Originally posted by KingOnPoint Are there any "New In Chess" magazines, or is that what they are, "magazines?" Would these be good? Or would a "New In Chess" book be good?
New in chess is a magazine that covers GM tournaments along with other more trivial chess media. It's a great magazine with lots to learn but if you are a beginner then nothing will be more effective than a book targeted at that level. NIC is really aimed more at people who follow GM chess and general theory. It's not inaccessible to lower rated players, but a lower rated player would better spend their time covering the basics and getting them right before venturing into Modern pro chess. Visit ochessbase and read some of the match reports. If it's fun, then great! NIC is exactly the same thing..
I have made some research and it seems that MCO 10 (the one revised by Larry Evans) got the best praise.
However, one should remember that
"... many players will be happy with [Modern Chess Openings 15], but only because they don't know there are better ways to spend their money than investing in this volume." - FM Carsten Hansen (2008)
MCO is not a great book for a player of my calibre (although I may buy MCO 10 just to have it in my collection).
Any reasonable all-in-one volume on openings for beginners?
(I suppose I would be better of with a volume on endgames or tactics, but since it is a thread on openings... 🙂)
There are many choices, for example:
- Chess Openings Theory and Practice by Horowitz
- Openings for the Club Player by Harding, Barden
- Chess Openings for You by Cafferty
- How to Play Good Opening Moves by Mednis
- The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings by Fine
and many more...
A personal favourite, mainly for nostalgic reasons. It's very long in the tooth (1964), but you're hardly likely to be engaging in cutting-edge theoretical duels, and a lot of old lines haven't really been improved that much. Each opening and major variation of same gets a brief text explanation, "idea variations" to show you what ideally happens for White and/or Black, "practical variations" to show you what theory recommended in the early 60s (!), and, most important of all, several complete games to illustrate how to play the resulting positions. You could do a lot worse. It's a reference work, of course, though I suppose someone with a lot of time on their hands could work through it from cover to cover…!
But you are right -- you should be doing tactics and endings!
does this book have any value for beginning chess players in the era of databases?
if so, which edition - the older, the better? (I know this would be certainly untrue for advanced players).
I think that Greenpawn was making fun of older editions of MCOs in one of his blogposts because of errors.
(Dear Greenpawn, please advise if possible).
thanks
jarrasch
The short answer to your question is "yes" it does have value. You must remember however that any chess book or database, no matter how large or up to date is a guide...not a gospel. Please don't fall into the trap of thinking you need all the latest opening theory to be a strong player. Your ability to analyze chess positions and find the strongest move will always be more important than the size of your library or database.
I have a copy which I've found quite useful. It helps you get a feel for various openings and you can try different lines to see what you like. It's also helpful for reviewing games after the fact. Obviously, you need other books for strategy, etc. But as far as openings go, I've personally found this more useful than anything else I've looked at.
MCO15 is outdated now, full of errors when it came out, doesn't help improving players (for the reasons listed on page 1) and the opening distribution isn't where it should be for the 21 century.
On top of that mine completely fell apart with minimal use. (can't say if that was common with everyone though)
Modern Chess Openings
05 Dec '15 03:29
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