This is most everything you need to know to play 1.d4 d5
http://www.amazon.com/Play-Queens-Gambit-Chris-Ward/dp/1857444116
QP openings and text books, you’re advice please
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Thanks, Eric. I hadn't considered that one for some reason, even though I like the Starting Out books.
Anyone have opinions on the first book in my list above, "Strategic Chess," Mednis?
P.S. Sheesh, a grammar error right in the subject line! Oh well.
Play the Queen's Gambit isn't a "starting out" book. It's a complete repertoire for white against 1.d4 d5
I took a look at Strategic chess and it looks a little old timey but not bad, the theory would be really out of date though...you might be better off getting something more specific and recent.
edit: Something like this http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Chess-Openings-Unlocking-Mysteries/dp/1904600697/ref=pd_sim_b_4
Thanks again, Eric. Couple questions on the Ward book.
It does not include the Catalan, is that right?
Reviews indicate that Ward favors sharp lines. Does that mean he also favors open(ish) games as Queen's gambit goes? I ask because I'm thinking that sharp lines and open games can be related.
No the book doesn't include the Catalan since it's a repertoire book.
He does favour sharp lines, and since they are sharp the game will probably be of a semi closed nature, as most sharp positions are semi closed.
Aquaman,
It depends on how much coverage you want. If you just want to understand the QP openings, Watson's second book on "Mastering the Openings" (I forget the name, it's in the other room :)) is good. [General note, pretty much anything Watson writes is good...it might not be what you need...but it's good.]
Sadler's books are also excellent, and I would recommend buying all 3 [The QGD, which is really the "Orthodox" variation, the Slav, and the Semi-Slav.]
Do you really face the Catalan that often?
Zukertort,
I'm interested in the Catalan from the hypermodern perspective. I like to start 1.Nf3, so might like to transpose to it from there. Don't know yet about how much theory is involved, or how much is in control of white and how much is in control of black on whether it gets played, or how I would feel about the positions that might arise, but the hypermodern aspect for white looks interesting. So far I only have about 7 moves of one line for Catalan closed and and 7 moves of a line for Catalan open to go on, from Winning Chess Openings, Seirawan.
Paul
aquaman, I too love opening books, I'M JUST A ADVANCED BEGINNER
TRYING TO IMPROVE MY CHESS GAME SINCE I HAD A STROKE IN 2002.
BY ADVANCED BEGINNER I MEAN, I KNOW THE BASICS OF THE GAME, BUT HAVING A TOUGH TIME FINDING THE OPENING I LIKE
I WAS TOLD TO PICK TWO OUT FOR WHITE(ONE E4 AND ONE FOR D4 ) AND THEN TWO DEFENSS FOR BLACK.
I PLAY THE COLLE A LOT AND HAVE READ SUMMERSCALE'S BOOK AND SEEN HIS DVD AND ALSO POLGARS, I'VE READ GARY LANES BOOK ON THE COLLE
I'M A RETIRED CHIEF OF POLICE FROM NEAR ATLANTIC CITY NEW JERSEY
AND WANT TO IMPROVE, HOWEVER I HAVE TROUBLE CENTERING IN ON A OPENING. I ALSO LIKE THE SCOTCH GAME AND THE PAWN STRUCTURE OF
THE STONEWALL, I GUESS I'M LOOKING FOR A OPENING THAT I CAN DEVELOPE QUICKLY LIKE THE COLLE AND HAVE ADDED PAWN PROTECTION LIKE THE STONEWALL.
AS BLACK, MY CHESS CLUB HOST ADVISED ME TO USE THE CARO KHAN
OR I ALSO LIKE THE SICILIAN(THIS CAN BE A WHITE OPENING ALSO, HOWEVER I'VE SEEN IT MOSTLY USED AS A BLACK DEFENSE
IN CLOSING, AQUAMAN I'M INTERESTED IN WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT THE OPENINGS AND I WISH YOU THE BEST
IF YOU FIND MORE INFO ON THE OPENINGS, MY EMAIL IS antne003@verizon.net
thanks tony from the jersey shore
I know this is probably a silly question Aquaman but you've had a look at this book right?
http://www.amazon.com/Dynamic-Reti-Everyman-Chess/dp/1857443527
a review:
http://www.jeremysilman.com/book_reviews_jd/jd_dynamic_reti.html
Do you think Winning Chess Openings by Seirawan is a good book to start out on?
Eli, Seirawan's book is very explanatory, almost move by move. He also does a great job on the following hypermoderns: King's Indian Defense and Pirc for black and King's Indian Attack for white. He covers both 1.e4 and 1.d4 openings , but except for the KID, Pirc, KIA, he doesn't go very many moves deep, sometimes only 7 or so. So great book as far as he goes. If you have interest in the 1.e4 openings I would consider Chess Opening Essentials, Volume 1: The Complete 1.e4, Djuric. It's very explanatory like Seirawan's book but covers the openings much more fully in terms of moves deep and variations. Neither book will cover the road-less-traveled stuff like the English 1.c4, Reti, Colle, etc.
I don't know which single book covers all of 1.d4 and goes deeper and is also very explanatory. I think if you're just starting out I'd get the two I mentioned above. That's what I did. I'm sure the book by Watson mentioned above goes much deeper into the lines and is very good. I think I looked at it as a complete beginner and it was a little too advanced. Once he got into the moves it was often a sentence then about 5-10 moves then a sentence or two then 5-10 more moves. Assumes you recognize the immediate reason for many moves. Not on the move-by-move detail of the Seirawan or Djuric books. But I could be wrong. Can someone confirm?
Eric, yes I have "the dynamic reti," Davies, and read Silman's review too :). Good of you to mentione it . You never know. I bought it with "The Dynamic English," Kosten, and "Starting out: the engish," Mcdonald, from our discussions a while back on the English and the Reti. This discussion is finishing out my Queen side :).
I know there is the Reti Slav in Davie's book, and Reti Benoni also.
I'm realizing, for OTB especially, I don't really need a repertoire book on the queen's gamit, as I don't intend to play it as a system starting from 1.d4 any time soon. It looks like too much theory for now. That may be what you're suggesting by pointing out the Reti book by Davies. Similarly with the English. I've studied a lot more of the Starting out english book, for example, to get a taste of a number of different main lines in the Enlish (Symetrical, Reti variation, etc), and haven't studied that much of Kosten's repertoire book.
The flip side is that for playing correspondense here, if I have the repertoire books, when I need to I can happily follow along all the way down any line, even if it takes me hours of study between moves. But that's still probably not where I want to spend my time right now.
I might just get the book by Mednis for now, even though it may be dated and is not comprehensive. It's said to be highly explanatory which I like. And it should give me a good taste for the Queen's gambit. I might possibly buy the "Mastering the Openings, Volume 2," Watson book also as a general 1.d4 opening book. Does anyone know where I can find a table of contents on that book?
I'm very intrigued with the colle, London, Stone Wall, etc., as a system and will buy some of those books, but that's the other topic I started, "Stonewall vs Colle-Zukertort." Thanks for the comments in that regard, antne003. Stay tuned in that thread.
So in summary for white I intend to expand my Reti, dable a little in the English and Queen's Gambit for their own sake, and develop a Colle-London-Stonewall-et. al. system.
Then I should be done buying books for awhile, and have the excellent recommendations above if I want to get deeper into the Queen's gambit later. The recommendations really have opened my eyes. I spend several hours reading reviews and studying excerpts where available. Thanks much.
If I post any more topics on opening books, someone please remind me that I said here that I don't need to buy any more books ;).
Thanks again, everyone. Feel free to share more thoughts of course. It's all good.
Thanks for the review Aquaman. I think I'll buy it now. And after I'm done with it maybe I'll look into the other one.
I own Mastering the Chess Openings Vol 2 and I decided to type up the contents for you:
Section 1: Closed Games
1 Introduction to 1 d4 and the Closed Games
2 Queen's Gambit Declined
Declining the Gambit: Other 2nd moves
Early Commitment
Classical Variations
Lasker Defence
Orthodox/Capablanca Defence
Tartakower Variation
Alatortsev Variation
Exchange Variation
Carlsbad Variation
Modern Exchange
Move-Orders in the Queen's Gambit Declined
3 Slav and Semi-Slav
Slav main line
Dutch Variation: 6 e3
Modern Line with 6 Ne5
Exchange Slav
Semi-slav
The meran
Anti-Meran (6 Qc2)
Section 2: Indian Systems
4 Introduction to Indian Defences
5 Nimzo-Indian Defence
Samisch and related lines
Lines with d6 and e5
Lines with d5 and Botvinnik Approach
Samish Main Line with c5 and Ba6
4 e3 and Hubner variation
Early Castling
4... c5 and Hubner proper
Classical Nimzo-Indian 4 Qc2
Central counter-attack 4... d5
Classical with 4... 0-0
6 Queen's Indian Defence
Intro to 3 Nf3
Fianchetto variation
Classical 4... Bb7
Modern 4... Ba6
Petrosian System 4 a3
7 King's Indian Defence
Four Pawns Attack
Central break
6... Na6
Classical King's Indian
Exchange variation
Strongpoint variation
The classical main line with 7... Nc6
9 Ne1
9 Nd2
The Bayonet Variation
Averbakh variation
Samisch variation
with ...e5
with ...c5
8 Grunfeld Defence
Exchange variation
7 Be3 with 8 Qd2
7 Bc4 and classical exchange
Modern 7 Nf3 system
Modern main line with Rb1
9 Modern Benoni
Classical main line
Pawn-storm systems
Mikenas attack
Taimanov attack
Fianchetto system
Index of players
Index of openings
I did search the archives before posting this, but might have missed something. Feel free to point me to other discussions on Queen's Pawn opening books.
Background
Advanced beginner. I’m happy with the KID and Pirc as black. I want to expand my repertoire as white. I have the KIA now. Learning the Reti and English, and realizing those can easily transpose into QP opening lines. I would also like to study of some of the QP lines for their own sake.
I’d like to buy a good book or two on the QP openings. I want them to be explanatory, not just a catalog of lines. I'd like them to cover at least the QGD, Slav, and Catalan. I don't know what other QP openings I might want or need in the future. You might know better than I do from my descriptions above. I do like closed positions. I have Winning Chess Openings, Seirawan. It's explanatory and has ok breadth (lots of openings covered), but not much depth.
Question
Can you recommend a good book or two?
So far from reviews and excerpts when I can veiw them, I like:
- Strategic Chess: Mastering the Closed Game, Mednis. Very explanatory. Includes the QGD, Slav, Catalan, Dutch, and more. Not an exhaustive treatment of all the lines, but rather a move-by-move style explanation for one to a few games for each opening.
- Play the Queen's Gambit, Marovic. Good reviews on Amazon. Said to be very explanatory. Said to cover the QGD, Slav, Semi-Slav. Can’t look inside.
- Queen's Gambit Declined, Saddler. Looks well written from the excerpts at Amazon. And good customer reviews. I don’t see the Slav or Catalan mentioned anywhere though in the table of contents. Maybe the Slav and Catalan aren’t strictly QGD. (They’re in the middle of the QGD section in Seirawan’s book, but his book is poorly organized, so who knows.)
There are probably others that I don’t know about.
Thanks for any help.