Recommended Openings (and Books) for Novices to Intermediates

Remember your goal is to reach a playable middlegame. Don't worry about what is popular, or what the Masters play. As GM Lombardy once said, all openings offer good winning chances in amateur play.
As you become stronger, you can shop around for an opening yourself. At first you should play many openings. Don't learn them too deep at first. Learn the principles of the opening and the reasons behind the moves. It is important early in your chess undertakings to spend more time on tactics. Or as someone else put it "TACTICS, TACTICS, TACTICS!" But of course opening theory or at least the theory of develpment is important so you can last more than 10 moves in a game.
Besides what is recommended here, you may want a general manual to browse in (not study from!). _Modern Chess Openings_ 13th edition (MCO-13) or _Batsford Chess Openings_ edition 2 (BCO-2) are good choices.

General Opening Books:


1. _The Ideas Behind the Openings_ by Reben Fine. 0-8129-1756-1. Algebraic edition. McKay Chess Library. $11.95. Not state of the art opening theory, but the ideas are explained move by move. For beginners to C level.
2. _How to Play the Opeining in Chess_ by Raymond Keene and David Levy. Batsford Chess Library 1993. (ISBN0-8050-2937-0). General outline of many openings.
3. _Essential Chess Openings_ by Jon Speelman and Raymond Keene. Batsford Chess Library. $16.95. This contains outlines of a large variety of openings with no discussion. The lines are reasonably current (as of publication date in 1992).

White Pieces

Opening 1.e4 is a really good idea. It will get you into tactics fast. Yes, you may last a few moves longer against a Master by cowering around with 1.Nf3 2.g3 3.Bg2 4.O-O etc., but you won't learn as much or improve as fast. Add a gambit or two to your system if you open 1.e4.

Recommended books for White Opening:


_Winning with 1.e4_ (ISBN 0-87568-174-5) by GM Andy Soltis. Covers all (reasonable) Black responses with good lines which tend to avoid the well-trodden paths.
_Mastering The Spanish with the Read and Play Method. by Daniel King & Pietro Ponzetto. Henry Holt and Company. 1994. ISBN 0-8050-3278-9. An excellent introductory discussion of the Ruy. Introduces themes and strategies and is organized by the type of Center that arises. The best introduction to an opening for a midlevel player I have seen. (that is why I placed this specific opening book here.)

Black Pieces

As a response to 1.e4, establish pawn control in the center by either 1. ... e5 or 1. ... c5 (Sicilian), or make a "strong-point" at d5 by either 1. ... e6 (French) or 1. ... c6 (Caro-Kann), followed by 2. ... d5. Playing 1. ... e5 will subject you to some hairy attacks, but again, you will learn tactics thereby. To help avoid reams of theory, use the Petroff defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6) if you choose 1. ... e5.
1. ... c5 (the Sicilian) has rather a lot of White possibilities to play against, but is sound and aggressive at the same time. Many people know versions of the Sicilian fairly deep and this may cost you many games. The French and the Caro-Kann are a bit easier to play, but don't run into as many early tactics (usually).
As a response to 1.d4, play 1. ... d5 and then follow 2.c4 (the most typical 2nd move) with either 2. ... dxc4 (Queen's Gambit Accepted), 2. ... e6 (Queen's Gambit Declined), or 2. ... c6 (Slav Defense). The first promotes early tactics, and the other two have the advantage usually producing similar pawn structures to the French Defense and Caro-Kann, respectively. If you play French and QGD or Caro-Kann and Slav, you are less likely to be confused by transpositions if White varies his move order in the early stages, e.g., by opening 1.Nf3.

Recommended books for Black Opening:

_A Complete Black Defense to 1.P-K4_ by Cafferty and Hooper. The main line is the Petroff Defense, but the authors also show how to handle the other possibilities, e.g., the King's Gambit.
_How to Play the Sicilian Defense Against all White Possibilities_ (ISBN 0-87568-168-9) by GM Andy Soltis and Ken Smith.
_A Complete Black Defense to 1.P-Q4_ by Cafferty and Hooper. The main line is the Queen's Gambit Accepted, but the authors also show how to handle the other possibilities, e.g., the Richter-Veresov Attack. The disadvantage is you aren't shown how to handle other closed openings such as 1.Nf3, 1.c4, etc. although these can frequently be transposed into the QGA.

_A Complete Black Repertoire_ (ISBN 0-87568-163-8) by IM Jeremy Silman. Based around the French and Queen's Gambit Declined.
_A Black Defensive System for the Rest of Your Chess Career_ by GM Andy Soltis. Based around the Caro-Kann and Slav.

I'm really good. How do I get better? (Class A/B and Up.)

No one may actually need this section because you may have already figured out what to do at your current elevated status of chess playing. In case you are looking, aimlessly for things to do to improve. I will recommend a few good sources of material. At the higher levels, tactical ability is a given. Opening theory will become increasingly important. So will the occasional surprise, something outside of your usual repertoire. Note Kasparov and his recent Evan's gambits. It is important to develop a sense of both what positional improvements are possible and what dynamics underly a given position. Methods of choosing and analyzing "candidate moves" is increasingly important - and has at no level really not been important. The use of computer database software to study recent games will be useful. At a high level, you will be able to study the games of your opponent. The assistance of high level chess program to analyze lines that either you or your opponent plays can also be helpful and serve as a double check on your own analysis. You should analyze not only the games you lose, but also those you win. Be sure that you know the errors you made in the games that you have won.

When looking at games for ideas, in addition to looking at the Informants and NIC yearbooks you may also consider looking at high level correspondance chess games. These contain themes that have been worked out with considerable time and effort.

New ideas and older ones that may have been overlooked may frequently be obtained from the Correspondance Chess. The Correspondence Chess Yearbook, is a periodical that covers many key correspondance games. It is published by the Italian firm s1 Editrice. (See publications for more information).

Monographs are also available on a wide variety of openings. These are quite comprehensive. They are available in paper, and disk in the formats acrobat and chessbase. Sample opening monographs include the French Winawer, Caro-Kann advance, Cambridge Springs, Benoni Defence Taimanov Variation (A67) English Opening (A21), Sicilian Defence Najdorf Variation (B99), Semi-Slav Botvinnik Variation (D44) and the The Leningrad Variation in the Dutch (A89). Email to lw3bol11@cine88.cineca.it for more information. more information.

Books useful at a higher level of chess play:

Think Like a Grandmaster, GM Kotov. 200 pages. $24.95 Difficult reading. Concepts easily understandable. But you need a bit of a gift to apply. But then you are "really good" and want to be better.

Grandmaster Achievement. GM Polugayevsky. 223 pages. $24.95

Chess Master...at any Age. NM Wetzell. 300 pages. Easy reading. Wetzell obtained his Master title at age 50. There may be hope!

Training For the Tournament Player. IM Dvoretsky and GM Yusupov. Learn how to determine your strengths and weaknesses and improve.

Mastering the Endgame, Vol 1. GM Shereshevsky and Slutsky. Endings from the open and semi-open games. Sicilian, Caro-Kann, French, Ruy. $24.95

Mastering the Endgame, Vol 2. GM Shereshevsky and Slutsky. Endings from the QG and closed openings. English, etc. $24.95

Batsford Chess Endings, by GM Speelman, Im Tisdall, Im Wade. Single volume endings encyclopedia. You should have your endings under control after this one.

Dynamic Chess Strategy. Mihai Suba. Pergamon Chess. 144 pages. Offbeat humerous book describing Suba's philosophy toward strategy. Over 800 games of GM Suba may be found in Chess Assistant's Gigantic 350,000+ database of games. Suba loves the hedgehog. NM Allan Savage recommends this book as a "classic to be".

Books for Children

Following is a "Scholastic Chess Syllabus" developed by Ken Sloan. It is intended as a shopping list for parents who don't know the literature. There are many other good books - this is simply one collection.

Scholastic Chess Syllabus of Ken Sloan

0) Pawn&Queen and In Between, Volume 1, Number 1. Available from USCF. In quantity 10, it comes with a Teacher's Guide.

This is the book that I give to everyone who walks in the door. I consider it an excellent starting point. In spite of the title, there will be no "Number 2". It's a good guide to large-group lecture-style teaching - but I prefer to have "good readers" go through it by themselves (or with their parents) and then use it as the basis for questions.

1) Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, by Fischer, Margulies,& Mosenfelder ISBN 0-553-25735-8, paperback from Bantam.

Kids love this book. No notation. Every page contains a single problem. The answer (and the next problem) is overleaf. After reading the right-hand pages, you turn the book over and go through it again, reading the left-hand (upside-down) pages. Concentrates on MATE! No board required. I give this book as a prize

2) Play Winning Chess, by Seirawan (with Silman) ISBN ?-???-?????-?, paperback by Tempus Books of Microsoft Press.

Explanation of basic strategic concepts (space, time, etc.) Combining this book with Winning Chess Tactics (see below) gives a consistent, enjoyable 2-book sequence. Highly recommended.

3) Winning Chess Tactics, by Seirawan and Silman. ISBN 1-55615-474-7, paperback by Tempus Books of Microsoft Press.

Explanation of basic tactics, examples, and tests. Biographies of famous "tactical" players, from Anderssen to Kasparov, along with representative games.

4) Let's Play Chess: A Step-By-Step Guide for all First-Time Players, by Pandolfini. ISBN 0-671-61983-7, paperback from Fireside (Simon & Schuster).

For the text-oriented kid. Every paragraph has a point, and a number. Can easily be skipped - but has lots of useful ideas, in pithy prose.

5) Square One: A Chess Drill Book for Children and Their Parents, by Pandolfini. ISBN 0-671-65689-9, paperback from Fireside (Simon & Schuster).

Workbook format. The paragraphs are still numbered. Lots of diagrams, lots of questions to answer.

6) Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps (202 Openings Designed to Instruct Players of All Levels). ISBN 0-671-65690, paperback from Fireside (Simon & Schuster).

One opening (actually, one line) per page - showing an instructive shot, and a bit of analysis of the ideas. Useful as a source of 202 short lessons - but also a good book for a low-beginner to read through in search of opening ideas - there are 202 to choose from!

7) Weapons of Chess: an Omnibus of Chess Strategy, by Pandolfini. ISBN 0-671-65972-3, paperback from Fireside (Simon & Schuster).

A collection of short ruminations on every topic you can think of. almost always with a diagram, and a lesson attached. No board necessary, even for low-beginners. An "idea" book.

8) Pandolfini's Endgame Course, by Pandolfini. ISBN 0-671-65688-0, paperback from Fireside (Simon & Schuster).

Highly recommended. Short lessons on the endgame, beginning with KQRk and ending (238 endgames later) with KNPkb. KBNk is handled in Endgames 16 through 24, one small step at a time. Beginners will need a board the first time (or two) through the book. When the material is well understood, the player should be able to read through each lesson without benefit of a board.

9) Chessercizes: New Winning Techniques for Players of All Levels, by Pandolfini. ISBN 0-671-70184-3, paperback from Fireside (Simon & Schuster) .

Not exactly "problems"; not exactly "lessons". Written in the modern Pandolfini style - one idea/example per page. Easy to take in short segments, or as fodder for lessons.

10) Chess for Tigers, 2nd edition, by Simon Webb. ISBN 0-08-037788-2, paperback from Permagon Press

General advice on varied topics, with a lesson woven into every chapter.

Finally, Ken Sloan's recommendations on opening books. Students who learn from Pandolfini will "naturally" play double K-pawn openings. I see no reason to interfere with this for quite some time. Eventually, they want somethings more meaty. My approach is to first introduce the Evans Gambit - and then the Ruy Lopez.

I haven't found anything really good on a repertoire for Black - especially in response to something other than 1. e4. Suggestions are welcome!
11) Evans Gambit And A System Vs. Two Knights Defense, by Tim Harding. ISBN 0-87568-194-8, paperback from Chess Digest.

An excellent presentation of opening ideas which will appeal to the young player. Beginners need to be cautioned to simply follow the "bold type" - on later passes they can come back for another level of detail, and then another, etc. Emphasis on complete games.
12) How to Play the Ruy Lopez, by Shaun Taulbut. ISBN 07134 4873 3, paperback from Batsford.
Good presentation of essential opening material. Can be read at several levels - starting with simply the text introductions to each chapter and "just the bold type" for the main line. Details can be picked up in later passes through the book, and in analysis of games actually played. This book can be used for ideas on how to meet the Ruy Lopez *as Black*, while still aiming for the Evans Gambit with White.

By now - we're probably well out of the "kids books" area. I believe that any 6th grader (and most 4th graders) can read all of the above books. I suspect that these books will take any beginner to at least USCF 1400. By that time, the student will be ready for the "adult" literature, and the choice of books becomes much more personalized, depending on choice of openings, style, etc.

Other books/software useful for children include:

1) Chess Tactics For Students, by John A. Bain, ISBN 0-9639614-0-3,available from John Bain, P.O. Box 398, Philomath, OR 97370 or bainj@peak.org. $14.95 Students or Teachers Edition. 20% discount with orders of 10 or more student editions Free Teachers edition with order of 15. Introduction to tactics. Clear, large format book with excellent typeface. Step by step explanation of problem solving. "fill in the blank" response area in text. Start with problem, use hints if necessary, then check answers. Good for young and beginning players who need practise in tactics. Excellent for group or individual use. Important and often neglected area of study between learning the moves and learning the openings. I (SP) recommend this book highly before attempting Pandolfini's Chessercises, which is a bit difficult for beginners and lower level players. More information is at the author's home page .
2) Bobby Fisher Teaches Chess (CDROM) Bookup. $49. Software version of book mentioned above, plus an excellent chess engine.
3) New Introduction Book(title coming next), by Daniel King, excellent concise and clear.
4) Josh Waitzkin's Attacking Chess. Josh Waitzkin(IM). Fireside Chess Library,1995. $12.00. Entertaining, well written approach to tactics, from Josh's games.
5) The Chess Doctor. Bruce Pandolfini. Fireside Chess Library, 1995. Chess prescriptions for what ails your game.