways, for the average player, I would opine that this book is the better choice. Summerscale presents a queen pawn repertoire with an emphasis on quick development and an attacking set up. Kosten's book, while very well written, advocates quite a sophisticated set up requiring reasonable positional knowledge. Palliser's book is very good, and he presents a solid repertoire using the theoretical best move for white 2.c4, but it is also very comprehensive and thus requires a lot of time to study.

By not playing 2.c4 white, in theory, is not pressuring black quite as much - but there are compensating advantages. The most obvious is that the amount of study required is drastically reduced. Another is that white tends to remain in the system of their choosing. Less obviously, these systems lend themselves well to a style of play based on attacking, straightforward chess which is simply quite fun to play. I would recommend - in fact I would say it is essential - reading Vukovic's classic 'Art of Attack in Chess' if you wish to adopt this repertoire in order to get the most out of the aggressive setups you will (hopefully) obtain.

But let's not get carried away here. These systems, while easy to learn, can certainly be countered by black. Black can equalise without too much difficultly if they know what they are doing. On the other hand, even the theoretically best openings played in master games usually end up with only a small advantage to white.

In my opinion, a more serious defect is in the presentation of the repertoire. The 'complete game' format - while often touted as enabling better comprehension of an opening - also makes it far more difficult to spot holes in the system. For example, I compared the system that Summerscale advocates against the Pirc (150 Attack) with the lines given in the Yrjola & Tella book, which uses the Pirc (in Summerscale's book, you reach the 150 attack by 1.d4 d6 2.e4). In the main line, around move 5, the move given by Yrjola & Tella is simply not considered. Nothing, no mention and its a good move (which I won't disclose - in case you ever use the 150 attack against me in internet chess!). As black, I certainly would not fear the 150 attack based on what I have seen in the Summerscale book. However, this only confirms the point I made above - black can equalise if they know what to do. I guess using this book is about trade offs - you study less, and your games are probably more fun if you find attacking fun, but you have less chance of a lasting advantage against a good player.

Physically, this an attractive book. High quality paper, nice typesetting and I like the graphic design on the cover.

Overall then Summerscale presents a repertoire that is easy to learn and fun to use, with a few holes which you may be able to plug using other sources. A parting thought - as other reviewers have noted, some of Summerscales lines are less effective against black's indian systems. Have you considered the Trompowsky (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5)? It is also an attacking line that is fun to play, and in conjunction with Summerscale's book will broaden your repertoire.

The book covers all the openings that I am interested in. What it is missing is some text and graphics like is in move-by-move books. I want to see what strategies go with which board positions.

Let's say 1. P-Q4, P-Q4, 2.N-KB3 2.N-KB3. What is white supposed to do? If he plays 3. P-K3 he is blocked out of the author's favorite Barry Attack. If he plays 3. B-B4 he is blocked out of the author's favorite, the Colle. Q. Why couldn't the author have organized the book so white would know what opening is appropriate based on where black puts his pawns? It doesn't do any good to run off variations to 20 moves if the reader doesn't understand which of the killer chess openings he should play at move three.

My other complaint is this book is just complete annotated games with reams of variations, sometimes pages of them with no diagrams - useless, unless you have a photographic memory. Virtually nothing here that juxtaposes strategy with pawn positions. Be forewarned the text uses the little pictures of pieces nomenclature, and that can make it even tougher to follow.