Unless you get The Encyclopedia of Chess Openings (ECO 6 books), you are unlikely to find a book that covers all openings. But a good start could be Reuben Fine's "Hidden ideas behind the chess openings" (approximate title), which could be out of print (try Amazon).I don't know the book you mention, so I can't comment on it.
I need a good openings book
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I believe there are only 5 books in the ECO collection A, B, C, D, E
If all you want is a one volume reference book that covers the most popular openings then any of the opening " Bibles " will do fine, MCO, BCO, NCO and the one you mention, FCO ....
I want a book that has the openings of course but also a book that has notes and explanations about them. I've checked out some books and it is all notation and more notation. They look like chemistry formulas to me. I checked the ECO series on Amazon and is a pretty penny for all five books. Those "bible" collections seem, how can I put this, incomplete to me. I know I can use the opening database here or on Chessmaster, but I want something tangible.
Thanks Reb 
The Fine book recommended above might be better for you then , than the opening reference books. You want something with more text/explanation then the opening Bibles wont fit the bill and neither do the ECOs. To get much good/use out of the opening reference books I think you already need to have a certain level of chess understanding and I hesitate to put a rating to that understanding but they certainly are not suitable for beginners nor very weak players. I have also heard that the book you mention ( FCO ) has more text / explanation than the other 3 I mention but I think it still may fall short of what you want/need. Understanding the Ideas Behind The Chess Openings by Ruben Fine is probably what you need , it was one of my favorite books. I think Henri was recommending the same book and it probably is out of print. One, or both of us, may not have the title exactly right.
Reb, I'm a pretty good player actually, when I take my time to think of my moves and am not under time pressure. Despite my meager 1200 rating on this site(I haven't played anyone yet..only my girlfriend and that was unrated.)I don't really consider myself a beginner but I never took the time to truly get underneath the game like Fischer did. I know a lot about the game, it's just now over the course of my chess career am I delving much deeper into the game. But I will take your suggestions and do some research on the books you mentioned. Thanks :)
Reb, I just looked at that on Amazon and I have the page bookmarked. Some of the reviews were alright, one guy said there was some mistakes in the conversion from the previous edition. But it's only 10 bucks and change, so I'm going to do some research on that, maybe go the library and check it out and see where to go from there.
Thanks again for your help. :)
sparenone - that is how I lose some games is seeing things I'm not used to seeing, hence me getting a book, but even books are not always useful because chess is always evolving. My last few games I've played I have been able to avoid certain things, but normally it comes down to me blundering, leading to a loss.
sparenone wrote:
I can save you a lot of money. The person who wrote those books put their pants on one leg at a time just like you so what make them better than you friend. When they started they did not have much to work with.
When the first player that got caught by a Tactic called the double attack i bet he lost that game. Chess is about moves that you caught you off guard which lead to you losing. Just study moves that you would hate to be used on you and learn how to stop it or avoid it.
This is really very silly and can certainly be discarded as any kind of serious help/advice. Wait, you are joking again I guess ? 
sparenone - you have a point, no GM is going to buy a chess book from Mr. John Q. Public that's for sure. Yeah I have been playing a long while I guess I just feel like I am missing something. I'm very critical about my play and perhaps a little OCDsh or even paranoid that I'm not doing all that I can.
sparenone wrote:
Since chess books have been written have you seen in the history of chess seen a Grandmaster start buy books or getting advice from us. They stayed on top and we stayed below they read and buying everything they write. Be original is the only way will this switch, the only way student will surpase the student.
They are money hungry they write books to support themselves. Every time you turn around somebody asking if you know any good books to buy.
Grandmasters dont do that, they disappear for a while a go study an come up with new lines of play. Stop acting like a student and act like a Teacher. You have been playing long enough and studied long enough. Go find new lines of play.
You are giving someone advice that is several classes higher/better than you ? Thats funny and quite arrogant at the same time. I have learned a great deal from books ( most written by GMs and IMs and a few world champions ) and have not yet reached a point where I cant learn anymore from the books being written by players far better than me. Have you ? While top GMs may no longer use books much in their work towards improvement I imagine all of them did earlier in their careers. They weren't born with the GM title you know.
I have learned a lot from books since studying chess. Everywhere I go I bring my chess books and at the bookstores that's all I look at. All of them in some form or another have helped me to become a better player.
I have a substantial chess library and am always on the lookout for new concepts. One of my basics is the Reuben Fine book mentioned. ( I have a spare copy) Also by Reuben Fine is 'Chess the Easy Way'. This book assumes you have sat down at the board for the first time. It gives 10 rules for the opening, for the middle game and for the end game. Essentially these are strategic concepts that are intended to guide your play. For anyone who is stuck in a rut it provides a rounded view of the game so that a player can spend time on the bit that he finds difficult before moving on to the next (difficult) bit. When you lose a game and sit down to find out why, this book is handy to have beside you. Almost certainly you have failed to follow one or more of the rules.
Mastering the Chess Openings Volumes 1-4. These books will give you general ideas and teach you about the structures involved in the openings. You will not get tons of lines or even every variation. That being said, you can't get the best of both worlds. You either get a *CO book with tons of lines and few notes or you get a book with less lines and more notes. The Mastering books are by IM John Watson who has done lots of great work. These are right in line with his typical work.
Every game I play I analyze, possibly over-analyze, but afterwards I see my mistakes and make note of them. I'm sure I haven't followed certain aspects over my career but my brain isn't exactly the best(I'm bi-polar and most of the time full of meds). I give 110% to everyone of my chess games and have in this inquenchible thirst to be the best I can be, whether by book or just by playing and studying my own games.
I've seen the Watson books and so far they are the ones I am leaning on when I go to the bookstore. Amazon has them all for under 20 bucks. I guess it comes down to either the Fine or Watson books.
Further to the previous post, you said that you were looking for a good openings book. Capablanca recommended learning the endgame first and that was good advice, however if you want to become familiar with specific openings for black and for white, you might try Boris Avrukh's recent tomes 1.d4 Vols I and II that cover all sensible responses to 1.d4. There are other books that cover 1.e4 -Anand has published a couple, however since I only ever play 1.d4 I have not studied them.
For black you need a range of responses to 1.d4, 1.e4, 1 c4, plus an understanding of how to respond to less common sallies by white. I find that 1...d6 provides a flexible option but that is my taste. You should find something yoiu are comfortable wih and learn it well. Good luck.
There's just too many out there right now for me to consider and compare. I've looked at many of them but can not really pick out the one or two that I need, so I would figure I would ask you guys here. Any ideas or is Van der Sterren's Fundamental Chess Openings the best? Thanks ahead of time.