Watson: Mastering the Chess Openings Vol. 3

Autor: Watson, John
Verlag: Gambit
Erscheinungsjahr: 2008
Sprache: Englisch
Buchumschlag: paperback
Seiten: 352

'For many chess-players, opening study is sheer hard work. It is difficult to know what is important and what is not, and when specific knowledge is vital, or when a more general understanding is sufficient. Tragically often, once the opening is over, a player won\''t know what plan to follow, or even understand why his pieces are on the squares on which they sit.
In this highly-acclaimed and popular series, John Watson helps chess-players achieve a more holistic and insightful view of the openings. He explains not only the ideas and strategies behind specific openings, but also the interconnections of chess openings taken as a whole. By presenting the common threads that underlie opening play, Watson provides a permanent basis for playing openings of any type.
This third volume focuses on the English Opening while also drawing together many threads from the first two books in a wide-ranging discussion of general opening topics. Particularly in the context of reversed and analogous forms of standard structures, we understand why certain ideas work and others don\''t, and experience the concept of \''Cross-Pollination\'' at work in even more varied forms than seen in the first two volumes.
International Master John Watson is one of the world\''s most respected writers on chess. His groundbreaking four-volume work on the English firmly established his reputation in the 1980s, and he has produced a string of top-quality works since. In 1999, Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy, Watson\''s first book for Gambit, won the British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award and the United States Chess Federation Fred Cramer Award for Best Book. He reviews chess books for The Week in Chess and hosts a weekly radio show on the Internet Chess Club.
Contents
Symbols 6
Dedication 6
Acknowledgements 6
Bibliography 7
General Introduction 9
1 Introduction to the English Opening 11
2 Reversing the Sicilian: 2nd Moves 14
Working From the Ground Up 15
Najdorf and Dragon Aspirations 19
Improved Alekhine-Sicilian 23
3 Introduction to 2 Nc3: Black Plays Flexibly 29
Advancing the f-Pawn 30
The Bishop Sortie 2...Bb4 33
The Ultra-Flexible 2...d6: Introduction 45
Active Lines with 3 d4 46
The Positional Approach 57
4 2...Nf6 and g3 Systems 64
Introduction to 2...Nf6 64
Black’s 3rd-Move Options 68
The Modern Variation: 3...Bb4 70
Digression on the Rossolimo Sicilian 72
Keres Defence 84
White Plays 2 g3 90
5 Four Knights Variation 106
Slower White Approaches 107
Central Assault with 4 d4 111
The Cautious 4 e3 115
The Main Line: 4 g3 120
4...Bb4 and its Descendants 123
Reversed Dragon: 4...d5 133
6 Three Knights and Closed English 139
Three Knights Variation 139
The Independent 3...f5 141
Introduction to the Closed English 144
Closed English with Nf3 145
Closed English with e3 152
Botvinnik System: 5 e4 164
7 Pure Symmetrical Variation 174
The Traditional 5 e3 177
Flank Attack with 5 a3 184
Symmetrical Botvinnik: 5 e4 191
Pure Symmetrical with 5 Nf3: Introduction 195
Traditional Main Line with 5...Nf6 195
Symmetrical with 5...e5 203
Central Counterattack with 5...e6 207
8 Main Lines with 2 Nf3 and d4 218
\r\nIntroduction to 2 Nf3 218
\r\nVariations with 2...Nc6 218
\r\n2...Nf6 and the Symmetrical Four Knights 233
\r\nFour Knights with 6 a3 236
\r\nFour Knights with 6 Ndb5 241
\r\nFour Knights with 6 g3 249
\r\nAnti-Benoni Variations 263
\r\n
\r\n9 Asymmetrical Variations 270
\r\nNimzowitsch’s 5 e4 and Grünfeld Relations 270
\r\nThe Knight Tour 5...Nb4 271
\r\nExchange with 5...Nxc3 276
\r\nKeres-Parma Variation 279
\r\nRubinstein System 287
\r\n
\r\n10 The Hedgehog Variation 297
\r\nTraditional Line with 8 Qxd4 301
\r\nModern Line with 7 Re1 309
\r\n
\r\n11 Mikenas Attack and Nimzo-English 313
\r\nMikenas Attack: Introduction 314
\r\nCentral Challenge with 3...d5 314
\r\nGambit Line with 3...c5 321
\r\nNimzo-English Variation: Introduction 324
\r\nClassical 4 Qc2 Variation 325
\r\nThe 4 g4 Flank Attack 329
\r\n
\r\n12 King’s Indian Variations 335
\r\nBotvinnik Variation vs the King’s Indian 335
\r\nThe Closed English Formation 339
\r\n
\r\nIndex of Variations 345
\r\n
\r\nIndex of Players 350
\r\n
\r\n351 Seiten, 2008, kartoniert, englisch.'