After a (quite long!) break we are back!
In this video Jacob shows two interesting positions. The first is a simple positional decision (taken wrongly) and the second one a brilliant tactical combination.
Nikos is showing two hanging pawns examples from his upcoming book “Playing 1.d4 d5”
The pgn file can be downloaded here.
i am very much enjoying and using “Playing 1.e4 e5”. I also play 1.d4 d5 using an old book by Matthew Sadler on Queens Gambit Declined. Not exactly a repertoire book by its wonderful. I am very interested in “Playing 1.d4 d5”. Idea on rough time for publication.
Could we please have a kind of approx publishing schedule? Right now after releasing the latest 2- books it is looking like empty with only 2 books inside it 🙂
I Know u are not certain about dates – and I agree about it, but at least to have an idea, for example we are looking to have GM Rep XXX, GM Rep YYY, Game Collection 1, Strategy 2, etc… No need for exact and deep details just idea and of course approx season – winter/summer/autumn 🙂
Thanks
i am sceptical about the d4 d5 book. nothing against niko, but why does a guy around 2000 is allowed to write a book while other authors are GM?!?! its not only about the moves, but also the correct evaluations. even a 2300 guy has basically no understanding about chess
@gernot
As Jacob and John have pointed out several times on this blog, all QC are basically a team effort. Besides, I guess nowadays engines are a big help. Even I can often pretty quickly fill up holes in my repertoire due to new developments. I guess that’s why guys like Carlsen tend to prefer less theoretical lines, where he forces his opponents to think on their own.
@gernot
You can but there is probably much more effort put in a Nikos book than in an average GM book . Reason is your argument .
@gernot – Anybody is “allowed” to write a book. And, the ability to write a good chess book – one worth reading – is not determined by rating. For example, I would not like to read a book authored by Stockfish, despite the lofty rating. Indeed the potential customer should have a healthy skepticism towards all books, regardless of author reputation. I have read a couple of pretty good chess books by players with a lower rating than mine, less than 2300 certainly. Not the norm though. I have read a couple of really bad books written by players who were world champion at the time. Again those were exceptions. From what I have seen QC does not put out bad books, so it might be wise not to pre-judge based on the author’s rating. Wait and see.
@gernot
It is not all about rating. Nikos is a good correspondance player and a well-known trainer. But the main thing is that he has already written a couple of books, and there are definitely people out there who like those books. For that reason i would give him credit and *allow* him to write about d4 d5. Maybe that book will not be helpful to everyone, but on the other hand there are already some excellent books that were not helpful for ME because I could not cope with the level of thinking, memorization or communication. I believe that the Negi series would lift my rating from 2100 to 2200 if i had a real good memory, but i have not. That is OK, I can remember the flesh of 3 opening books (white, vs. e4, vs. d4/c4) and 1 endgame book, and I think that is what most players of my strength carry in their bag.
### off-topic 🙂 ###
Do you have plans for something like PLAYING THE PRIC/MODERN in GM Guide style?
It’s very rewarding and life-long opening spurred with dynamism just like KID or Najdorf…
Please make it happen… 🙂
For the Modern it already exists and is called ‘The Modern Tiger’.
Also Chess Stars have JUST done a book on the Pirc ?
@The Doctor
Yeah, but I guess it’s not top notch 🙂
@The Doctor
Chess Stars books are okay, but I prefer QC of course ?
@Ray
I have six Chess Stars books written by GM Kornev including both volumes of his new 1…Nf6, g6, d6 series.
I find him to be an author that I can relate to and his books are very fair in there position assessments. His particular strength is his ability to explain the requirements of the position….guess that comes from being a trainer in Russia.
Add this new Chess Stars book to QC’s Tiger’s Modern and any Pirc/Modern player should be very well prepared to meet whatever white throws at them.
@gernot
What I’ve seen of Niko’s books (The Ruy and the French) they are very well researched, have excellent variation coverage and a lot of thought has gone into the repertoire selection……I’ve used both books for ICCF play and haven’t struck any serious problems with his position assessments.
I also found that not having played the Ruy for some 30 odd years his commentary and explanations of plans etc have been very helpful …I only wish that books such as this had been available 30 odd years ago!
I think one of the big things to remember is that QC have a very robust editorial process to support their authors……So I for one am looking forward to his new book on 1 d4 d5.
@Michael
I fully agree!
The ability to write a good book (chess or otherwise) is determined by reviewing the outcome more than anything else. And a good openings book is not about the rating of the author; it is about depth and width of research, hard work put into it, presentation skill and so many other things.
Jacob is a very demanding and ambitious editor, and certainly not a guy to mince his words; if Nikos wasn’t up to QC’s significantly demanding standards as an author, he wouldn’t be there writing books any longer, I suppose.
Guys – look at e4e5, and also the French. Nikos has walked the walk and deserves our respect.
with the Kornev 2 vol. & Tiger’s modern from QC , you can also add “the fianchetto solution” from E.Neiman/S.Shoker. This last book is about how to play Pirc/Modern/KID set-up against any system, any opponent…and with both colors.