Set yourself up for success by understanding the art of the chess opening
Chess Openings For Dummies helps beginning and intermediate chess players improve their game by making the first few moves count. With a strong opening, you can dictate the flow of the game, control the center, and keep your king safe. This book shows you how to make tactical early moves that put you on a strong footing for the rest of the game. Chess master James Eade shares his expert knowledge for coming out triumphant in open, semi-open, closed, and semi-closed games. Plus, you'll discover the perks of advancing with flank openings and learn the major mistakes to avoid. Learn the importance of online competitions, computers, and faster-paced chess events and their impact on the game. In language anyone can understand, this Dummies guide helps you gain a strategic advantage in chess.
- Discover the most effective openings for open and closed games
- Advance your game with new and advanced opening techniques
- Learn why certain openings have become more popular—and why you should use them
- Gain the upper hand in the first few moves and keep opponents on their toes
Looking to improve your chess openings? Chess Openings For Dummies makes it easy.
Introduction 1
About This Book 2
Conventions Used in This Book 2
Foolish Assumptions 3
How This Book Is Organized 3
Icons Used in This Book 4
Beyond the Book 5
Where to Go from Here 5
Part 1: Principles of Play 7
Chapter 1: Understanding Chess Openings 9
Identifying a Chess Opening 9
Distinguishing the opening from an opening 10
Seeing how a move turns into an opening 10
Watching an opening transform right before your eyes 11
Finding an opening thats right for you 12
Reviewing Chess Shorthand 13
Describing the board and pieces 14
Describing the action 14
Chapter 2: Exploring the Elements of Chess 17
Getting Time on Your Side 18
When Spacing Out Is Good 19
Making the Most of Your Material 20
Structuring your pawns 22
Securing your king 24
Chapter 3: Picking the Right Type of Opening 25
Considering Naming Conventions 25
Examining Opening Types 27
Breaking open the board with open games 28
Counterattacking with semi-open games 28
Shutting down your opponent with closed games 29
Playing coy with semi-closed games 30
Playing on the sidelines with flank games 31
Part 2: Winning with Open Games 33
Chapter 4: Gambling with Gambits 35
Why Gamble with a Gambit? 35
Trotting Out the Kings Gambit 36
The Kings Gambit accepted 37
The Kings Gambit declined 42
Delving into the Danish Gambit 47
When things go Whites way 48
When things go Blacks way 49
Gambits for Black 51
Gambits All the Way 52
Chapter 5: Opening Softly with a Big Stick: The Bishop Makes Its Move 53
Preying with the Bishops Opening 54
When things go Whites way 54
When things go Blacks way 56
Keying Up for the Giuoco Piano 58
When things go Whites way 59
When things go Blacks way 61
Attacking with the Evans Gambit 63
When things go Whites way 63
When things go Blacks way 65
Chapter 6: Workin on Some Knight Moves 67
Calling in the Calvary: The Four Knights 67
When things go Whites way 68
When things go Blacks way 70
Ambitious but a Bit Ambiguous: The Two Knights Defense 72
When things go Whites way 72
When things go Blacks way 74
Chapter 7: Employing the Royal Ruy 77
Running with the Ruy López 77
Closing the Deal with the Open Variation 78
When things go Whites way 78
When things go Blacks way 81
Staying Open-Minded with the Closed Variation 84
When things go Whites way 84
When things go Blacks way 88
Marshalling Your Forces with the Marshall Attack and the Anti-Marshalls 91
When things go Whites way 92
When things go Blacks way 95
Chapter 8: The Best of the Rest of the Open Games 99
Pouring on the Scotch 99
When things go Whites way 100
When things go Blacks way 102
Waltzing with the Vienna Game 105
When things go Whites way 106
When things go Blacks way 109
Dabbling with Petroffs Defense 112
When things go Whites way 113
When things go Blacks way 115
Part 3: Having It Both Ways with Semi-open Games 119
Chapter 9: Sharpening the Sicilian 121
The Peoples Choice 121
Entering the Dragon 122
When things go Whites way 123
When things go Blacks way 126
Knocking Around the Najdorf 129
When things go Whites way 130
When things go Blacks way 132
Claws Out in the Chelyabinsk 135
When things go Whites way 136
When things go Blacks way 139
Can They Cancan in the Kan? 143
When things go Whites way 143
When things go Blacks way 148
Some Words about the Anti-Sicilians 151
Chapter 10: Parlez-vous the French? 153
Nothing Diplomatic Here 153
Charging the Advance 154
When things go Whites way 154
When things go Blacks way 157
Staying Classical 161
When things go Whites way 161
When things go Blacks way 163
Winning with the Winawer 166
When things go Whites way 166
When things go Blacks way 168
Taking Out the Tarrasch 171
When things go Whites way 172
When things go Blacks way 174
Chapter 11: Anyone Can Caro-Kann 177
Caring about the Caro-Kann 177
The Classical Variation 178
When things go Whites way 179
When things go Blacks way 181
Being Advanced 183
When things go Whites way 184
When things go Blacks way 186
Chapter 12: Rope-a-Dope with the Pirc and Modern Defenses 189
Picking the Pirc 189
The Austrian Attack 190
When things go Whites way 190
When things go Blacks way 193
Picking the Pirc Classical 195
When things go Whites way 196
When things go Blacks way 198
Thoroughly Modern Maneuvers 200
When things go Whites way 201
When things go Blacks way 203
Chapter 13: The Best of the Rest of the Semi-Open Games 205
Analyzing Alekhines Defense 206
When things go Whites way 206
When things go Blacks way 209
Striking Back with the Scandinavian 213
When things go Whites way 213
When things go Blacks way 216
Part 4: Conquering with Closed And Semi- Closed Games 219
Chapter 14: Offering the Queens Gambit 221
The Queens Gambit Accepted 222
When things go Whites way 223
When things go Blacks way 225
Remaining Orthodox 227
When things go Whites way 228
When things go Blacks way 229
Testing the Tartakower 231
When things go Whites way 232
When things go Blacks way 233
Trading on the Exchange 235
When things go Whites way 235
When things go Blacks way 237
Chapter 15: Declining with the Slav and Semi-Slav 239
Declining or Delaying? 239
Going Down the Main Line 240
When things go Whites way 240
When things go Blacks way 242
Meeting the Meran Variation in the Semi-Slav 244
When things go Whites way 244
When things go Blacks way 246
Betting on the Botvinnik Variation 248
When things go Whites way 248
When things go Blacks way 251
Chapter 16: Getting Hypermodern with the Nimzo-Indian 253
What Is the Nimzo-Indian? 253
Playing Differently with the Sämisch 254
When things go Whites way 255
When things go Blacks way 257
Kicking Off with the Classical Variation 259
When things go Whites way 260
When things go Blacks way 262
Running with the Rubinstein 264
When things go Whites way 264
When things go Blacks way 267
Nimzos Friends Some Related Indians 269
Queens Indian Defense 269
Bogo-Indian Defense 270
Chapter 17: Fighting Back with the Kings Indian 271
The Center Can Wait 271
Getting Classical 272
When things go Whites way 272
When things go Blacks way 275
Playing Differently with the Sämisch 277
When things go Whites way 277
When things go Blacks way 279
Finessing with the Fianchetto System 281
When things go Whites way 281
Chapter 18: Grinding in the Grünfeld 283
Hypermodern to the Max 283
Examining the Exchange Variation 284
When things go Whites way 285
When things go Blacks way 288
Rolling Out the Russian System 291
When things go Whites way 291
When things go Blacks way 294
Chapter 19: The Best of the Rest of the Semi-Closed Games 297
Loving the London System 297
When things go Whites way 298
When things go Blacks way 300
The Trompowsky Tango 303
When things go Whites way 303
When things go Blacks way 306
Going Dutch 307
The Leningrad 307
When things go Whites way 308
When things go Blacks way 309
The Stonewall Dutch 312
When things go Whites way 312
When things go Blacks way 313
Part 5: Advancing with Flank Openings 317
Chapter 20: Speaking the Kings English 319
The British Are Coming! 319
Reversing the Sicilian 320
When things go Whites way 320
When things go Blacks way 323
Stampeding in the Four Knights 327
When things go Whites way 327
When things go Blacks way 331
Staying Symmetrical 335
When things go Whites way 335
When things go Blacks way 338
Chapter 21: Getting Réti 341
The Contemporary Réti 341
When things go Whites way 342
When things go Blacks way 344
The Radical Réti 346
When things go Whites way 347
When things go Blacks way 350
Chapter 22: The Best of the Rest of the Flank Openings 355
Larsen Attack 356
When things go Whites way 356
When things go Blacks way 358
Winging it with the Birds 360
When things go Whites way 361
When things go Blacks way 363
Some Other Flank Action 366
Part 6: the Part of Tens 367
Chapter 23: Ten Common Mistakes to Avoid in the Opening 369
Wasting Time 369
Leading with the Lady 371
Losing Material 372
Abandoning the Center 373
Creating Weaknesses 373
Pawn Grabbing 374
Exposing the King 374
Blocking Lines 375
Falling for Traps 375
Memorizing Moves 376
Chapter 24: Ten Best Ways to Study Chess Openings 377
Getting a Coach 378
Study Online 378
Finding a Friend 379
Reading Annotations 379
Playing in Real Time 379
Blitzing It Out 380
Basing the Data 380
Revving an Engine 381
Studying Your Games 381
Buying A(nother) Book 382
Chapter 25: Ten (or so) Great Chess Websites 383
Playing Sites 384
Lichess 384
Chess.com 384
Honorable mention 384
Training Sites 385
Chessable 385
Chessify 385
Chessmood 385
Honorable mentions 385
Informational Sites 386
The Week in Chess 386
ChessBase & ChessBase India 386
YouTube 386
Twitch 386
Facebook 387
Honorable Mentions 387
Index 389
James Eade became a United States Chess Federation chess master in 1981. International organizations awarded him the master title in 1990 (for correspondence) and in 1993 (for regular tournament play). Today, he writes about and teaches chess.
Carsten Hansen is a FIDE Master (1990) and Trainer (2016) and is one of the most prolific authors of chess books, with more than sixty books to his credit.
