For most chess-players, opening study is sheer hard work. It is hard to know what is important and what is not, and when specific knowledge is vital, or when a more general understanding is sufficient. Tragically often, once the opening is over, a player won't know what plan to follow, or even understand why his pieces are on the squares on which they sit. John Watson seeks to help chess-players achieve a more holistic and insightful view of the openings. In his previous books on chess strategy, he explained vital concepts that had previously been the domain only of top-class players. Here he does likewise for the openings, explaining how flexible thinking and notions such as 'rule-independence' can apply to the opening too. Watson presents a wide-ranging view of the way in which top-class players really handle the opening, rather than an idealized and simplified model.
This volume, focusing on queen's pawn openings, is a book that will make chess-players think hard about how they begin their games. It also offers both entertainment and challenging study material in openings such as the Nimzo-Indian, King's Indian and the entire Queen's Gambit complex.
International Master John Watson is one of the world's most respected writers on chess. His groundbreaking four-volume work on the English firmly established his reputation in the 1980s, and he has produced a string of top-quality works since. In 1999, Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy, Watson's first book for Gambit, won the British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award and the United States Chess Federation Fred Cramer Award for Best Book. His pupils include the 1997 World Junior Champion, Tal Shaked.
Introduction
This second volume of Mastering the Chess Openings investigates openings in which White plays 1 d4. As in Volume 1, which examines 1 e4, I work from the ground up, starting with the very first moves of each opening to explain its elementary properties. Someone with only a modicum of playing experience should be able to master these fundamentals and use them as a basis for understanding the more sophisticated material that follows. For a primer on the rudimentary principles that apply to all opening play, please refer to Chapter 1 of Volume 1. The next two chapters of that volume may also be useful, since they identify the ideas and themes most often referred to in the book as a whole.
My philosophy is the same in both volumes, but a few points bear repeating. These books are not meant to cover all openings, much less all of their variations; such an undertaking would require scores of volumes. Instead, I have selected systems that I consider the most useful for the sake of explanation and instruction. In the main, these are the most 'important' openings, in that they have had a large following through the years and have a well-developed theoretical underpinning. Within these major openings I have picked a number of variations to study in some detail, based upon the belief that in-depth familiarity with several variations is better than superficial understanding of all. In order to place this selection in context, I leave signposts to indicate the direction in which alternatives may lead.
While some of the games and analysis are recent, many classic examples are used to illustrate general points.
This is not primarily a theoretical tome: some of the opinions that I venture about the value of hotly-contested individual lines will undoubtedly prove wrong or irrelevant. Instead, my goal is to provide a solid basis for the reader to play openings successfully, emphasizing positional features and techniques that extend to variations beyond those at hand. Notice that this differs from a full explanation of an opening using concepts specific to that opening. We shall see that individual moves themselves express ideas, whether or not they fit into a general scheme that has previously been set forth. Accordingly, a certain level of detail is absolutely necessary to understand both the consistent strategies and the anomalies that can render such strategies irrelevant.
On a practical level, I have subjected readers to recitations about the niceties of move-orders; the associated issues can be confusing but bear a direct relation to real-world results. Assessments of variations can evolve very rapidly, but how one best arrives at the desired starting points tends not to change much.
In the next chapter I examine the fundamental characteristics of 1 d4 and how it differs from 1 e4. You will find further comparisons between these moves in both volumes. The study of 1 d4 by itself will suffice to improve your chess understanding by leaps and bounds, but if you truly aspire to master the game you will want to know as much as possible about the e-pawn openings as well. I sincerely hope that these volumes will help you in both respects.
Content:
005 Symbols
06 Bibliography
008 Introduction
Section 1: Closed Games
009 1 Introduction to 1 d4 and the Closed Games
011 2 Queen's Gambit Declined
012 Declining the Gambit: Other 2nd Moves
023 Early Commitment
025 Classical Variations
025 Lasker Defence
029 Orthodox/Capablanca Defence
035 Tartakower Variation
042 Alatortsev Variation
046 Exchange Variation
053 Carlsbad Variation
061 Modern Exchange
066 Move-Orders in the Queen's Gambit Declined
070 3 Slav and Semi-Slav
074 Slav Main Line
076 Dutch Variation: 6 e3
086 Modern Line with 6 Ne5
094 Exchange Slav
097 Semi-Slav
102 The Meran
110 Anti-Meran (6 Qc2)
Section 2: Indian Systems
114 4 Introduction to the Indian Defences
116 5 Nimzo-Indian Defence
118 Sämisch and Related Lines
120 Lines with ...d6 and ...e5
122 Lines with ...d5 and the Botvinnik Approach
131 Sämisch Main Line with ...c5 and ...Ba6
135 4 e3 and the Hübner Variation
135 Early Castling
138 4...c5 and the Hübner Proper
143 Classical Nimzo-Indian: 4 Qc2
143 Central Counter-Attack: 4...d5
154 Classical with 4...0-0
164 6 Queen's Indian Defence
164 Introduction to 3 Nf3
165 Fianchetto Variation
166 The Classical 4...Bb7
169 The Modern 4...Ba6
173 Petrosian System (4 a3)
183 7 King's Indian Defence
188 Four Pawns Attack
191 Central Break
201 6...Na6 vs the Four Pawns
204 Classical King's Indian
205 Exchange Variation
208 Strongpoint Variation
216 The Classical Main Line with 7...Nc6
218 9 Ne1
231 9 Nd2
236 The Bayonet Variation
238 Averbakh Variation
240 Sämisch Variation
241 Sämisch with ...e5
244 Sämisch with ...c5
248 8 Griinfeld Defence
249 Exchange Variation
249 7 Be3 with 8 Qd2
253 7 Bc4 and the Classical Exchange
268 Modern 7 Nf3 System
272 Modern Main Line with Rb1
280 Russian System
290 9 Modern Benoni
294 Classical Main Line
301 Pawn-Storm Systems
302 Mikenas Attack
303 Taimanov Attack
309 Fianchetto System
316 Index of Players
319 Index of Openings | 
