How to Open a Chess Game Larry Evans Pdf

Open Preview

See a Problem?

We'd love your help. Let us know what's wrong with this preview of The Chess Opening For You by Larry Evans.

Thanks for telling us about the problem.

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Community Reviews

· 10 ratings · 1 review

Start your review of The Chess Opening For You: A Complete System For White And Black

Jan 30, 2012 Ted rated it really liked it

FOR CASUAL BUT COMPETITIVE PLAYERS

Let's check out which of the following categories you fit into.

1) You usually play with players who you're much better than.

Okay, I would assume that means you are teaching chess to a child or a friend, which is all well and good. If not, shame on you, bully!

In either case, you don't need this book.

2) You usually play chess with someone who is much better than you are.

Are you learning from this person? Are you a masochist? In either case, go to it!

If not, my c

FOR CASUAL BUT COMPETITIVE PLAYERS

Let's check out which of the following categories you fit into.

1) You usually play with players who you're much better than.

Okay, I would assume that means you are teaching chess to a child or a friend, which is all well and good. If not, shame on you, bully!

In either case, you don't need this book.

2) You usually play chess with someone who is much better than you are.

Are you learning from this person? Are you a masochist? In either case, go to it!

If not, my condolences, especially if you're playing for a stake of any sort.

But regardless, this book may be of interest.

3) You usually play with other players who you're well-matched with.

Are you a very good player? If so, you probably already know more than this book will ever teach you.

If not, then you might be very interested.

Okay, now to the book. Written by Larry Evans (1932-2010), a five time U.S. Champion who won titles starting in 1951 and ending in 1980, an extraordinarily long period of competitiveness at that high level. He also had a very long and active career writing about chess, both as an author and as a journalist.

This is probably not one of his more popular books, simply because it's a bit gimmicky and of little use to very accomplished players. It's recommended openings may, for all I know, be seriously out of date nowadays at any levels of chess beyond the very lowest.

The book, by the way, does not attempt to help you find chess openings that may suit your style. Its subtitle is "A Complete System for White and Black", so what Evans does here is give you a number of openings that you can use in any situation.

Clearly, as White you only need a single opening. But Evans does not recommend a King Pawn or Queen Pawn opening, for the simple reason that either of these really give Black the choice of opening, and thus involve White in all sorts of different systems. Evans instead recommends 1 N-KB3; and what he is aiming for is an extended opening over the first few moves that will become what's variously called the King's Fianchetto, the King's Indian Attack or the King's Indian Reversed.

This strategy has considerable psychological value, because White virtually forces Black into his type of game: the first five moves are 1 N-KB3, 2 P-KN3, 3 B-N2, 4 O-O, 5 P-Q3.

This comes in chapter 3, the remainder of which discusses various nuances of what White will try to do with this system, having successfully got the opening set up. The main point that Evans makes is that your opponent (if you've passed the entry gates above) will likely be far less familiar with the position than you will be.

Chapter 4 discusses an alternative to 1 N-KB3: that of 1 P-K4, but played as a feint, rather than attempting to play a regular King's Pawn opening. The intention here is to see what type of system Black prefers (French, Sicilian, Caro, Ruy, Petroff) after which White will transpose into the setup he's after in the first place. "The idea is to get Black to commit himself to a fixed pawn formation, one which he might rather avoid if he knew your intention was to transpose into a King's Indian Reversed."

The last two chapters recommend systems for Black.

Chapter 5 recommends, after 1 P-K4 by White, 1 ... P-Q4 for black. This is the Center Counter game, of which Evans says

The Center Counter can be played with complete confidence – it has never been refuted and you need not ever learn another defense to 1 P-K4 … It combines simplicity with soundness. Furthermore, it contains a surprising amount of variety, depending upon Black's second move (after 2 PxP).

Finally, in chapter 6, he recommends the King's Indian Defense (1 … N-KB3) against virtually all other openings by White. This is of course the same setup that he has recommended for White in chapter 3, which is a great advantage. (This defense was one of Bobby Fisher's favorites, which is not a bad thing.)

Summary

I think this is a good book for casual, but competitive, players who have an interest in memorizing a little bit in the way of openings. The openings Evans recommends may now be outdated at higher levels, but for casual players nothing ever goes out of date, and the best strategy, as Evans points out, is to try to move the opening phase of the game towards a setup that you are more familiar with than your opponent is. I think his recommendations will help you achieve those types of setups.

...more