Encyclopedia of Chess Openings.

i'm glad to be relieved from the duty of spoonfeeding you...

Thank you fellows for all the info & advice! They are very helpful.

I learned chess two decades ago but decided recently to study it methodically, so although I consider myself still a beginner I have no problem with understanding any chess book from whatever level (after all it's chess not quantum mechanics).

I have a problem with money because our government has done some recent economic "reforms" which resulted in the Egyptian pound being equal to 1/20 of the US dollar, which means that in order to get a chess book whose cost is 50 dollars I need to pay 1000 pounds (catastrophic!)

I'm accustomed to the Arabic descriptive notation (similar to the English one with the difference of letters) but I prefer the algebaric notation because it is easier to follow and more fun (most of all the figurine algebraic).

I have no certain opening which I want to learn heavily, I just want to be able to understand the ideas behind all openings and be able to deal with whatever opening on board.

I understand that openings are constantly changing which favours the newest books, but it doesn't always have to be due to the improvement of the new openings, sometimes it changes simply due to the taste of the top elite GMs, sometimes there's nothing objectively wrong with an old opening (or variation) nor anything objectively better with a new one. So old books still have their ideas which one can learn from (feel free to correct my ideas if they are wrong).

The Quality Chess openings collection seem quite interesting but quite expensive too, so I guess I might go to the ECO (probably starting with the small one) or just save my money for now until some new encyclopedia appears :D

Thank you all again.

To OP: You should certainly take a look at FCO - there's a preview on Amazon, of course. I'm a novice player, and I think it will be a long time before I outgrow the book. I think it works well as both an instructional work and a reference, as long as you accept that it's not comprehensively encyclopaedic in its scope. It has plenty to say about all the openings I've encountered at my level. I particularly enjoy the style of writing. It's hard to believe the author is not a native English speaker. Or perhaps he is - I'm just assuming from the name and his Bio that he's Dutch. Alegebraic notation, but not figurine.

I think most chess players choose to specialize in a limited set of openings, because of limitations of time, money, and human memory capacity. There is the question of how one chooses openings, but I suspect that the nearly languageless ECO would not be much help for that purpose. Also, to a large extent, it is left to the reader to figure out the ideas. FCO would be better for these purposes, but look carefully at the review and online sample in order to decide whether or not it is something you want to try to read.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140626173432/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen128.pdf
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/FCO_Fundamental_Chess_Openings.pdf

There are alternatives to FCO:

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627031504/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen76.pdf
http://www.thechessmind.net/blog/2010/1/30/a-brief-review-of-carsten-hansens-back-to-basics-openings.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708233403/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review782.pdf

I often suggest Discovering Chess Openings and/or Openings for Amateurs as books to help a beginner with understanding of general ideas and making tentative opening choices,

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/

https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf

but, if money is a problem, you might want to just see what you can pick up from online sources.

If you have not seen many chess books, you may find that some of them are a lot harder than you expect. Maybe take a look at some of the last few pages in this online sample from one book:

http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/BeatingMinorOpenings-excerpt.pdf

Mohammad, it sounds like you'd be fine with one of the more condensed encyclopaedias for now, the Small ECO, NCO or MCO. It's important to remember that Watson's books have already given you an excellent grounding (don't bother about van der Sterren's book, because Watson is more in-depth), and if you take a particular fancy to one or more openings later on, it's worth considering buying separate opening monographs then (but there's no need to splash out on your hard-earned cash on such books at this point).

For now, however, I'd suggest that you buy a well-annotated games collection such as Irving Chernev's 'The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played' or Max Euwe's and Walter Meiden's 'Master versus Amateur' (also published as 'The Road to Chess Mastery'). This will give you both good advice on opening play, but also important clues as to how to conduct the middlegrame and the endgame. I'm fairly sure that a thorough study of one of those books will give you much more than rote-learning an opening manual.

It's not just a matter of playing new moves. It can be helpful to have a resource for ideas on how one might react to an opponent's new move. It can plausibly be argued that a beginner need not be overly worried about this sort of issue, but there is a consequence to going with an old book.

I certainly agree that game collections are more likely to be helpful than the Small ECO, NCO or MCO (especially if one already has the Watson series).

Here is a review of The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev:

https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/

Here are some more possible game collections to consider:

Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf
Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev (1957)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf
Winning Chess Brilliancies by Seirawan
http://www.nystar.com/tamarkin/review1.htm
50 Essential Chess Lessons by Steve Giddins
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708100833/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review534.pdf
Simple Chess by Michael Stean
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104258/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review400.pdf

Mohammad -

Of all the advice offered in this forum thread, I think this (from BonTheCat) summarizes what best addresses your requirements as you have described them.  That is, something encyclopedic, not expensive, while providing exposure to a broad range of openings, and at the same time doesn't necessarily have to present the most recent theory.

You also stated that -

"I have no certain opening which I want to learn heavily, I just want to be able to understand the ideas behind all openings and be able to deal with whatever opening on board."

The book that best fits this requirement (i.e., presenting IDEAS of a broad range of openings) is John Watson's "Mastering the Chess Openings" series, which you already have.  Paul van der Sterren's FCO book is also good in terms of presenting the ideas of the openings, but as stated by BonTheCat, since you already have Watson's series, the FCO book should not be necessary.

"... [The encyclopedic] type of presentation [of opening theory] uses tables of variations, with individual numbered variations, and alternatives given in footnotes. For new players, I cannot recommend books that use type of presentation, because the explanatory prose that elaborates typical plans and ideas is usually absent, thus leaving the student without any clear idea why certain moves are played or even preferred over other apparently equivalent moves. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2010)

In the Watson book, near the beginning of the first volume, there are over seventy pages intended to help the reader with understanding the opening. Near the end of the fourth volume, there is an extended discussion about choosing openings.

"... For players with very limited experience, I recommend using openings in which the play can be clarified at an early stage, often with a degree of simplification. To accomplish this safely will take a little study, because you will have to get used to playing wiith open lines for both sides' pieces, but you can't eliminate risk entirely in the opening anyway. ... teachers all over the world suggest that inexperienced players begin with 1 e4. ... You will undoubtedly see the reply 1...e5 most often when playing at or near a beginner's level, ... After 2 Nf3, 2...Nc6 will occur in the bulk of your games. ... I recommend taking up the classical and instructive move 3 Bc4 at an early stage. Then, against 3...Bc5, it's thematic to try to establish the ideal centre by 4 c3 and 5 d4; after that, things can get complicated enough that you need to take a look at some theory and learn the basics; ... Of course, you can also play 1 d4 ... A solid and more-or-less universal set-up is 2 Nf3 and 3 Bf4, followed in most cases by 4 e3, 5 Be2 and 6 0-0. I'd rather see my students fight their way through open positions instead; however, if you're not getting out of the opening alive after 1 e4, this method of playing 1 d4 deserves consideration. ... a commonly suggested 'easy' repertoire for White with 1 Nf3 and the King's indian Attack ... doesn't lead to an open game or one with a clear plan for White. Furthermore, it encourages mechanical play. Similarly, teachers sometimes recommend the Colle System ..., which can also be played too automatically, and usually doesn't lead to an open position. For true beginners, the King's Indian Attack and Colle System have the benefit of offering a safe position that nearly guarantees passage to some kind of playable middlegame; they may be a reasonable alternative if other openings are too intimidating. But having gained even a small amount of experience, you really should switch to more open and less automatic play. ..." - IM John Watson in a section of his 2010 book, Mastering the Chess Openings, Volume 4

It is perhaps worthwhile to consider why the Watson books are not sufficient for now. If the problem is the gaps in coverage (nothing on 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 for example), one can fill in some of the gaps (with writing in a somewhat similar sort of spirit) with a book like Fundamental Chess Openings, Understanding the Chess Openings, or Back to Basics: Openings. But, if you are open to the idea of starting to specialize, you might find that the fourth Watson volume is already sufficiently helpful.

It should be obvious that no single opening book (or, book series, such as Watson's "Mastering the Chess Openings") can provide, in terms of exhaustive coverage of all the openings, all things desired by all people.  So the best that can be hoped for is to find that book (or series of books, as the case may be) that does a better job than the competition in addressing more of one's requirements than other similar books.  When it comes to explaining the ideas, plans, and themes of most of the openings, Watson's series is clearly head and shoulders better than it's competition - it's (few) shortcomings notwithstanding...

Thanks fellows for your new comments! They are very helpful like those before 

I have seen many chess books, actually I have been searching, selecting & buying chess books for the last year and a half in order to pass the next decade (or two :D ) with them, the reason behind such seemingly bizarre shopaholism is my pessimism about my ability to order chess books from abroad in the future (and the recent "reforms" proved me right :D ). I wanted to buy all the books that seemed to be the best for me, books that have great coverage of their issues in both broadness & depth, that have been received positively by both specialists and users.

I have these game collections: “The Mammoth Book of the World’s Greatest Chess Games”, “Vishy Anand. World Chess Champion”, “From GM to Top Ten”, “A Game of Queens”, “My Great Predecessors” and an improved Arabic translation of Euwe’s “The Middlegame”. “San Luis 2005”, “Karpov’s Strategic Wins” and “Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov” are on their way.

I started with an improved Arabic translation of Pachman’s “The Opening Game in Chess”, it gives a general idea of what an opening is by concentrating heavily on some openings, I intend to go for Watson’s series (great to know that it is so good) after finishing that book. I wanted to buy some encyclopedia to start with after finishing that series, I guess I will then be able to understand these openings (at least their general ideas) by myself. I’ll probably try to get the small ECO for now.

The Grandmaster Repertoire series by Quality Chess seems like a real gem. I hope I will be able to get it in the future.

Thank you again for all your useful recommendations & advice.

Mohammad - 

I wish you success in your quest to find good chess books...

Along those lines, you might enjoy perusing my list of good chess books for those who have not yet added "Master" to their chess title...(yes, I own them all)...

Good Chess Books for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/good-chess-books-for-beginners-and-beyond

Enjoy!

I did a little bit of searching for the Small ECO and found prices close to twice the cost of "From GM to Top Ten". Of course, that is better than the five volume ECO cost, but it still might make it worthwhile to consider whether or not it is realistic to expect the Small ECO to ever be helpful with understanding the general ideas of openings. I wonder if it is like any chess book that you have seen before.

"... the material is presented in the same language-less style as in the Chess Informant, which can be intimidating to the uninitiated because it is all games, analysis and all sorts of symbols, which can take some time to memorize. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen

Another point to consider:

"The [2010] Small Encyclopaedia ... is now in its third edition, the previous ones, dating back to 2000 and 2003 respectively. Thus, a revised edition was undoubtedly overdue, because theory has been changing incredibly fast in the intervening years. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627063241/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen145.pdf

It has now been about seven years since the last Small ECO appeared. How many more years will have gone by before you finish the Watson series? Again, the chess world seems to have already gone over to computer products for this sort of information.

Make excellent door stops

Mohammad: I notice that many of the books you've bought so far are rather advanced. I think you should recalibrate your purchases slightly. By all means go for the Small ECO, because it will give most answers to your questions about specific opening variations for now (the understanding you get from Watson).

However, there are three more works that I would definitely recommend you to read, Ludek Pachman's 'The Middle-Game in Chess'. It's available in three volumes or as one condensed volume. (I have the three volume work, and I would say it's even better than Euwe's 'The Middle-Game', which is also very good.) The other two books I would recommend are Jeremy Silman's 'Complete Endgame Course', for the theoretical endgames you should know at roughly each strength level you reach, and finally, Paul Keres' 'Practical Chess Endings', which teaches you how to play the endgame strategically.

I think that you are referring to Complete Chess Strategy/Modern Chess Strategy. By the way, is it available in anything other than descriptive (1 P-K4 P-K4)? I believe that there have been both descriptive and algebraic (1 e4 e5) versions of the Keres endgame book.

You're quite right, kindaspongey! My apologies for the confusion. It's 'Complete Chess Strategy/Modern Chess Strategy'. I don't think it's available in anything but descriptive notation, sadly. However, Mohammad said that the same or a similar type of notation is used in Arabic, so I'm assuming that he'll understand it easily enough!