Back to Basics: Chess Openings: A comprehensive guide to chess openings and opening play

"A comprehensive guide to chess openings and opening play"Not true."...will help you understand and play the openings in chess much, much better."Also not true. The author even admits as much:"...while your knowledge and understanding of these opening has probably increased many-fold, you still essentially know little compared to what is recommended before starting to play an opening with confidence. (p.231)"That much is true.So why three stars? I think for someone just starting out this is a decent overview of how to get started with openings. But for someone who knows the basics and is seeking to understand the logic behind the moves and gain a deeper understanding of opening play, this book does not provide it.I'll provide just one example. In the section on the Queen's Indian Defense, the author doesn't even mention the main strategic idea of the opening, which is the fight for control of the e4 square. So while you may learn some lines in the Queen's Indian, you don't learn why you are playing them.If you have some experience and want to "understand and play the openings in chess much, much better," you will want to look elsewhere.

It is a book that helps to understand the basic ideas behind the chess openings without confusing you with many variations. A must have book for all club players.

Not a huge book on Openings, but enough to get an average player through to get to the next level. So yes this is for the beginner and average player for the purpose of moving up. Includes out of the ordinary openings, flank openings which you should have so as to not get blindsided such as Owens, Trombowski, Reti-Dutch, Van't Kruij's, Orangutan/Sokolsky, Grob Attack. The main openings are divided into whether they're open, semi-open, semi-closed, closed.I fly often on 3 hour flights, this book as helped learn openings using Delta Airline's Chess computer that comes with their onboard entertainment center at each seat., under Games. I would pick Black and let the Delta pick the opening move and I would try to force an opening using Carsten's book. A very easy book to pick up and read, Hansen should be more prolific, his writing is very appealing in plain English. I will be buying more of his books, this one has helped me tremendously. I like the RULES in square boxes he put on various pages like DON'T PUT ALL YOUR TIME INTO STUDYING OPENINGS, DIVIDE ONE THIRD OF YOUR STUDY TIME EACH ON OPENINGS, MIDDLE GAME AND END GAME.Get it if you're a beginner or average player, you'll get much better.

I anticipated from the title that this was going to be useful to me as someone trying to progress from novice onwards. Maybe the clue should have been in the 'Back to...' wording. It would be suitable for someone who is really already quite proficient and wants to refresh on things that they may have missed along the way, but it is far too dense for a relative beginner.

Just received book yesterday evening and can't put it down. Wonderful review of the most popular chess openings. Certainly not an exhaustive survey of these openings but well enough to get you into the middlegame with a clear understanding of the theory and strategic ideas behind the moves played. Hits a 'sweet spot' for most average strength or club players and well worth the modest cost.