Nimzo-Larsen Attack (Everyman Chess) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

This book, "Nimzo-Larsen Attack" by Byron Jacobs and Jonathan Tait, is, in a nutshell, one of the most beautiful chess books I have ever seen (I don't say this lightly, as I have 450+ books). There are a handful of books that sort of "stun" me with how brilliant they are. "Pawn Power in Chess" and "The Amateur's Mind" come to mind. Although this Nimzo-Larsen book is not an instructive manual like those classics, it is equally classic and equally stunning. If you see it on the shelf at a bookstore, it just looks like another Everyman opening book. But when you pull it off the shelf, the first thing you notice is its weight. It is 193 pages long, not 144 or 160 pages like nearly all other Eveyrman books. With its double-column format and dense print, it seems like about 500 pages worth of material. But of course length does not equal quality. What distinguishes this work is the incredible depth of its research and information, and its passion. These authors wrote as if they were being paid great sums of money for this work. In a note, they will compare a line to another game. But instead of just saying, "white/black was better," they say, "the remaining moves of the game were..." and give all the remaining moves, with important annotations. This is incredibly helpful, because in the Nimzo-Larsen you will frequently arrive at an equal middlegame with perhaps a slight plus for white, and your endgame skills will decide the day. So, it is essential that the authors did this. Consequently, you have hundreds and hundreds of complete games in the notes. You absorb and learn the opening. But do not get the impression that this is a data-dump. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a labor of love, that has to be seen to be believed. The annotations are insightful and meaningful, with constant note of transpositions (also huge in the N-L), and constant verbal evaluations of moves and positions and references to other sources (the bibliography is the largest I have ever seen). These games were put under a microscope, and we get to savor the results. I flipped forward to the end of the book, thinking, it can't be this good for 200 pages! Yet the quality and depth never lags, through all 69 main annotated games and all the others in the notes. I somehow feel that I cannot do justice to this book. It is so important to the aspiring chess player. It is so packed that I will never exhaust its tresures. The Nimzo-Larsen (1. b3 or 1. Nf3, 2. b3) is a great versatile opening to study. One reason for this is that it offers innumerable opportunities for transposition, such as to the English, the Reti, and the Queen's Gambit. It thus has flexibility, which is a key to success in modern chess. But, opening aside, this is a uniquely wonderful opening work. These authors treat every game like it is their one and only chance to teach, enlighten, and to bring out all they can about the game in question. The annotations are as good a blend of text and variations as I have ever seen. Spend some time with this book, and its qualities grow larger and larger, to the point that I am practically in disbelief to how amazing it is!

This is a very complete book on the Nimzo-Larsen. The book consists of 69 games with a lot of different variations from beginning to end. Each game is very well explained in great details. When I began analysing this book I skipped the first 20 pages with the 5.f4 play. I went directly with the 5.c4. Why ? I just didn't like the position in which the 5.f4 gave me. Then I went on to learn all the other black openings against the ever strange 1.b3. The book also gives you games analysis with the 1.Nf3 ... 2.b3 ... This book is very well produced but it is not intented for beginners. PART one are games with the 1. b3, e5 openings. PART two is for games with 1. b3, d5 and 1. Nf3, d5 2. b3 openings. PART three convers all the other lines by black after White b3 or Nf3-b3. I also beleive that the Nimzo-Larsen opening should be used very carefully by White because there is a lot of traps. In quite a lot of games, White doesn't castle at all. So if you don't mind to protect your King, if you are a positional player and if you are good at improvisation in middle game this book is for you. If you absolutely want to protect your King at the most, if you are not a positional player and if you like to memorize hundreds of different openings this book is not for you. For myself I am not an attacking player, I am more of a positionnal player. So did I like this book ? Yes, an a lot, because I also like to play non-orthodox games. I recommend this book for lovers of Games analysis with a very different approch.

The authors are very honest in this book; this is not a winning with ..... that tells you how to crush black. On the other point the games shown are very complete and enjoyable, the authors did a fine work with the selection. Strategic ideas are clear and as a veteran in the nimzo-larsen attack I really recommend this book to you. Enjoy.