For many chess-players, opening study is sheer hard work. It is difficult 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, Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy and Chess Strategy in Action, he explained vital concepts that characterize modern chess. Moreover, he did so in ways that have enabled these ideas to be understood by club players. Here he does likewise for the openings, proceeding from the fundamental ideas that apply to all openings to more advanced ideas that are essential for substantial improvement.

In this major two-volume work, Watson explains not only the ideas and strategies behind specific openings, but also the interconnections of chess openings taken as a whole. By presenting the common threads that underlie opening play, Watson provides a permanent basis for playing openings of any type.

Content:
006 Symbols

006 Dedication

006 Acknowledgements

007 Bibliography

009 Introduction

011 1 The Nature of Chess Openings: Fundamentals

023 2 Opening Ideas and Positional Features

036 3 The Significance of Structure

Section 1: Open Games

087 4 Introduction to 1 e4 and the Open Games

091 5 Giuoco Piano

094 Blockading the Pawn

097 Chasing the Pieces

098 A Technical Approach: 5 d3

101 6 Two Knights Defence

102 The Calm 4 d3

104 White targets f7: 4 Ng5

105 Interposition with the Pawn

109 Interposition with the Bishop

110 Central Play: 4 d4

114 7 Philidor Defence

115 Surrender of the Centre

116 Restraint

117 Counterattack

118 The e5 Strongpoint

122 8 Ruy Lopez

126 Chigorin Defence

130 Modern Chigorin

132 Keres Defence

133 Breyer Defence

137 Zaitsev Variation

140 Moller Defence

144 Open Variation

151 Exchange Variation

158 Marshall Attack

166 9 King's Gambit

167 King's Gambit Declined

167 Piece-Play

169 Central Expansion

169 King's Gambit Accepted

Section 2: Semi-Open Games

173 10 Introduction to the Semi-Open Games

175 11 Sicilian Defence

178 Introduction to Systems with 2...d6

181 Dragon Variation

182 Classical Dragon

185 Yugoslav Attack

194 Najdorf Variation

196 The Bg5 Attack

199 Poisoned Pawn Variation

202 Najdorf Sozin Attack

208 Classical 6 Be2 System

212 English Attack

216 Introduction to Systems with 2...e6

219 Sicilian Four Knights

221 Paulsen System

227 Taimanov Variation

236 Sozin Attack (and the Classical Sicilian)

239 Sozin with Kingside Castling

241 Velimirovic Attack

244 Accelerated Fianchetto

248 Alapin Variation

251 12 Caro-Kann Defence

251 Caro-Kann Two Knights

254 Exchange Variation

256 Panov Attack

261 Advance Variation

270 13 French Defence

271 Tarrasch Variation

273 Recapture with the Pawn

278 Recapture with the Queen

283 Tarrasch with 3...Nf6

294 Classical Variation

298 Winawer Variation

299 Positional Lines

305 French Poisoned Pawn

313 14 Pirc Defence

315 Austrian Attack

327 The Bc4 Variation

328 Classical Variation

332 Index of Players

335 Index of Openings