Modern Chess Opening Traps

The only thing more humiliating than losing a game quickly is to lose a game quickly to a known opening trap. On the other hand, the easy point scored by the trapper is a great confidence booster, and allows the winner a good rest before the next game in a competition. This book shows that no-one should feel safe from an opponent armed to the teeth with cunning traps. Steve Giddins (who lived in Russia for a time) has collected his material from a wide variety of sources, some not normally available in the West.

This fully revised and updated book is a comprehensive examination of all chess openings relevant in today's chess-playing world -- from the classic gambits to the newest innovations -- with up-to-the-minute evaluations of all known variations.

Presents 202 short chess openers, arranged by type and difficulty level, describing each one's central tactic and explaining how the loser in each scenario could have changed his strategy.

From Simon & Schuster, Chess Traps is I.A. Horowitz's exploration of chess' pitfalls and swindes—both how to set them and how to avoid them. This is a rich storehouse of Chess 'crimes.' Sometimes the villain is thwarted: more often he gets away with his nefarious deeds. But, in either event, the tales, and their telling, will prove to be instructive and vastly entertaining.

This repertoire of easy-to-learn openings, based on Garry Kasparov's move 1 d4, offers openings with a modern twist. Each one has simple principles that allow White to play just about the same moves against the Grunfeld, King's Indian, and Nimzo-Indian Defense. There are also modern systems to repel the Dutch, Benoni, and even offbeat lines such as the Englund Gambit. Nothing is left out: the tricks and traps in the opening for both sides; the basic plan and strategy using entertaining games; and how to play the middlegame by following easy plans. Intermediate

Pandolfini, who will be the commentator for the 1993 World Chess Championships in Los Angeles this fall, illustrates 200 new and effective moves for the challenging first phase of the game, explaining strategies and principles in a clear and understandable way. 200 line drawings.