A Ferocious Opening Repertoire (Everyman Chess) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

This is a good sized book (304 pages) written in a very entertaining style which outlays a complete repertoire for White using the Veresov Opening. The book uses annotated 104 very well annotated games to explain the lines. The author does a very good job of teaching how to play in addition to the variations. Very frequently he pauses and lists the important features of the position, for example, why one side or the other has an advantage, and explains the right plans (not just in the opening but all through the game). I'm a 2280 player and getting a lot out of the middle and endgame discussion. Lakdawala is especially good at explaining how to find the right plan.

The illustrative games cover a complete repertoire including lines against every reasonable response to 1.d4. There's no lame "here we transpose to the xyz defense which is beyond the scope of this book". This isn't a typical opening repertoire book though. The games are written in the style of chess lessons and the commentary is a lot of fun as well as instructive. Only Cyrus would explain a position this lucidly: "Attackers all across the board are drawn to the d7-square like flies to a trash can". The book is full of colorful explanations and it adds, not detracts from the learning experience. This really is a book for chess players.

Key question: How does the author address the 'main line' Veresov 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 Nbd7 4.? Playing 4.f3 certainly meets the advertising 'Ferocious' - the games are wild and fun, but this might be a crummy repertoire if someone has a chance to prepare for you. The alternate is to play Qd3 which is still interesting and the main choice of Hector and Khachian (these two GMs show up many timse in the example games). It turns out that Lakdawala has a repertoire line for each of these lines so you get to choose.

Another bid decision: How should White respond if Black plays an early e6? Some repertoire books try very hard to avoid main lines and will supply a dumb sideline to avoid having to wade into theory but "Ferocious" is a nice blend with a few snippets of main line variations and plenty of original, but GM endorsed interesting byways ((I include the Veresov in that category). The French lines he recommends are an interesting mix. He recommends the Alekhine-Chatard attack and gives very recent analysis and games (a key variation pioneered by Hector). In some places he transposes to the exchange French - not very ferocious sounding - but they are unbalanced sub variations and as a long-time French player I was particularly impressed with the attacking ideas in that chapter. In fact two chapters of this book provide an almost complete and novel anti-French repertoire that an 1.e4 player could use.

Against the Pirc and Modern Bg5 lines are recommended (not so common but everyone seems to consider them a serious threat to ...g6 lines). I liked all the explanations about how the various repertoire lines were selected. In many cases GM Jonny Hector's games were used to pave the way -they are exciting and original. Lakdawala too the hard path of stayimng committed to genuinely sound and interesting lines which is no doubt why the book is quite large.

This is a great book and expect it will get quite a following.

Very good book...written for a variety of levels. The author uses an often laid-back and humorous approach in the commentaries. A useful text for those with little time to study the myriad of opening variations.

Probably a good book but the typing errors make it a problem. In the kindle edition at least, Richter-Rogmann shows white castling long when he has yet to move his queen. A later diagram shows that he actually castled short, but that also was not possible at the move number specified.