Put three chess players in a room, and you’re bound to have at least four opinions and at least five arguments…  More than anything else (other than an easy mate) players love a good, er, discussion.

From pawnpusher to grandmaster, devotees of the Royal Game should take a look at Christoph Scheerer’s The Greatest Ever Chess Opening Ideas.  There’s a whole lot to love there – and if it doesn’t keep everyone thinking and talking, chances are they’re already gone over to online poker, anyway.

It’s a history!

Well, no, not exactly.

Starting with a Preface and going through 50 chapters (plus a Contents, Bibliography, Index of Games and Index of  Opening Ideas), Scheerer presents selected openings, lines, and moves in chronological fashion, starting with the “oldest opening” (anyone want to guess?) and progressing to the “Hot off the Press” chapter that the author admits wouldn’t have made it into the book if he had delivered his manuscript on time to Everyman Chess.

It’s an openings survey!

Uh, no, not really.

Although he covers a lot of different openings, the International Master doesn’t touch on the Dutch or Caro Kann Defences, for example, and as for “unorthodox” or weird openings – well, the book does claim to be about the “greatest” opening ideas, after all…

Chapter One, “Once Upon a Time…” introduces the Italian Game via an early example, Polerio –Lorenzo, 1575, giving background information and some analysis.  The chapter then moves on to Torre – Kamsky, Manila Interzonal, 1990, for a modern look at the opening.

The author returns to the Italian Game in chapter Thirty-Five, “Paying Final Respects to Greco” and again in chapter Thirty-Eight, “Giuoco Piano: Refutation of the Moller Attack.”  Each time the reader gets both a historical and modern perspective on the line discussed.

It would ruin some of the surprise if I gave all of the ideas presented, but let me mention a handful of chapters:

• chapter two, “Contrary to Popular Belief” (2.Nf3 vs the Sicilian);

• chapter six “That’s One Small Step for a Pawn…” (Ruy Lopez, Morphy Defence 3…a6);

• chapter fourteen “My Kingdom for a Horse!” (Four Knights Game – Rubinstein Variation);

• twenty-three “Catalunya Triumphant!” (Catalan Opening);

• chapter thirty-three “A Good Day to Sacrifice” (Sicilian Defence – Velimirovic Attack);

• chapter thirty-eight “A Thorn in the Side” (The Hedgehog);

• chapter forty-four “Crossing the Brenner” (Pirc Defence – Austrian Attack – Seirawan to the rescue!); and

• chapter forty-eight “Start Your Engines!” (Meran Variation – Kasparov’s Exchange Sacrifice).

It’s too heavy!  It’s too light!

A five-page Bibliography gives a sense about how much work Scheerer put into The Greatest Ever Chess Opening Ideas – justifiably so, if he’s chasing “the greatest”.  Readers familiar with Scheerer’s earlier Play 1...Nc6! know of his creativity and energy.

Each of the opening ideas in The Greatest Ever Chess Opening Ideas is rated by the author on Shock Value – What was running thorough the opponent’s mind? (from “shrug” to “serious shock”); Effectiveness Rating – How did the opening fare in the initial game(s)? (from “no success” to “enormous success”); Longevity Rating – How long did the idea keep its Effectiveness rating? (from “less than 5 years” to “100+ years”); and Creativity Value – How much effort did it take to discover the actual idea? (from “no effort” to “a great deal of effort”). This provides additional perspectives on the utility of novelty.

The book’s layout is well done, as is typical for Everyman Chess: good use of fonts, italics, bolding, diagrams and white space. At 368 pages, it’s a hefty and enjoyable read.

It’s informative and a lot of fun!

No argument, there.

I can easily recommend The Greatest Ever Chess Opening Ideas as a great read.  Book up, and take it along on the way to your next argument…
 

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