• by Pickle1000

  I found this book priceless with its reading ease and focus on only the most solid openings.  A must for beginners and opening therorists.  The Accelerate/Fianchettoed Dragon and the Hyper Accelerated dragon along with the Nimzo-Indian Defense are discussed in depth and made clear to the reader
  

• by rgp89

  Rating:

  Okay Book!!!  The bad part was that the diagrams presented white on the bottom and black on top.   I would  prefer  if black  was on top and white on bottom .
  

• by ogerboy

  Rating:

  I have seen various misleading titles on opening books over the past few years, but never have I seen publishers go as far as this. A better name for this 552 pages dog food of a book would be something like 'a book for the gullible', or '552 sheets of toilet paper - coloured'.

  Coming in at 552 pages, you would imagine this book to be an actual complete repertoire - careful analysis, proper use of diagrams, and plenty of verbal prose. Well, those who live in that fantasy world will be severly devastated to find that the book at hand contains none of the three.

  The analysis, to say the least, was shallow and lacking. The authors completely ignore such authorative sources as ECO, and in many places create their own fantasy line where they leave a hole large enough to drop an elephant inside. Miraculously, while the authors have managed to include two pointless chapters on 1.e4 & d4 (two lines on each system of defence is hardly what I would call useful), they have somehow 'forgotten' to include a bibliography. It remains unclear whether the authors simply couldn't be bothered to include a bibliography or the fact that a blank bibliography page is hardly the way to make a book look pretty.

  The diagrams, although plentiful, do nothing to help the reputation of this already dreadful book. Most pages have more than 4 diagrams, which is going way over the board, all the more so when considering the amount of blank spaces the authors devote to.

  The verbal commentaries are no different to the analysis. Considering the fact that the book is titled 'Chess Openings for Black, Explained', the verbal commentaries are either non existent or mindless scribbles.

  In the introduction, the authors have made the ridiculous claim that this book is useful for anyone from beginners to super-GMs. I am not sure what the hell those guys were smoking when they wrote that, but all I could say is that this utter piece of crap would be better used being fed to dogs than being read.

• by tal60

   only thing i didnt like is its a little aggorgant. white is destroyed in every opening. id rather have honesty, of course black isnt way ahead in every opening, unless the authors are pick-choosing.

• by Balachandar

  [COMMENT DELETED]

• by Balachandar

  [COMMENT DELETED]

• by Balachandar

  can someone tell what are the openings included in this book for black?

• by Sir_Rees

  In this book against 1.e4 the authors recommend Accelerated Dragon of Sicilian opening. Instead against 1.d4 the Nimzo-Indian Defense.

  Finally the symmetrical English against 1.c4

  Good Books.

• by blueparrot12345

  Rating:

  This book is generally good, and certainly not dog food or "toilet paper". The only reason I do not give it higher is due to it's choices of openings and systems. They claim to equalize "completely" for black. Assuming that this is true, I and others have found certain openings very uncomfortable for black, and certainly not optimal, even theoretically. For most club players, and me a higher tourney player, some of these choices, like the alapin section, where black must either sac a pawn with OK comp, but difficult play, or enter a cramped French with little hope to play for win if white is accurate. Also, it has this "arrogant" sense to it. It continuously ignores traditional theories and often goes into it's own opinions, disregarding ECOs. I find some choices questionable, even theoretically. The Classical in the accelerated dragon, with the Nd4,Nc3,Be3,Be2,and white has just castled. They claim that the move d5 in one move is giving a disad to black after exd5 Nxd5 Nxd5 Qxd5 Bf3. Not only is there the nice choice of Nb4 after exd5, which after d6! for white leads to fun play, but after Bf3 Qa5!? is complex and should be equal for black after Nxc6?! bxc6 Bxc6 Rb8 Qd5 donaldson's recom of Qc7! with great comp for the pawn. Just one great variation, and a lot of fun. Instead they recom the mundane d6, transposing to the norm classical. They also give a couple of again, difficult to understand lines for club players, like in the Nxc6 followed by Qd4(third move sidelines). There follows a pawn sac, and several extremely complex positions that may not be comfortable. However, it is not black;s choice here whether or not he wants to play them. Sometimes, it gives white is better, or black is better, sometimes without explaining.

  Positives: It gives good, solid nimzo and bog coverages, which should give black a great game with plenty of chances. It also coverages just about all of white's choices, leaving few gaps in coverage. I liked the accurate analysis in a5 variation of accelerated fianchetto, although full equality for black may be questionable. Their maroczy analysis is good and solid, and I found it easy to put into my games. The blue diagrams and summaries were also useful.

• by mversave

  As an amateur player, I found that this book is following a logic that I can follow, and it focuses on relatively few defenses that black can use for an interesting game. I agree that it would be easier to use and remember if the diagrams were presented with black on the bottom, which would avoid having to do the mental rotation exercise for each of the multiple positions described.

• by echecs06

  Great resource book!

• by artar1

  Rating:

  Greetings,

  Some of the negative comments posted here are clearly unfounded. They seem to have been made by those who haven't read the book or checked the recommended lines using a powerful chess program on a multiprocessor PC. If you have read the book and don’t like the recommendations because of their positional nature—especially the defenses against 1.d4 and 1.c4—you would have a legitimate observation.

  In my opinion, the opening lines presented in the book are very solid, well thought-out, avoid deep theory, and should provide a good defensive strategy for anyone with an over-the-board rating of 2000 or less. The authors took considerable effort to explain the ideas behind the moves while including most of the variations one is likely to meet. If something has been left out, use a computer and a chess-game database to fill in the blanks.

  The only problem I can see with the book, notwithstanding its boastful tone, is its recommendation of the Hyperaccelerated Dragon. This defense is somewhat drawish against the Maroczy Bind. But if your opponents aren’t strong chess masters, I wouldn't worry about it. Most class-level chess players simply do not have the necessary endgame skills to secure the draw under tournament conditions or when playing blitz chess.

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