chess opening help

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meltysc
hey so I was going through some old boxes when I found the book "Chess Openings: Theory and Practice" by I.A. Horowitz. It seems to be rather useful, it's just it isn't in algebraoc notation. Anyone know of a similar book with aeasoer to understand notation?
kindaspongey

Perhaps, Small Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings is the last book of this type that we will ever see.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627063241/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen145.pdf
If one really wants a detailed general opening reference, I think chessbase sells some sort of updated computer disk from time to time. I am not sure what the desired purpose is here, but I think the common perception is that it is no longer practical to publish a detailed reference in book form for all oenings. There are some not-so-detailed books that attempt to describe most openings (without tables of moves), but I think the last of those was about eight years ago.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626173432/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen128.pdf
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/FCO_Fundamental_Chess_Openings.pdf
If one is not too concerned with detail, perhaps it is not so important to have a recent update. Seirawan's Winning Chess Openings is not as comprehensive as FCO, but it is probably a lot more readable. If I remember correctly, it was written around 1999. Here is a review:
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf
For a bunch of sample games, one could consider:
"... Nearly 170 pages [in The Mammoth Book of Chess] are ... devoted to various chess openings. ..." - Steve Goldberg (2010)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093123/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review756.pdf
That sort of reading would be a pretty daunting task, but I think the Mammoth book differs from most others because of its use of a lot of sample games.

I often suggest Discovering Chess Openings and/or Openings for Amateurs as books to help a beginner with understanding of general ideas and making tentative opening choices,
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/
https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf