A Solution to All of Your 1. e4 Problems
Last summer, I wrote a blog post (https://www.chess.com/blog/Milliern/the-black-hole-of-chess-opening-study-and-my-hiatus) about how I never spent any time to study openings, and that now I had to figure out my opening problems, because I was getting early middlegame positions that were simply lost. I, however, won a fair number of those games in lost positions, despite the fact that opposition was as high as the upper 2000’s. My temporary fix was to work with a super simple opening repertoire designed by Nigel Davies, which did some good, generating wins against players closer to my rating range; but had the massive drawback of never winning games against slightly higher rated players, and often ending in catastrophically dry and unwinnably drawn positions. Davies’ repertoire is good for his “no-hopers,” as he calls them, but the repertoire is sophomoric, as one of his other former students (now a Master, after ditching Davies) affirmed. That left me with the problem of what to do about openings. I’m a 1. e4 player, who prefers initiative, but I have been playing 1. d4 to improve my positional, strategic, and technical play, only to find myself in unnatural Colle positions, which don’t take so much from lower rated players to draw. The answer to my opening ailing was Elijah Logozar, who has come out with the best 1. e4 repertoire I have ever encountered: https://www.chessable.com/opening-book/1e4-a-comprehensive-white-repertoire/8209/
Long before this digital book was even a thought, I hired and worked with Elijah as my second , because I saw he was an amazing researcher of chess games, and very quickly got a handle of what was at stake in an opening or variation. Even more importantly for me, his suggestions were amazingly practical. An evening before a tournament game against an opponent I had previously gotten a poor game against, due to the opening, Elijah suggested some ideas that could give me, at the very least, an equal game. It worked: I was even, got ahead, but the game was a draw. No more getting battered out of the opening, thanks to specific suggestions Elijah was making. My only wish was that all of his suggestions would come to exist in a self-paced form –especially in a non-hourly fee form. By chance, some lunatic suggested that Elijah create a comprehensive repertoire book for 1. e4, and Elijah chose to pour countless hours and tremendous effort into the project. The result is so impressive that a Grandmaster I respect as one of the elite pedagogical analysts (who I support monthly on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user/posts?u=8046469 ), Dejan Bojkov, has endorsed the book, and with relatively few alterations made by GM Bojkov. To give you an idea of what is in this Chessable digital book, Elijah has made an introductory video for the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yANG0eQ7Nw&t=
The repertoire can be compared to IM Sielecki’s “Keep It Simple: 1. e4,” which pales in comparison. This might be one of the most impressive aspects of Elijah Logozar’s book: Sielecki’s book strives for simplicity, which becomes less and less useful above the 1800 level, while also having next to no explanation of ideas for players in the 100-1800 range, whereas Logozar has systematically broken down his sections to benefit beginner, intermediate, and advanced players (and I believe Bojkov has said the lines book will pay many dividends for 2200+ players). If you watch the Youtube introductory video, Logozar explains that openings are chopped into chapters, where each opening has an “introduction” chapter, an “annotated games” chapter, and a “theory” chapter. The introductions are so detailed that one could easily begin playing the opening in rated games, possessing ideas enough to navigate the positions. For intermediate players, the annotated games are, both, a way to learn the opening in more depth and learn some very valuable chess ideas. The theory, though quite sophisticated, is tremendously well explicated to give an intermediate player a glimpse into the depth and richness of the opening, as well as give the 2200+ player ideas, understanding, and deep insight into the lines. It is quite a marvel that a 1900-level player developed this book. Then again, if you look at Logozar’s USCF player page, he’s probably much stronger than that, having defeated both Experts he’s played in the past 12 months, and scoring better than 90% in his games. An item worth noting is that there is another major difference between Sielecki's and Logozar's repertoires: Logozar's is centered around the Ruy Lopez, whereas Sielecki's focuses on the Scotch.
For someone looking to play 1. e4, and who would not like to waste time on overly simplified opening repertoires, I suggest this digital book. Not only is it an amazing practical book, thanks to the high quality of verbal and visual explanations (because of excellent diagrams with arrows, critical square highlighting, etc.); it is also an excellent theoretical book, as the reader can continue to increase his or her opening preparation depth through the same book! One friend, a d4 player, has already purchased it, and said that the book finally allows him some traction in the world of e4, which he has always been hesitant to enter into, because of the tremendous depth that 1. e4 presents. For my part, the high school chess team I coach (2017-2018 Northshore Interscholastic Chess League Champions) will be using Elijah Logozar’s repertoire, in preparation for next season; I think that speaks volumes about the quality of this repertoire and the strength of my endorsement for it.
