The "Complete Najforf" has the wrong "Book Description," e.g., "The Dutch (1.d4 f5) is a superb weapon..."

John Nunn's newest reference work on the Najdorf covers all positions after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5. This edition expands significantly on his previous Najdorf work published in the mid-80's. In the ever-changing world of the Najdorf, it is essential to have the latest reference for any player rated above 2000. If you want to play the 6.Bg5 lines, then you need this book. John Nunn sets the standard that others are measured by when it comes to opening books. His works are full of original analysis and useful tidbits. Sometimes he does profess to enjoy a certain line over another and is not very clear on why (example: the Nb3 line of the Poison Pawn variation of the Sicilian), but generally he backs everything up with convincing comments.

John Nunn has obviously put a lot of effort in writing an up-to-date comprehensive manual for an opening where theory is constantly in the making and ignorance can spell disaster.This is no small feat as he went through 18.000 games to produce this book on the aggressive 6.Bg5 continu- ation. We await the "sequel" where the rest of the variations will be discussed with great anticipation!All of you who feared sharp openings such as the Najdorf can now fearlessly wade through the main lines thanks to this book. A must for the tournament player who wishes to include the Najdorf Sicilian in his or her opening reper- toire.(in memoriam Miguel Najdorf) George Baltzopoulos

This book is good, but not great. It covers many common endgame themes such as zugzwang, and how to draw, etc. There are a few good examples on tactics, but more examples on common endgame themes. This book is more for the advanced begginer/intermediate player.

This is John Nunn's first and best endgame book, bar none! Contains analysis of more than 100 endgames grouped by tactical and positional themes. CLASSIC! For players rated 1600-2200.

This is my initial book review for amazon.Previous to reading Nunn's opus,I've always assumed endgames were of a strategical nature.Kotov in "Think like a grandmaster" tells a story about Capablanca's endgames.He claims to have met him at some chess event where a lecture was being given about endings.Capas basic claim was that planing the optimum location for the chess pieces in the ending was more important than the tatical variations.One gets the impression that the tatical variations just become automatically apparent once the strategical plan via piece place comes to fruition.Therefore the endgame can be fathomed intuatively with only a minimal effort of analysis.Nunn's book dispells that notion entirely by claiming endgames can be tatical.They can also be strategical like any other part of the game.Many strong grandmasters overlook many combinative possibilities in this part of the,because of such sterotypic thinking as mentioned above.This book can help one approach the ending with a fresh pair of eyes.From a personal perspective I have always over looked opportunities in combinative endgames assuming they do not exist.Now I know better.This book has freed me of such generalized thinking.A paradox I have seemed to stumble across is that apparently simple end games even appear to be more tatical than complex ones.Nunn by accident in his introductory statement seems to have also made a beautiful distinction between strategy and tactics. The former being the creation of plans and the latter being it's execution once it's apparent.The games are classics.Many include ideas such as mates, Stalemates, Promotion, Positional draws,fortresses ect.

This is a highly recommended book to one of the most frequently encountered openings, so I bought it. It takes two weeks to read five pages and the profuse variations strain my brain. This is not a book for a beginner. Be forewarned. If you are an elite player or exceptionally gifted (over 1800), disregard this.

For those of you that want to beat those pesky Sicilianites, this is the book for you!!! Nunn and Gallagher do an excellent job of providing White with good variations of the Open Sicilian. Prior to reading this book, when I was trying out the Closed Sicilian and King's Indian Attack against it, I went winless in 7 games with only 1 draw. Since cracking this book open, and playing 3.d4 instead of those Anti-Sicilian systems that just don't work, to the date of this review, I have yet to be beat in a tournament game playing the open variation as White. For those of you that play the Sicilian as Black (which I absolutely refuse to do), hold on to your hats. You'll be in for a beating if your opponent has read this book!!

This book is a great way to achieve positions of at least equality. It is easy to find variations with the index. Very exciting moves to exploit opponents' mistakes. Stepping into the wealth of theory involved with the Sicilian requires a guide, this is a must. You won't regret buying this book.

Unlike John Emms' "The Ultimate Chess Puzzle Book," which I strongly recommend for most anybody, this is not meant to be a tactics book. A previous reviewer apparently missed the point of this book, simply comparing the number of puzzles to judge the content in those 2 books. Nunn's book deliberately keeps the reader from expecting what is coming, thereby simulating the true game environment. This approach wouldn't necessarily get your pure tactical skills up, but if you look at the benefit you will gain in your overall play, this book is definitely worth its price.

One more note...there was a comment that "Not to mention Emms is a bettr player than Nunn ever was or will be" in a previous review, but that is simply not true. John Nunn hovered around #10-15 in the world during mid-80's, while John Emms has yet to break into top 100.

I have to differ with a previous reviewer's misguided opinions. John Nunn's Puzzle Book is different from most puzzle books. Nunn's problems are generally much harder and less predictable; they all have lengthy solutions in which non-forced quiet moves and non-captures are frequently embedded. This isn't a collection of brilliant sacrifices where the player makes the most spectacular capture with check leading to a forced move variation; tactical drills are best sought elsewhere.

I admit the publisher's advertising blurb could have been more clear ("Most chess puzzle books put you in an artificial situation: you are told a combination exists, what the theme is, and what you are required to achieve. This one is different") because, as the previous reviewer notes, "all puzzles books put you in artificial positions!" However, presumably the reader of a puzzle book - unless he's been dropped on his head as a child -knows there are combinations in the book.

Nunn clearly writes "one cannot disguise the fact that there is "something" in the position, but I do not see why the challenge should be made even more artificial by giving away further information." The previous reviewer seems to think that Nunn contradicts this statement, breaking "the book's promises," by providing background comments (as well as specific hints in a separate section for the baffled) for the puzzles. However, if you can solve a problem from comments as cryptic as "White has a number of promising attacking continuations, but how can he force immediate resignation?" or "It takes some time to grasp what might be going on in this totally weird position. What should Black play, and what should the result be?" then you should be writing puzzle books, not buying them. Simply ignore the comments and look only at the diagrams if you want no "help."

The previous reviewer writes "Nunn gathered the material for this book from old Informator issues and some of his own games... Do we really need a puzzle book then?" implying that the puzzles were already published and Nunn is simply repackaging them as new and his own. In fact, Nunn writes the puzzles were based on his own unpublished analysis of Informator annotations, along with personal game notes and an analysis of two tournaments (Karlsbad 1911 and 1993 Biel). The previous reviewer basically concludes that finding and solving on one's own the puzzle in any game is best and that "Puzzle books, even good ones like Nunn's, rob the reader of this discovery." Nonsense! Nothing prevents one from analyzing games on one's own - if one so chooses - in the meantime, there are a number of interesting puzzles in John Nunn's Puzzle book.

I have never seen a book of this ilk with a category called find the wrong move.In addition most puzzle books spoon feed us by describing the problem. For example find the mate or someone to play and win etc.Nunn's book tends to put the onus on the individual to think for himself.Most puzzle books tend repeat problems from other books.Quite a number of these problems I have seen for the first time.That is what makes this book truely original and unique. A great book for a player in the 1800 plus elo range. An excellent training tool for chess players.

This book is aimed at the competitive chess player. Over a third of the book is in the section titled "At the Board" and time considerations factor heavily into the presentation.

Only a dozen pages are devoted to the opening and they are mostly aimed at evaluating chess books on unusual openings. This section can be skipped entirely without much loss.

The middlegame has all of 20 pages dedicated to it, but they do manage to offer some "practical" advice once again. Most of it comes in "blurbs" - little nuggets of advice based on what has worked for a very successful GM.

The rest of the book is devoted to the endgame and although it recounts some well-known ending basics such as opposition, triangulation, and R+P vs R ending, it also contains some very good information that is not nearly so well known. Such includes: Black's ideal defensive pawn formation in a 4v3 pawn ending with all pawns on the same side; why the c pawn offers the best winning chances in a Q+P vs Q ending; and some handy rules for R vs N and R vs B pawnless endings.

On the whole, the book is quite "practical" and probably worth the price to a fair number of club players of lesser strength.

The book is interesting primarily as a example of grandmaster style thinking about calculating variations, judging opening repertoires, middle pitfallls, and basic endgame knowledge. But be warned: it is not a primer. The author has not devised a "chess study plan" for self-improvement. Anyone looking for commandments about calculating move sequences, avoiding time trouble ("just don't get in it"), opening choices, detailed strategic planning, etc., should be looking at books specifically aimed at giving a program. This book is more like listening to a knowledgeable Grandmaster lecture at a quiet chess club, sipping some wine and discussing topics.

The emphasis of this book is improvement for the least time effort and it delivers. Nunn's tips on how to calculate variations and his dissection of Kotov's famous tree of analysis are excellent. The chapter on offbeat openings is a must read as Nunn basically refutes the Latvian Gambit and the Moeller Attack in the Giuco Piano in 10 pages!

I particularly liked the section on the endgame. I am not about to sit through a 200 page endgame manual and memorize things like "this ending is a win with K on e7 and R at a2 but a draw if the K is on d6; however, if the passed pawn is a RP, then the White K must be on the 3 squares in front of the RP, etc." Nunn gives good basic rules and examples in the endgame which, if you learn, should cover 90 percent of your endgames.

This is an excellent coverage of single pawn minor piece endings because it's exhaustive. The explanations can be difficult: this should not be the first, second or even third endings book you take on! But if you simply enjoy the fundamental chess endings and have been through most of them already, then this has a lot in it for you. Nunn's explanations, although they can be difficult, really are helpful.

excellent detail, but very narrow focus. only covers endings with one pawn on the board, and one piece each side. with the advent of endgame databases, is this book worth buying anymore? but it is well done nonetheless.

This text provides a quick, concise review of the pimary topics covered on emergency medicine exams. I found it to be a good way to prepare for inservice exams and the written boards.

Published in 1996, this 160 page volume centers on sharpening your attacking instincts, offers practical tips on how to conduct King-Hunts, surveys on how attacking technique has developed and offers some great games from Morphy, Fischer, Tal and Kasparov to name a few. This book is an updated version of a 1970 release with 12 of the 55 games offered coming after 1970. The games range from the years 1844 to 1995. It's bascially a 3 star book (solid) but i give it an extra star for the historical games it includes.

Published in 1993, the only downside i see is that it only contains 144 pages of material. There is a bonus however, in that the Modern defence is also addressed. The Pirc defence (1.e4 d6, 2.d4 Nf6, 3.Nc3 g6, 4.Nf3 Bg7) is a close relation to the King's Indian defence, the only difference being White has played e4 instead of c4. The game can also transpose to the Pirc if 1.d4 d6 and White chooses 2.e4 instead of 2.c4 but it would be a good idea to have another system available if e4 is not forthcoming. Black's idea is to have White establish a pawn centre with the idea of rapidly undermining it, creating an unbalanced position and exciting play. The Modern defence (1.e4 g6, 2.d4 Bg7) can also lead back to the Pirc, but that's not set in stone. The Modern defence can lead to it's own set of complications for both sides. Overall, it's a good book to have, especially if you're a King's pawn player and have to face Pirc or Modern defence players and you need some general theory and positional understanding.

Here comes the new kid on the block, attempting to overthrow Modern Chess Openings (MCO).

Extremely dense, but chock full of new ideas.

Prose explanations are rare.

(Indeed,there are hardly any game references, which makes me wonder if the line is from Kasparov-Karpov, one of the games from the authors, computer analysis, or some guys from the local club!)

But it has all the coverage you would expect of a one-volume opening book.

Should this be the only opening book you buy? No. I find it more interesting to compare lines from MCO and NCO rather than blindly accept one book's version as the final one.

But if you were to _only_ buy this book, you would not be disappointed. You would have to be prepared to play through the lines, and attempt to justify the author's evaluations yourself. You won't get much help from them.

After reading the few reviews, I think that it is not an important issue whether this book is too advanced for novice and club players and only suitable for the serious and professional player. The lines given in this book gives a very good overview of the typical lines and even less well known lines played in the recent years. Just think of it as a good summary of MegaBase from ChessBase.

Bobby Fischer once remarked to a casual player that to improve, one would first pick up a book (which incidently was Modern Chess Openings) and play the moves and the footnotes at least twice from cover to cover. Although this sounds extreme, the point to note is that before a player can even decide on an opening or what the varied openings are like, it is important to have a good idea of what are the typical and nontypical lines that are played nowadays across all openings. One can gain opening ideas from words (such as Fine's Basic chess openings or even Modern Chess Openings). However, this method only provide a superficial coverage of any opening. A more accurate way is to look precisely at the variations involved in each opening and decide FOR YOURSELF which lines are advantageous or not. Bronstein once remarked that many of the past books on openings that stated equality for black is often an understatement that Black has already gain a substantial advantage - meaning that only YOU can decide whether when you attempt a certain variation: Are you just following the crowd or are you thinking by yourself. No doubt, the workload in preparing for your openings will be heavy. The task then is to narrow these openings into a suitable repertoire for yourself (as a function of your style, endgame preferences, etc).

Of course, it helps if you have a chess teacher to do this for you. If not, you can simply follow Fischer's advice and do what many chessplayers are doing nowadays - teaching yourself to improve.

I read the reviews for this book. Some say it is advanced, others say no prose etc. First and foremost this is a openings manual, therefore either you need it or you dont. It is useful if you play regular tournaments, since you can carry it with you and refer to the lines at the end of the game. It is like any other MCO or whatever. It is a personal choice which one is better, and I dont think it makes a big difference unless you are of and IM or GM strength.

As I said it is a good book to have if 1) You play tournaments regularly 2) you can find one under 15 bucks. If you just play blitz on ICC or at the local club then this book is of little use to you.

A word of caution opening books are like PC's they get oudated rather quickly, but then again unless you are a Garry or Vishy that should make little difference.