Watson, Mastering the Chess Openings Vol. 4

In this highly-acclaimed 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 final volume draws together many themes in a wide-ranging discussion of general opening topics. By looking at familiar situations from new angles, Watson helps us greatly increase our understanding of them. In the process, he covers a wide variety of opening structures and variations not seen in the earlier volumes and presents a great wealth of original analysis.

* Réti and Fianchetto Systems
* Reversed Openings
* Symmetry
* Irregular Openings
* Gambits: Primitive or Positional
* Universal Openings

In the final two chapters, Watson presents his views on the importance of opening study and explains how players should best prepare and choose their openings for the level at which they play. He looks at the future of chess openings and explains which skills will be most important as chess evolves in the forthcoming decades.

International Master John Watson is one of the world's most respected writers on chess. In 1999, his Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy won 'Chess Book of the Year' awards in the USA and the UK. He reviews chess books for The Week in Chess and hosts a weekly radio show on the Internet Chess Club. As a trainer, he has worked with many talented pupils, including Tal Shaked.


Contents

Symbols

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

Introduction

1 Réti: Open and Closed Variations
2 Réti: Slav Variations
3 Modern Kingside Fianchetto
4 Modern Queenside Fianchetto
5 Gambits
6 f-Pawns and Reversed Openings
7 Symmetry and Its Descendants
8 Irregular Openings and Initial Moves
9 Choosing and Preparing Openings
10 The Future of Openings

Index of Openings for Volume 4
Index of Players

Index of Openings for the Entire Series