Chess Openings for White, Explained: Winning with 1.e4, Second Revised and Updated Edition

by Lev Alburt, Roman Dzindzichashvili, Eugene Perelshteyn

“A must for every chess player!”―Anatoly Karpov, 12th World Chess Champion Every chess player needs a set of openings he can trust. Use Bobby Fischer’s favorite first move, 1. e2-e4, to begin your games as White―and know the ideas and moves that follow, no matter how Black defends!

White moves first in chess and can, if he’s well prepared, immediately put the pressure on Black. In this highly praised volume, three leading grandmasters logically explain a system of carefully selected and interrelated openings, covering all responses by Black!

You also get a an informative review of every opening from White’s point of view, even ones not part of the book’s recommended repertoire. This book, together with its companion volume, Chess Openings for Black, Explained (available separately), gives you the most thorough explanation of chess opening ideas available. More than 1,700 diagrams let you study many positions without using a chess set.

This second edition is completely updated with the newest games and ideas. 1700 b/w chess diagrams

Genres: Chess, Games, Nonfiction

548 pages, Paperback

First published August 14, 2006

Reviews

[William Mego]

I seriously WANTED to give this high marks, but to be frank, it's filled with errors and gaps. There are typos, mislabeled diagrams, and while I would be willing to overlook that, believe it or not, what I am entirely unable to overlook is the giant gaping holes in the theory, where entire possible (and frankly common) lines are not considered, and other alternate lines trail off, suggesting the answer to anything down that rabbit hole is obvious. I'd be willing to think myself simply daft at that, except that computers AND better players than I agree. And please note, we're not talking about 20 moves in, we're more around...four, in places.

The intention is to create a stable and "hole-less" system for a player. The constant omissions make this someplace between bad work to a cruel joke for a weaker player.

[Brandon]

Found it helpful with some openings but had difficulty with the main line suggestion, a variation of the Two Knights Defense, when I repeatedly encountered a counter not considered by the authors. Overall though, I find it to be a handy reference.

[Eric Nguyen]

Very detailed e4 openings. Good for players of any level.

[Todd Bryant]

AVOID. The recommendations in this book are dreadful. Don't believe me? See here: https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/commen...