School of Future Champions 2: Secrets of Opening Preparation

A good general opening book will give you the methods or procedures you can use to study any opening. This book by Dvortesky and Yusupov does that exceedingly well. The authors alternate by chapter, and this keeps the teaching fresh and engaging. What is so tremendous about this book and the others from this series is that the chapters were actually given to chess students in Dvoretsky's chess school. Because of this, the book never suffers from the flaw in so many chess books: that of going alternately over and under the reader's head. Not to pick on Junn Nunn, but his "Understanding Chess: Move by Move" is a classic instance of an author being out of touch with his audience. Who the heck is he aiming at? One minute he sounds like he's talking to a class of 4th graders, the next minute he is engaging in theoretcical discussions with Kasparov. Dvortesky and Yusupov are teachers, and each chapter of this book is spoken right to the class, and you are part of the class, and their focus is clear and steady in relation to their audience. There are many annotated games in this book, and in each of them, the authors explain how the ideas relevant to that particulat opening are carried out in the game. This not only makes for interesting reading, in that the reader can follow the instructive flow of ideas, but it immediately rubs off on your own chess, making you realize you had better know the ideas behind your own openings. In fact, the explanations are so good that I have found myself playing some of the openings that are the subject of the games in the book. 'Opening Preparation' is just a great book, that rewards careful study on every page. It is challenging, but, again, these guys know when the students need to be pushed, and they seem to know when to let up a bit too. Because of this, the book is stimulating without being overwhelming. It is a very fine chess book.

Quite a good book. However you are going to use only a couple of chapters. The chapters on building a repetoire were a bit superficial, (Not detailed enough i would have expected more examples). The Obscure Dutch defense is covered to show modern approaches to the opening, a better more worth while opening could have been chosen. What you will use will be the examples of openinging into the middle & end game. Also the more general concepts of where and how your limited valuable time should be spent on studying the openings are of great benefit. Finally this, as all Dvoretsky are for advanced players (FIDE 1800+)