Batsford's Modern Chess Openings, often dubbed 'the chess player's bible', has been a standard source of chess reference for over half a century.

This massive stand-alone work covers every principal line of play in every opening variation, thereby providing the distilled essence of contemporary chess theory. This latest updated edition - more comprehensive than ever - is an indispensable companion for club and tournament players.

Introduction

Modern Chess Openings (MCO) is a one-volume reference book covering all the chess openings. It has been the standard English language work on openings for almost a century - the first edition came out in 1911, written by Griffith and White. Subsequent editions were written or edited by others as the tradition passed down. Notable were the sixth and tenth editions, excellent works by Fine and Evans (respectively) which helped earn this book the nickname "The Chess Player's Bible." The first edition was a much smaller book, with shorter chess variations. Chess theory has developed immensely since then and continues to change every year as the world's best players constantly find new strategies.

This book endeavours to give the reader a clear and concise presentation of whichever chess opening he or she chooses. It is divided into six sections of major openings groups, each section containing chapters on the specific openings (or major variations of the openings). The chapter introductions give an overview of the strategic concepts and some historical information. The major content of the book is the tables and notes of chess variations. The best play (in the light of present knowledge) is usually the main variation, and sidelines are either clever traps and tricks that are useful to know, interesting but little tested plans, or enticing mistaken strategies along with their refutations. Some pages are densely packed and reflect the current focus on these openings, while others are less dense and more suitable for beginners.

The previous edition, MCO-14, was written in 1999. This first edition of the twenty-first century reflects the advances that have been made in the openings along with the fundamental change brought on by the great progress of computer chess programs. The best programs are on a par with the world's best players. Human players are better at strategic thinking, planning, and imagination in chess. Computers well surpass their human counterparts in raw calculation and have the advantage that they never overlook a tactical opportunity. Established theory of chess openings is often the result of collaborative work between humans and computers. The human grandmasters provide the plan, while the computer checks the variations for tactical accuracy.

MCO 15 was compiled from many source materials - the most important of which were the raw games of the top players from many, many tournaments around the world. These were analyzed (sometimes by the players themselves) and checked with a computer program. Other important sources were the many books on specific chess openings along with magazines, especially Chess Life and New in Chess. Lastly, commentary on the Internet Chess Club was also a source of ideas.

Nick de Firmian

3-time U.S. Chess Champion

August 2008

Content:

ixAcknowledgments

xiIntroduction

xiiiExplanatory Notes

xvTips for the Novice

I. DOUBLE KING PAWN OPENINGS

1 e4 e5

003 1 King's Gambit

018 2 Giuoco Piano

026 3 Evans Gambit

030 4 Two Knights' Defence

042 5 Ruy Lopez

043 A. Variations without..a6.

055 B. Variants on Moves 4-6 after 3...a6.

079 C. Main Lines, 3...a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 d6 8 c3 0-0

096 6 Petrov's Defence

104 7 Scotch Game

114 8 Vienna Game

121 9 Four Knights' Game

129 10 Three Knights' Game

132 11 Philidor's Defence

135 12 Ponziani's Opening

138 13 Göring Gambit

141 14 Danish Gambit

144 15 Latvian Gambit

147 16 Bishop's Opening

151 17 Centre Game

154 18 Unusual Double King Pawn Openings

II. SEMI-OPEN GAMES

1 e4

159 1 Alekhine's Defence

171 2 Caro-Kann Defence

197 3 French Defence

244 4 Sicilian Defence

246 A. Najdorf Variation

269 B. Dragon Variation (including the Accelerated Dragon)

290 C. Scheveningen Variation

302 D. Variations with 2...e6

318 E. Classical Sicilian Variations

336 F. Sicilian Systems with 2...Nc6 and...e5

346 G. Non-open Sicilians (variations without 2 Nf3 and 3 d4)

362 5 Pirc Defence

373 6 Robatsch Defence

378 7 Centre Counter Defence

381 8 Nimzovich Defence

384 9 Unusual King's Pawn Defences

III. DOUBLE QUEEN PAWN OPENINGS

1 d4 d5 2 c4

389 1 Queen's Gambit Declined

440 2 Tarrasch Defence

449 3 Queen's Gambit Accepted

460 4 Slav and Semi-Slav Defence

488 5 Chigorin's Defence

IV. OTHER QUEEN PAWN OPENINGS

1 d4

493 1 Dutch Defence

503 2 Budapest Defence

506 3 Queen's Pawn Games and Gambits

V. INDIAN OPENINGS

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4

517 1 Catalan Opening

536 2 Nimzo-Indian Defence

563 3 Queen's Indian Defence

582 4 Bogo-Indian Defence

588 5 King's Indian Defence

628 6 Old Indian Defence

631 7 Grünfeld Defence

649 8 Benoni Defence

663 9 Benko Gambit

VI. FLANK OPENINGS

675 1 English Opening

718 2 Reti Opening

724 3 King's Indian Attack

729 4 Larsen's Opening

732 5 Bird's Opening

733 6 Miscellaneous Flank Openings

741 Index