Starting Out: 1 d4!: A Reliable Repertoire for the Improving Player [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

This book, Starting Out 1 d4!, may be the best of all my opening books. Why is this? It is because this book provides a repertoire that can be counted on to get you a solid plus out of the opening. I have been duped more than once into buying a "win with the opening that always wins in 20 moves, yet it has escaped that notice of Kramnik and Ponomariov." As we all know, these books do not provide a good, let alone adequete reptoire. So then we search for and then buy book with a reliable repertore and find out that it has lines that are very easy to learn, but only bring you equality as white or the famous "chances for both sides" as black. What makes Starting Out 1 d4! different is that it actually gives you lines that are played by grandmasters. The bayonet attack for the King's Indian, the Botvinnik variation of the slav. But then the eternal question comes up: "aren't these lines designated for grandmasters who study chess 25 hours each day?"

"Yes."

Actually, the secret is that you actually won't be play Veselin Topalov very soon, so you can afford to know just a little theory and the main ideas of the opening. And that's what this book gives you. As we know from the back of every opening book in the world, knowing the ideas of your opening is the most important thing blah blah blah. This book, however, is one of the few that effectively teaches the ideas well. John Cox has written a book that should be popular with chess players for years to come. (And you should be one of the players it's popular with)

Finally, here's what the contents of the book are:

Bibliography, two pages

Introduction, four pages

Kings Indian, twenty-nine pages

Introduction, one page

The Bayonet Attack, six pages

The Fashionable 7...Na6, three pages

Alternatives to 7...Nc6 and 7...Na6, three pages

Black Avoids 6...e5, two pages

Illustrative Games, thirteen pages

The Grünfeld, twenty pages

Introduction, two pages

Black Swipes the a-pawn, four pages

Black Develops with ...Nc6, three pages

Black's Alternative Plans, three pages

Illustrative Games, seven pages

The Nimzo-Indian, twenty-five pages

Introduction, one page

Black Plays 4...d5, four pages

Black Plays 4...0-0, four pages

Black Plays 4...c5, two pages

The Zürich Variation, two pages

Illustrative Games, eleven pages

The Benoni and Benko, eighteen pages

Introduction, one page

The Modern Benoni, four pages

The Benko Gambit, three pages

Illustrative Games, nine pages

The Queen's Gambit Declined, twenty-one pages

Introduction, one page

The Exchange Variation with Nge2, three pages

Black Deviates from the Main Line, three pages

The Tarrasch Defence, five pages

Illustrative Games, eight pages

The Queen's Gambit Accepted, twenty pages

Introduction, two pages

Black Plays 7...b5, three pages

Black Forces an IQP, three pages

Other Defences to 7 Bb3, one page

Early Black Alternatives, three pages

Illustrative Games, seven pages

The Slav, twenty-five pages

Introduction, two pages

The Bishop Sacrifice, four pages

Black Plays 6 Ne5 Nbd7, five pages

Black Avoids Bf5, three pages

The ...a6 Slav, four pages

Illustrative Games, six pages

The Semi-Slav, twenty-five pages

Introduction, one page

The Botvinnik Variation, six pages

The Anti-Moscow Gambit, three pages

The Cambridge Springs, two pages

The Marshall Gambit, five pages

Illustrative Games, seven pages

The Albin and the Chigorin, ten pages

Introduction and Rare Defences, one page

The Albin Counter-gambit, two pages

The Chigorin, three pages

Illustrative Games, three pages

The Dutch, fifteen pages

Introduction, one page

The Classical, three pages

The Stonewall, two pages

The Leningrad, three pages

Illustrative Games, five pages

Rare but Tricky Tries, fifteen pages

The Budapest, two pages (a quarter of a page on the Fajarowicz Gambit, which is perhaps a bit lacking)

The Modern, two pages

Black Plays 1...d6, two pages

Black Plays 1...e6, two pages

Miscellaneous, one page (Includes 1...Nc6, 1...e5, 1...c5 2 d5 f5, 1...b5, The Vulture and the Tango)

Illustrative Games, five pages

Index of Variation, four pages

Index of Complete Games, two pages

I suppose that the argument against lower rated players playing grandmaster level moves holds some weight. Obviously, a book that introduces you to the main lines of current theory is bound to fall short in terms of coverage. And, since you will be playing current theory you will also have to keep up with changes in it. Cox makes a good case for an advantage in many lines but I find it interesting that in several places that advantage is very minimal (just as if you had played some supposedly inferior variation) or, more to the point, the position is advantageous for White but you have to be a darned good player to understand what is going on. Also, what lines are you missing? I compared Cox's pages on the Zurich variation of the Nimzo-Indian (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 Nc6)to Alburt, Dzindzi, Perel.'s Chess Openings for Black Explained since they recommend the variation for Black. Interestingly, Cox had 5 Nf3 d6 6 Bd2 0-0 7 a3 Bxc3 8 Bxc3 Qe7 9 e4 e5 10 d5 Nb8 11 Be2 Nh5 12 Nxe5 but then gives 12...Nf4 as the move for Black rather than the surprising 12...Nf6 in COFBE. If I didn't own COFBE I would never have known about this. So, many master players would tell you to stay away from these lines. I listened to these arguments but bought the book anyway. I was curious but also a bit disatisfied with some of my current repertoire. Maybe I would get some new ideas?

If you are familiar with the quality found in most Starting Out books you will find that it is written like many of the others. The skull and crossbone warnings call attention to important information, there are typically at least two diagrams on each page,and the author cites recent games and ideas doing an admirable job of covering a lot of ground in a short space. The quality of writing is at least as good as the others in the series. I own nine others. I have tried playing all of the lines in the book over a period of four months now. In the end I had some difficulty playing the Slav (that positional concession with a4 just bugs me) and Grunfeld (give up a pawn? - oh my!)lines. Nobody at my level plays the Benko much so I can't say anything about it. I was most impressed with the Anti-Albin lines. I keep coming up against that Morozevich move 5...Nge7 and I think that Cox's "minimalist" approach (6 Nb3 Nf5 7 e4)is easy to play if you like those small advantages in the ending. The two or three pages on this were actually worth the price of the book since in online blitz I see a lot of the Albin. O.K. so I'm not convinced that I should be playing ALL of the lines in the book but I have found many of them quite useful and understandable as an amateur. My opening play has improved by incorporating some of the lines here into my repertoire. I think it is simply a mistake to use a repertoire "off the shelf" anyhow. You have to find the things that work for you. Of course, I also now have a better understanding of what I am avoiding when I choose some less theoretical line.

So if you are an amateur player like myself who has been playing the "simple" stuff for a while and you want to start playing some of the sharper lines in a few openings then this is a good book to start with. If you are getting good positions with your Richard Palliser Play 1 d4! lines then, by all means, keep playing them. If you don't think of this as a standard repertoire book but more like a survey of, in the author's onw words "where the world's best are presently fighting it out to establish whether White can obtain real winning chances in the opening", then you won't be disappointed.

I see so many references in various reviews to GMs telling players that they shouldn't play main lines until they're 2000+, etc. I have never heard any strong player say this myself, but what they do say is that beginner-intermediate players shouldn't spend a lot of time on openings, which I agree with. This book is a nice compromise, because it gives you just enough theory to play main lines while not requiring that you spend hours memorizing moves. Lets be honest: there's not much risk in a 1500 player losing because they knew less theory in the Botvinnik than another 1500. Almost no 1500s know Semi-Slav theory! (The Dragon is another story, for some reason) As John Cox says, 'Bg5 is a good move, get it out there'. I couldn't agree more. I think his choices are wonderful because they don't just get you to a playable, even, middle game with white but rather give you a real chance for an advantage out of the opening (though I can't help but point out again how unimportant a +0.33 pawn opening advantage is below master level). This is good chess! Sharp lines, complicated positions, chances on both sides. Unless you're one of the myriad people on ICC who apparently took up chess just to play the Reversed Stonewall, try this book out. Both it's premise and it recommendations are ambitious, but you'll find both your ability and enjoyment of chess increase by playing some of the best systems chess has to offer. One of my few chess books that I would really regret not having.