Chess Openings For Dummies

You never get a second chance to make a first impression?especially in the game of chess! Chess Openings For Dummies gives you tips and techniques for analyzing openings and strategies for winning chess games from the very first move you make!

This friendly, helpful guide provides you with easy-to-follow and step-by-step instructions on the top opening chess strategies and gives you the tools you need to develop your own line of attack from the very start.

• Includes illustrations to help ensure victory
• Equips you with the tools and strategies to plan a winning strategy
• Also serves as a valuable resource for curriculums that use chess as a learning tool

Whether you?re a veteran or novice chess player, Chess Openings For Dummies is the ultimate guide to getting a grip on the openings and variants that will ensure you have all the right moves to open and win any chess game.

Introduction 1

Part I: Principles of Play 7

Chapter 1: Understanding Chess Openings 9

Chapter 2: Exploring the Elements of Chess 17

Chapter 3: Picking the Right Type of Opening 27

Part II: Winning with Open Games 35

Chapter 4: Gambling with Gambits 37

Chapter 5: Opening Softly with a Big Stick: The Bishop Makes Its Move 57

Chapter 6: Workin’ on Some Knight Moves 71

Chapter 7: Employing the Royal Ruy 79

Chapter 8: The Best of the Rest of the Open Games 99

Part III: Having It Both Ways with Semi-Open Games 111

Chapter 9: Sharpening the Sicilian 113

Chapter 10: Parlez-vous the French? 135

Chapter 11: Anyone Can Caro-Kann 155

Chapter 12: Rope-a-Dope with the Pirc and Modern Defenses 171

Chapter 13: The Best of the Rest of the Semi-Open Games 185

Part IV: Conquering with Closed and Semi-Closed Games 195

Chapter 14: Offering the Queen’s Gambit 197

Chapter 15: Declining with the Slav and Semi-Slav 213

Chapter 16: Getting Hypermodern with the Nimzo-Indian 229

Chapter 17: Fighting Back with the King’s Indian 241

Chapter 18: Grinding in the Grünfeld 255

Chapter 19: The Best of the Rest of the Semi-Closed Games 265

Part V: Advancing with Flank Openings 283

Chapter 20: Speaking the King’s English 285

Chapter 21: Getting Réti 305

Chapter 22: The Best of the Rest of the Flank Openings 313

Part VI: The Part of Tens 327

Chapter 23: Ten Common Mistakes to Avoid in the Opening 329

Chapter 24: Ten Best Ways to Study Chess Openings 339

Chapter 25: Ten Great Chess Web Sites 345

Index 349

James Eade is a United States Chess Federation (USCF) chess master as well as a chess writer, tournament organizer, and teacher. He is the author of Chess For Dummies.

Learn to:

• Plan a winning strategy from the first move you make
• Analyze your opponent's opening
• Improve your game with tips and strategies
• Ensure victory with helpful diagrams

The fast and easy way to improve your chess game

You never get a second chance to make a first impression — especially in the game of chess! By using specific examples, detailed explanations, and diagrams, this friendly guide gives you tips and techniques for analyzing openings and developing strategies that will help you win any chess game . . . from the very first move you make!

• Chess openings 101 — understand what an opening is, how they're classified, and how they differ from one another
• Keep an open mind — get a grip on what it means to play an open game and how it allows for speedy mobilization of your pieces
• Get down and dirty — discover how to play a semi-open game and shake things up by pulling out your best defensive moves
• Close in on a win — learn how to maneuver your pieces to the right spot and plan long-range strategies to conquer in a closed game
• Advance your game — take your skills to the next level with the English, Reti, and other flank openings that give you flexibility in responding to your opponent's moves

Open the book and find:

• How to seize space and limit your opponent's options
• Coverage of popular openings, including the Ruy Lopez, the Sicilian, and the King's Indian
• Openings featuring rapid piece development
• What it means to play open, semi-open, and closed games
• Openings that fit your style of play
• Ten common mistakes to avoid in the opening