However, I've always found their other, specialized opening books too heavy on variations, and too short on explanation to be really useful. (It's great as reference after you've played some games in the opening.) You're already familiar with Watson's excellent books 'Mastering the Chess Openings' from the publisher Gambit. You just don't have to go through all analysis in one go. However, they're also full of didactic explanations which will serve amateurs as well. Thir books are aimed at very advanced and aimed at really strong players (their most well-known series is called 'Grandmaster Repertoire').

If you're a strong player then I would recommend checking out Quality Chess and their opening books. If you're intermediate to strong, Everyman Chess has several other excellent opening books, too. I don't know which level you're at, but if you are beginner to intermediate, I would suggest Everyman Chess 'Starting Out' series (they will give you an excellent grounding). Then complement these with books on the openings you do play. Yes, opening theory has moved on since then (quite a bit with some openings), but as Wayne pointed out above, nearly all the analysis in them was done by world class players at the time (Botvinnik, Geller, Korchnoi, Larsen, Hort, Portisch etc.) - the most recent editions are still worthwile, but the quality of analysis is often criticized (and not without reason). Mohammad: If you want to buy ECO as a standard reference work, you'd probably be better off buying the first edition of the five volumes, written in the late 1970s and early 1980s. That sort of reading would be a pretty daunting task, but I think this book differs from most others because of its use of a lot of sample games. devoted to various chess openings.' - Steve Goldberg (2010)

Here is a review:įor a bunch of sample games, one could consider: If I remember correctly, it was written around 1999. Seirawan's Winning Chess Openings is not as comprehensive as FCO, but it is probably a lot more readable. If one is not too concerned with detail, perhaps it is not so important to have a recent update. There are some not-so-detailed books that attempt to describe most openings (without tables of moves), but I think the last of those was about eight years ago. I am not sure what the desired purpose is here, but I think the common perception is that it is no longer practical to publish a detailed reference in book form for all oenings. If one really wants a detailed general opening reference, I think chessbase sells some sort of updated computer disk from time to time. Perhaps, Small Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings is the last book of this type that we will ever see.

Modern chess openings 3rd edition