John EmmsAttacking with 1e4 (Everyman Chess)

I got this book even though I'm primarily a 1.d4 player. I just wanted to change up my openings a little. While reading "New in Chess", one of the grand masters, I believe it was Wang Hao (2700+ elo) was asked what book(s) you have read to help your game. He replied, "Attacking with 1.e4 by Emms, that's how I got the GM title!" I thought that statement was pretty profound so I had to check it out for myself.The opening's that Jon Emms recommends are all very good starter points. You may want to tweak them a bit for your own personal taste, for instance, Emms recommends playing the closed Sicilian against 1...c5. Some people like to go into mainline theory and dislike closed positions, so this may not be for them. I personally don't care since I like playing new openings and finding new ideas in all positions. So for me, Emms' book was perfect. He gives a nice, compact strategy for almost every reply to 1.e4 and seems to avoid a lot of main stream theory. I recommend this for anyone looking to expand their opening repertoire.

Broad opening repertoire, albeit it leads to fairly closed and tame positions with white. In that sense, the title is misleading because it implies that these strategies lead to attack-oriented middle-game positions. Especially in the case of the Bishop's opening against e5, that's simply not true.Similarly, the King's Indian Attack is a formidable way to meet the French Defense, yet it certainly isn't the most dynamic option available to white. The same criticism applies to the Closed Sicilian lines Emms recommends.To his credit, all of the lines the author suggested fulfill the book's purpose of providing the reader with an e4 repertoire that does not require them to learn "reams and reams of theory".Unfortunately, one cannot have his cake and eat it too. If we are looking for a truly dynamic way to handle the King's pawn opening for white, we will have to study highly double-edged positions. To that end, learning volumes of theory simply is inevitable.

Does excellent job of presenting an easy to understand attacking system for white, especially good for club players. Emms is a respected chess writer.

OK, you have a good lines against the "normal" openings - Rui Lopez, Sicilian, French, so you maybe second guessing why purchase book that recommend 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4!? or 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 or 1. e4 e6 2.d3. Then consider this - how comfortable you are playing against the Scandinav (1.e4 d5) or Alekhine Defense (1.e4 Nf6) or Pirc and other non-common lines. For just a few bucks you get advise from well known GM. Moreover, he puts it together on the "Golden Plate" with the repertoire structure, which I have found by far more preferable than annotated sample games structure that other authors use.Let's say your White repertuar is rock solid, what do you play against e4 as Black? Wouldn't you want to know what your future opponent (who is reading this book right this minute) will play against you?My friends and foes know that I have reached my level, won many tournaments and have beaten several elite GMs without solid openings. So when few days ago my student, who is preparing to battle for $10,000 top prize at the World Open, was showing me his line against 1.e4, he was shocked when, instead of usual high level strategic questions, I pulled the Emms book and said what about this Emms recommendation. Well, you probably guessed -he got the book and now playes another line, where Emms comments were less clear.I didn't give the book maximum stars, because Emms doesn't provide sufficient recommendations. In many instances he simply says White is better or slightly better. You will have to figure out on your own, what the plan should be.Overall, very cheap book for a volume of opening preparation you get. Remember to practice your lines against "Fritz", before playing expert Fritzman next Sunday.Copyrighted by me!

i think this is a great book for anyone looking to take up e4, but for me some of the suggestions just aren't me, so i use this book as a supplement rather than a bible. its answers to the alekhine, the scandinavian, the pirc and others are all excellent for me but i would never ever ever ever play the closed sicilian against c5, i hate it, not to say it isn't effective, its just i can't stand the positions it creates. So with the help of nunn's beating the sicilian i am tackling the mainlines as they prove alot more fun. The KIA against the french is not boring however, i have just found it very hard to win with against strong opponents, so its the tarrasch for me. whereas the caro kann exchange just isn't my cup of tea either, i like the advance too much. The bishop's opening is a good choice as it side steps all the horrendous latvian and petroff learning but i'm a lopez man. All that is fine if like me you have an awful lot of time to spair, if you don't i'm sure this book will become a bible to you, for me its just really useful

Unlike the other reviewer, I like this book. The author's intent is to give the reader a solid opening attack against the major black defenses using 1.e4, with the caveat of using lines that are more move/theory based than memorization intensive. If you have many hours to memorize different lines or are quite familiar with e4 openings, then you'll probably find sharper lines elsewhere, as the other reviewer stated.But if you are like me, you'll appreciate the organization of this book. Each defense is laided out by the major choices each side can make, discussing the implications and plans of each. The book is not variation free, as the author does note variations and outcomes from recent games.The defenses covered are: Closed Sicilian; 1...e5; French; Caro-Kann; Pirc; Modern; Scandinavian; and the Alekhine Exchange Variation. At the end of the book there is a 2 page reference with the move sequences all summarized. Essentially, this book enables functional use of e4 openings in months rather than years.

I notice that some of the other reviews have criticized some choices of the repertoire given in this book, such as the Closed Sicilian and the King's Indian attack against the French as a bit unadventurous. I can understand what they mean but this is an economical repertoire so I think John Emms made excellent choices actually. Most are good solid lines like the Bishop's opening against e5, the 150 attack, the Exchange Alekhine and the surprising choice of 2.c4 against the Caro-Kann. There's about 160 pages altogether so it may be brief considering it covers all or almost everything black can answer with. For comparison even the book Lazy Sicilian is 200 pages plus! I said brief but this book is sort of thorough at the same time which is an appealing quality. I admit I have not studied it deeply but my opinion is that this is good book that gives you confidence.

Normalerweise decken Repertoire-Bücher über Eröffnungen nur sehr kleine Bereiche ab. Oft wird nur eine Eröffnung behandelt, welche gegen alle denkbaren Verteidigungen einsetzbar ist. Das führt dazu, dass man gegen Spieler mit DWZ unter 2000 oft mit grauenvollen Eröffnungen wie dem Damenbauerspiel oder dem Königsindischen Angriff konfrontiert wird.Vorliegendes Buch verfolgt einen anderen Ansatz: Es wird ein Vorgehen gegen jede denkbare Verteidigung auf 1.e4 vorgestellt. Dies ist der richtige Ansatz, da gute Spieler auf jeden Fall verschiedene Eröffnungen beherrschen sollten.Gut gefallen haben mir das Kapitel über das Läuferspiel und den geschlossenen Sizilianer (mit Le3). Mit Erfolg habe ich bereits die vorgeschlagene Variante gegen die Aljechin Verteidigung (1.e4 Sf6 2.e5 Sd5 3.c4 Sb6 4.d4 d6 5.e:d)angewandt. Auch die Le3- Variante gegen Pirc werde ich demnächst probieren.Emms propagiert erfrischendes Offensiv-Schach ohne übertriebene Risiken. Die von ihm vorgeschlagenen Varianten sind oftmals nicht die Hauptvarianten, wurden aber bereits von namhaften Grossmeistern gespielt. Auch wenn dem Leser einzelne Kapitel nicht behagen mögen (mir gefällt der Königsindische Angriff gegen Französisch nicht, die Ausführungen hierzu sollen aber qualitativ hochwertig sein), kann man viele Anregungen in einzelnen Eröffnungen finden.Das Buch beinhaltet viele Diagramme und viel Text. Besonders positiv ist, dass wesentliche Ideen nach jedem Kapitel zusammengefasst werden.Da auch ein mir bekannter FM dieses Buch kaufen will, würde ich sagen, dass es für Spieler mit DWZ 1800-2300 geeignet ist...also letztlich für die meisten Spieler.Ein rundum gelungenes Buch zu einem fairen Preis.

nice book for those players who play kings pawn opening it covers almost every variation

Good book. Simple & solid & sharp lines. For 1700- 2200 Elo. I woudlike reviset & update edition at 2012 years !

この本は白手番でe4指した時に黒がどんな指し手を指してもこの一冊で対応できるように、全ての黒の応手に対して定石が１種類ずつ載っています。採用されている定跡は全て比較的メインではないものが多く、シシリアンにはクローズドシシリアンe5にはビショップズオープニングフレンチにはキングズインディアンカロカンには2c4といった具合です。端的にこの本の長短所をいえば、この本を一冊読むだけで白番では不安がない。逆に短所はメインの定石は載っていないので王道をいく強さは得られないし、どこかで壁にぶつかりそうな不安があるということです。いずれにしろ好みの問題だと思います。なるべく序盤の勉強をしたくないならこういう本もいいと思いますし、王道をいく強さを求めるならば他の本をたくさん読まなければならないでしょう。