Forums

Opening Book Advice?

Sort:
Fly_Eagles_Fly

Hey all, I've been looking for a good opening/repertoire book. Mainly I like to play the English with g3 and Bg2, but I would like to learn either the Veresov Opening, the Nimzo-Larsen Attack, or the Vienna Game. There are several books on these openings that I know of. Just wondering if anyone can give me another opinion.

Here’s a list of books I know on these openings

 

English

I don’t really know a lot about the books on this opening. I’ve heard that the three-volume series by Mihail Marin is regarded as the book (set) on the English. There’s a book by David Cummings that was written less than a year age, so it’s gotta be up-to-date. I had stayed away from it until now because it doesn’t have you playing g3 and Bg2, but if I’m reading it right I now realize it does suggest b3 and Bb2, along with Qc2. I am now leaning heavily towards this book, but would like some outside input if anyone has this book.

 

Speaking of Bb2...

Nimzo-Larsen Attack

Nimzo-Larsen Attack by Jonathan Tait and Byron Jacobs 2001 - This book looks pretty good, but it's over 15 years old, so it's probably pretty out of date…

 

Play 1. b3: The Nimzo-Larsen Attack: a Friend for Life by Ilya Odessky 2008 - This one looks interesting. It’s organized rather oddly, which might appeal to some people but not to me. It was also written almost 10 years ago.

 

Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Move by Move by Cyrus Lakdawala 2013 - This book looks like the best. It’s only about 5 years old, so not too old, but not completely up to date. I’ve also heard that Lakdawala is an… interesting author. I was leaning rather heavily towards this book until I discovered

 

Veresov Opening

The Veresov: Surprise Your Opponents with the Tricky 2. Nc3! By Nigel Davies 2003 - This book, like the one by Tait and Jacobs above, looks really good, only it’s almost 15 years out of date, so I don’t know how up-to-date the theory would be.

 

A Ferocious Opening Repertoire by Cyrus Lakdawala 2011 - Another book by Lakdawala. This one looks good, but I think read somewhere about how it totally neglects a certain important line. It’s also not as new as the other book on the Veresov.

 

The Veresov: Move by Move by Jimmy Liew 2015 - This book looks fine, except that it says in the introduction that it does not cover things like the Caro-Kann, French and Pirc. I don’t really have a repertoire against these as I play the English, so I backed away from this book pretty quickly.

 

Vienna Game

The Modern Vienna Game by Roman Ovetchkin and Sergei Soloviov 2015 - This book looks pretty good, I just would like someone else’s opinion.

 

Another book: The chameleon sicilian, by Carsten Hansen. This book was written only a few months ago. Would just like a general opinion on it.

 

Thanks for reading and helping. This is my first post on chess.com. I hope it’s not to long.

Fly Eagles Fly!

Fly_Eagles_Fly

TL;DR version

know anything about books on the nimzo-larsen attack, veresov, vienna game, chameleon sicilian, or English (especially the one by David Cummings)?

Go Eagles

kindaspongey

Possibly helpful:

The English: Move by Move by Steve Giddins (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627105428/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen161.pdf
Mastering the Chess Openings Vol. 3 by John Watson (2008)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626220240/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen117.pdf
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/Mastering_the_Chess_Openings_volume_3.pdf
Starting Out: English Opening by Neil McDonald (2003)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627024240/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen53.pdf
Opening Repertoire: The English by Cummings (2016)
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7650.pdf
"... I would primarily recommend this book for players rated 2000 to 2400 USCF." - IM John Donaldson (2017)
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/The-English-76p3928.htm
Grandmaster Repertoire 3: The English Opening, Vol. 1 by Mihail Marin (2009)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626173432/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen128.pdf
https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/GMRep3-Englishvolone.pdf
Grandmaster Repertoire 4: The English Opening, Vol. 2 by Mihail Marin (2010)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627073000/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen142.pdf
https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/GM4-excerpt.pdf
Grandmaster Repertoire 5: The English Opening, Vol. 3 by Mihail Marin (2010) https://web.archive.org/web/20140627073000/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen142.pdf
https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/GM5-excerpt.pdf

kindaspongey

Possibly helpful:
The Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Move by Move (2013)

Play 1 b3!

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627104235/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen114.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627052905/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen175.pdf
"Many opening monographs have enthusiastic titles of the form Winning with the... and invite the reader to ingest some marvellous system or other and rack up points - either by encyclopaedic knowledge of main lines or the methodical application of simple strategies. So let us make it clear, first of all, that White has no advantage in the Nimzo-Larsen. The lines in ECO, for example, conclude mostly in '=' (equal) or 'unclear', with just a few '+=' (White stands slightly better) and even these '+=' seem optimistic. Nor is the Nimzo-Larsen a 'system' opening in which the first moves are played parrot-fashion regardless of the replies. There are system-like elements in some variations - the plan Bb5, Ne5, f2-f4 in the reversed Nimzo-Indian (Chapter 4) for instance - but more often White (and Black) can do just about anything. Anyone who likes to win their games in the opening should therefore look elsewhere." - Byron Jacobs & Jonathan Tait (2001) in Nimzo-Larsen Attack
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626223637/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen27.pdf

kindaspongey
Fly_Eagles_Fly wrote:

... The Veresov ... A Ferocious Opening Repertoire ... The Veresov: Move by Move ...

https://web.archive.org/web/20140626165904/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen55.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627131000/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen143.pdf

https://www.everymanchess.com/downloadable/download/sample/sample_id/100/

kindaspongey
Fly_Eagles_Fly wrote:

... The Modern Vienna Game ...

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7493.pdf

kindaspongey
Fly_Eagles_Fly wrote:

... The chameleon Sicilian ...

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/3725.pdf