Building and maintaining a chess opening repertoire can be a demanding task - for a start there are an enormous number of different lines to choose from. There's a strong temptation amongst beginners and improving players to opt solely for tricky lines in order to snare unsuspecting opponents, but this approach has only short-term value. As you improve and your opponents become stronger, very often these crafty lines don't stand up to close scrutiny, and suddenly you're back to square one with no suitable opening weapons. In Starting Out: 1 e4! Neil McDonald solves this typical problem by providing the reader with a strong and trustworthy repertoire with the white pieces based on the popular opening move 1 e4. The recommended lines given here have stood the test of time and are regularly employed by Grandmasters. Reading this book will give you the confidence to play these variations against all strengths of player and provide you with a reliable opening armoury for years to come. This book is written in Everyman Chess's distinctive Starting Out style, with plenty of notes, tips and warnings to help the aspiring player.
- A Grandmaster-style opening repertoire
- Written by a 1 e4 expert
- Ideal for improving players
English Grandmaster Neil McDonald is an experienced and successful player on the international chess circuit. He is a respected chess coach, who has trained many of England's strongest junior players. McDonald is also a talented chess writer and has many outstanding works to his name. Earlier Everyman Chess books include Concise Chess Openings and Starting Out: The Dutch Defence.
Content:
005 Introduction
007 Open Games
007 1 e4 e5
048 The Sicilian
048 2 Sicilian: Introduction and Classical
058 3 Sicilian Scheveningen
069 4 Sicilian Najdorf
081 5 Sicilian Dragon
094 6 Sicilian Sveshnikov (and Kalashnikov)
108 7 Sicilian Taimanov (and other variations)
125 Black's Other Defences
125 8 Alekhine's Defence
134 9 Caro-Kann Defence
146 10 Scandinavian (and 1...Nc6)
161 11 Pirc and other Fianchetto Defences
173 12 French Defence
194 Index of Variations
199 Index of Complete Games |