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Title: The Chess Advantage in Black and White : Opening Moves of the Grandmasters by LARRY KAUFMAN ISBN: 0-8129-3571-3 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 16 March, 2004 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.67 (3 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: Too much effort for too little
Comment: This book is not creating much reviews, if you scan the reviews on the net there are perhaps two reviews on this book.
You are being asked to memorize 246 pages of material for white. That's a heck of a lot of study of 2nd rate openings just to play white. Note the author's approach is to choose the second best move in a attempt to cut down on the theory required yet still give you an opening advantage. You are better off learning the English opening and get a first-rate repertoire in less time.
In terms of black there are 131 pages of coverage, covering the full gamit of the classical openings, Ruy lopez, Italian, scotch King's gambit etc. Again if you have the time you are better off spending time on a decent opening such as 100 pages of the Sicilian (Kann or four knights perhaps). You will gain a first class opening that will serve you over the years.
In terms of the strategy of the opening moves the strategies are sparse compared to opening books that focus on the strategy and then use complete games as illustrations. However not too many variations are covered so this book cannot be considered a variations book either.
This book is really for players 2000 & up who are looking for a quick brush up on a particular opening or want to consider deepening their options. They already under stand the fundamentals and are able to research more games to get the fulll level of detail required.
All the computer analysis of the win rates is rather dubious, decent column writers have explained that you have to be careful with computer stats for example "white does well at 55% win rate" , was it white with an average strength of 2700 beating up in IMs or was it all players 2000 and over. A subset might show that in the 2000 to 2400 range the percentages are reversed? I find it strange that we would be called upon to learn over 400 pages of second class responses, the major problem I have is too much work for an opening repetoire that looks second rate. This book definetly has an audience, its for Master players looking to brush up on a new variation or opening. If you like the Berlin defense to the Ruy Lopez then I would consider this book at least for the white side. (That section is co authored by a GM). For the rest of us I would recommend the opening books from the Everyman series or the E4 chess openings book from IM (now GM) Kallai.
Rating: 5
Summary: Greatest repertoire book I have ever seen
Comment: This book by Kaufman is the best repertoire book I have seen. It provides a comprehensive repertoire for white and black. It makes its points though illustrative games, but there are wonderful strategic explanations too. This is a rare and wonderful book, that is packed with great chess openeing stuff!
Rating: 5
Summary: First-rate guide to second-best repertoire
Comment: Kaufman's approach in this repertoire book is to recommend strategically sound variations for white and black that have a GM following, perform better than par in practice but which are not the first choices of theory. The rationale for his choices outlined in the Introduction is very compelling and far superior to Berliner's "System" (with its axes to grind) and Shereshevsky's 'Conveyor' repertoire (which was designed for Soviet-era kids with a chance of becoming greats as opposed to plateauing club players like me). Kaufman quotes over 200 recent games or game fragments by 2400+ players using succinct but clear annotations. He favors Silman-esque evaluations in terms of the significant positional features over plus/equals signs, so this is incidentally a good middlegame strategy manual. (The role of the 2 bishops is particularly stressed.) My only regret is that I can't keep the repertoire to myself, as everyone will start playing these lines. -- Oh, and those are: for White, Spanish Exchange, Sicilian Bb5, French Tarrasch, C-K Advance, etc.; and as Black, Spanish Berlin, QGD Semi-Slav (Moscow, not Botvinnik, and a positional Bd6 defense to the Meran). A final and interesting point: the recommendations are validated with but not dominated by computer-checked analysis. As an expert in computer chess, Kaufman is uniquely well qualified to provide this kind of human-machine symbiotic analysis. Even if you don't like the sound of some of these lines, give it a chance: The book is a labor of love, not a "Win as White/Black with..." potboiler.
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Title: Play the French, 3rd by John Watson ISBN: 1857443373 Publisher: Everyman Chess Pub. Date: 01 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Play 1d4! by Richard Palliser ISBN: 0713488441 Publisher: Batsford Pub. Date: 28 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: King's Indian Battle Plans: The Dynamics of a Recent Investigation Into the King's Indian Defense by A. Martin ISBN: 1888710004 Publisher: Thinkers Press Pub. Date: February, 2004 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Starting Out: The Pirc/Modern by Joe Gallagher ISBN: 1857443365 Publisher: Everyman Chess Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Pal Benko: My Life, Games, and Compositions by Pal Benko, Jeremy Silman, John Watson ISBN: 1890085081 Publisher: Siles Press Pub. Date: May, 2004 List Price(USD): $45.00 |
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