Sicilian Taimanov: Move by Move

I decided to return to the Sicilian after several years of playing the Pirc (with unspectacular results). I had played the Four Knights Sicilian quite a bit before, and thought about returning to that tried and proved opening of my past, but the book I had was in print and its very hard to do any chess study at home with a wife and kid. So after being a happy customer from the kindle purchase of his book on the Nimzo, I decided to see what the Taiminov was about. Its typical of other e6 sicilians where its quiter and more strategic with the break d5 in mind--but not always sometimes its e5, f5 and sometimes he just keeps his central pawns at home the majority of the game protecting the king. Its very flexible opening that can transpose into the Scheveningen at certain points if favorable. Its not so different than what I use to play in the Four Knights and many of the ideas are similar, but there seems to be more GM's that take up the Taiminov than the 4K, not exactly sure why, I guess there is more of a chance for a lingering advantage for white in the 4K main lines. This opening is actually great for players that do not have time to remember trees of variations and can rely more on the right moves rather than worrying with tactical blows at every turn.Anyways, the book is laid out ideally for readers, complete GM games with detailed but not dry analysis, He stops at certain important points and asks the reader what the correct plan for black is here and makes you think so you can better remember. Its more practical a layout than the boring books they churn out that are divided into trees (I can't deal with that nonsense). The verbose is very clear and the author has experience (just as with the Nimzo) with the Opening. I'm around 1900 player, but I guess just about any player with a good enough foundation can pick this book up and learn this opening and feel very comfortable when playing it, even expert/master level players.My only gripe, is more with the publisher-- why is the digital price for these move by move books so high?

Opening books are harder to review than, say, middlegame and endgame books. I've seen many lauded opening manuals appear, only to be exposed as either full of errors (or perhaps one critical error that makes the entire repertoire dubious), or basically rip-offs (database dumps, copying earlier material without attribution, etc.). It takes a while for the public to know for sure if an opening book is quality.Emms' Sicilian Taimanov: Move by Move interested me because I had never played the Taimanov, but had played the Paulsen/Kan and Scheveningen lines, and wanted to check out this "cousin" variation.So far, I am completely impressed. The "Question and Answer" format is generally well used - the answers were good punctuations; they helped me to see that it was an important moment in the opening or game, and to take special notice.Emms has played this opening for years, and clearly teaches us the thematic ideas of this line (in one fairly popular line, Black early on swaps his Queen and a Pawn for 3 minor pieces - a nice imbalance from which to outplay weaker or less prepared players).If you are looking for a new, or a first, Sicilian to play as Black, the Taimanov seems ideal - much less theory than the Najdorf or Dragon, with many of the themes being typical to the "e6 Sicilians". If you master the Taimanov, I expect you will do at least as well as if you studied a more theoretical Sicilian (I am not talking about IM-GM level play, of course), and your "upkeep" should be easier - fewer 2700s playing your opening means less new material to have to find and digest.If you care, my current USCF rating is 2159. Good luck in your Sicilian adventures!

It's easy to read and follow the Taimanov Sicilian ideas in this well written book. The Move by Move format is by far the best way to not only learn a given opening but also understand why each crucial move is made and for what plan. This format makes it comparable to a light 'workbook' as at the end of various book sections the author asks - find the best plan for black - or what's the best square for the black Queen? So instead of blindly memorizing different moves in a given variation we are forced to know where to move should the position change and adjust our plan accordingly. Most opening books will do us no good when the opponent decides to play 'out-of-book' ; not with the Move by Move series. GM Emms is an accomplished chess professional with 15 years of Sicilian Taimanov playing experience. Great book!

Plenty of diagrams and helpful explanations of the moves. The first chapter does an excellent job of introducing the main ideas of this opening. My understanding of the Taimanov has increased greatly thanks to this book.

I was shocked that the book was missing the 7.Qf3 variation of the English Attack. If you have finished reading this book and think you are totally prepared for the Taimanov you are woefully mistaken.

Well presented. Covers the main lines with many variations and clearly explains the ideas in the lines and variations. Asks questions to the reader and gives follow up answers. A great book that presents the ideas and themes of the opening so the reader remembers them easily...not just rote memorization of lines with no understanding of why they are played, There should be more books like this.

I have only read about 80% of this book to date but is like doing a postmortem with an opponent . Emms in this book is a very readable author.

Im roughly 1700 fide last i checked. I found this book extremely helpful. It supplies tons of ideas along with variations. I feel this is a great book for a 1500 to 2200 player. Very well written.

Very well structured & just the right amount of detail. I'm rated about 1500 and its by far the easiest to follow opening book I have read so far.

Tengo que decir que no he leído el libro entero todavía; Ahora estoy empezando el capítulo 2, pero con lo poco que he leído me he dado cuenta de lo bien que explica John Emms la variante Taimanov. Me compré hace tiempo el libro The King's Indian Attack de la colección "move by move", pero este de la siciliana Taimanov de John Emms me parece que está mucho mejor explicado, con las jugadas, los conceptos y las ideas más claras, y muy bien ordenado por variantes. De momento estoy bastante contento, mi nivel de inglés no es muy alto pero lo entiendo mejor que otros libros en ese idioma. Le daría las 5 estrellas si hubiese incluido algunas líneas anti-sicilianas en las que las blancas se saliesen del inicio típico 1.e4 c5 2.Cf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Cxd4 y cómo las debería jugar alguien a quien le interesa entrar en las variantes Taimanov.

Very well organized approach to the aimanov variation of the Sicilian Opening. Besto for players from 1800 elo upward. Irecommend it to players who know the sicilian defencs a bit and want to experiment the Taimanov variation.

Salve buon libro, è una variante della siciliana che in relaltà ho visto poco giocare ma so che è usata da giocatori titolati. Lo consigli a chi voglia approfondire questa difesa storica

Excelente material para a aprendizado de uma aberturavárias partidas de exemplo e questionamento lance a lance que ajudará a entender a proposta da abertura e as ideias a serem utilizadas.