General Reference Books for Chess Openings

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Roger de Coverly
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Re: General Reference Books for Chess Openings

Post by Roger de Coverly » Sun Mar 14, 2021 3:41 pm

Mike Gunn wrote:
Sun Mar 14, 2021 3:06 pm
I don't think this type of book is going to be published any more (overtaken by computer databases).
I suppose the concept of a "book move" still exists, but it will be spread over several specialist books. As for "main line", do we suppose that should be defined as the most popular move, regardless of its merits?

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John Upham
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Re: General Reference Books for Chess Openings

Post by John Upham » Sun Mar 14, 2021 4:43 pm

Simon Rogers wrote:
Sat Mar 13, 2021 9:33 pm
Any plans to bring out a Sixteenth Edition of Batsford Modern Chess Openings?
When did the latest edition of Nunn's Chess Openings come out?
I suspect that the Batsford imprint (part of Pavillion Books) is no longer in the market for this type of book and probably nor is any other publisher. Thankfully Jimmy Adams has returned to his role at Batsford after recent illness and we should see further titles but the volume is vastly reduced from the heady days of when Bob Wade was commissioning editor.

It is thought that Batsford produced a total of around 550 chess books. I guessed 500 before a more accurate figure appeared.
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MartinCarpenter
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Re: General Reference Books for Chess Openings

Post by MartinCarpenter » Mon Mar 15, 2021 9:38 am

Roger de Coverly wrote:
Sun Mar 14, 2021 3:41 pm
Mike Gunn wrote:
Sun Mar 14, 2021 3:06 pm
I don't think this type of book is going to be published any more (overtaken by computer databases).
I suppose the concept of a "book move" still exists, but it will be spread over several specialist books. As for "main line", do we suppose that should be defined as the most popular move, regardless of its merits?
Only barely - even the specialist surveys of a given opening seem to have almost entirely given way in favour of very - pointlessly overly so in the main to be honest - deep repertoire coverage.

Its especially unclear with LC0 and friends able to write quite reasonable opening theory by themselves. Does playing LC0's main suggestion in a position now qualify as book or not? Dunno :) It certainly shouldn't really be a TN anyway.

As for general reference books, Watson's mastering the chess openings series isn't remotely complete but does cover quite a lot of ground.

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Paolo Casaschi
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Re: General Reference Books for Chess Openings

Post by Paolo Casaschi » Mon Mar 15, 2021 2:41 pm

Not sure if anyone mentioned already "Fundamental Chess Openings" by Paul van der Sterren from 2009.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/FCO-Fundamenta ... 1906454132

It provides textual description of each main opening/defense, including an historical perspective how opening theory evolved.
Very good value from a general chess understanding and education.
Not very deep from a variations perspective, for preparing an opening you'd need something specific.

The amazon link allows you to "look inside" the book and preview quite a lot of pages.

Overall, highly recommended to anyone looking for an high-level overview of chess opening and their history; from that point of view the age of the book is not much relevant.

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: General Reference Books for Chess Openings

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Mon Mar 15, 2021 3:33 pm

I would say there is still a space for comprehensive opening guides, databases or not.
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Kevin Thurlow
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Re: General Reference Books for Chess Openings

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Mon Mar 15, 2021 4:14 pm

"I would say there is still a space for comprehensive opening guides, databases or not."

Yes - you can do a database search and find that move x scores 53.9 % and move y scores 57.2 %, but that doesn't always help (especially if there's loads of blitz games, or the Kosovo under 10 championship included).

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