Beating 1e4 e5: A Repertoire For White In The Open Games

Nice book! Provides good information and coverage for club players. The Italian Game has recently become a mainstream opening, maybe as popular as the Ruy Lopez, and theory has changed since the book was published. Black may now postpone ...d7-d6, hoping to play ...d5 in one move. White now often postpones c2-c3 until after Black has played ...d6. a2-a4 has become a trendy move for White. If White postpones castling in favor of Nbd2-f1-g3, Black seems to get at least equality with an early ...d5. Even though Emms doesn't mention these ideas, the lines in the book are still playable. Newer plans can be discovered by studying the most recent high-level games.

This is a very high quality repertoire book. Unlike some repertoires that try to cover every response to 1.e4 in far too few pages, this one, of course is only a response to 1...e5. So the coverage is very thorough, more thorough than any non-master would likely ever need to be successful. Plus, the author, English GM John Emms, is a rather exceptional author, very adept at explaining chess concepts for the developing player. The repertoire chosen is a very good one for anyone from developing player all the way up to GM. He chooses the Italian game, but by way of the Bishop's Opening move order, 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4. In this way you can avoid the Petroff Defense, which is both popular and difficult for White to demonstrate an advantage against. Plus, everyone who plays 1...e5 will be booked up against the Spanish and Scotch openings, but the Italian Game is not as popular. This is an especially good place for developing players to start, as the strategies are less taxing than in the Spanish, or even the Scotch, and you will learn classical tactical themes that will serve you for your whole chess career. Emms chooses the modern treatment of the Italian Game, one in which White delays castling. The Two Knights and other lines are covered as well. The format is not a variation tree, but the repertoire is instead given in 46 well chosen games. Unless you are a titled player, reviewing whole games will do more for your chess than trying to memorize countless variation trees. The vast majority of the games are fairly recent, post 2000 games. Emms is very thorough at giving alternate move orders and alternate lines. He is also very objective about the opening. There is no empty 'White to Play and Win' tripe here. He notes that there are lines where Black is equal, but also truly points out that if you understand these positions better than your opponent, you can still play for a win. I find this honesty quite refreshing! There is enough material in this book to give titled players a repertoire, but the copious verbal explanations make the book usable for non-masters as well. Truly, this book is a labor of love, and vastly superior to the kind of opening book that was so common 20 or 30 yrs ago. Highly recommended.

The book finally arrived today. I guess it is caused by pandemic situation. Thanks

It’s a little short, but great study material for anyone that plays that Italian.

Excellent coverage of the Italian Game

This book explains clearly many of the most typical ideas in the Italian game with c3 and d3 set up.Three things you should consider about the book:1) Focus is on building a repertoire for white so that not all main lines are covered. On the other side the material easier to navigate and digest.2) Comments win over analysis. Not too many lengthy variations but a few well chosen reference games with very good explanation of the key strategic ideas for both colours (although mainly by white perspective). I prefer this approach to the opposite one. I tend to lose myself and forget the key contents when the message is left to tons of copy-pasted computer analysis without comments3) The author is playing the lines he suggests. This knowledge of the opening is well reflected in the organization of the material.I gave it 5 stars because I keep coming back to it eager to continue the reading. This is quite rare for me with chess books. I guess it's because it's very well written.

Forget about Marshall, forget about open spanish! You will have a very Solid structure with a lot of winning chances and a draw always at hand. You will know better than anyone what to do! Wonderful book

This book offers white a repertoire against e5 based on the Italian game, or as i prefer to call it the Giuoco piano, and the Bishop's opening. This book has given me not only a wealth of new ideas and inspiration, but also a new perspective on and a respect for the Italian game. As Emm's succintly puts it in his forward - For years the italian game has been seen as a "simple" opening that novices learn before moving on to "better" openings. The Italian game is simple because novices play it simply. At higher levels it is antything but simple(paraphrase). Traditionally the Italian game is thought of by many as to not offer white ANY advantages over black. Emm's not only refutes this but also says that often when white has "only level chances it does not matter.This is a statement I totally agree with. If both players have level chances it leads to an exciting game where the player who plays best wins.Emm's gives the Bishop's opening, primarily, as a way to avoid both the Petroff and guarantee that the gmae is steered towards an Italian game.Quality Chess Publishing's superb free electronic updates for their books has obviously started to rub off on other publishing houses as within 12 months 2 free updates are available for this book on Evryman's website.A well-written, enlightening read. Buy it!!!!!

Das Buch ist definitiv eine Empfehlung. Es wird ein gut durchdachtes Repertoire für Weiß nach 1. e4 e5 angeboten, das mir schon erste Erfolge am Brett gebracht hat und eine gute Quote von 70%. Das Buch ist ausgezeichnet gerade auch für Neulinge in der Italienischen Eröffnung geeignet!!

De nombreuses analyses sur la variante positionnelle de l'italienne mais très peu inspiré sur les autres lignes de jeu du pion-Roi. Il y a mieux dans le genre.

very good