Hi Justin
Regarding French I recommend the three books of IM Steffen Pedersen:
"The main line French: 3.Nc3"
"French: Advance and Other Lines"
"The French: Tarrasch Variation"
all from GAMBIT
I like the sound and precise style of S.P. without any pathos. Really good stuff !
Cheers, Winnie
A couple of French defense books you might want to consider:
How to Play Against 1 e4 by Neil McDonald(I have this one, and it's similar to the Starting Out openings books by the same publisher. It has lots of explanatory text. 3. Nc3 is met by ...Nf6 heading into the Classical or McCutcheon variations. There's also a section on the Fort Knox which can be used against 3. Nc3 or 3. Nd2.)
Attacking Chess: The French by Simon Williams (This is a new book, and I've only seen a couple of extracts from it, but it looks very instructive. 3. Nc3 in this book gets the Winawer variation ...Bb4.)
Thanks for the feedback. Play the French doesn't appear to be sold directly by amazon (CA), but through its alternate used/new sellers. Looks like I can get a used copy for $8 + $6 shipping -> a deal.
I see Accelerated Dragons, (Silman and Donaldson) but not Winning with the Sicilian. If that's the one you're recommending, I might go with that, just because I have 2 other Silman books and he's so darn easy to read!
I think I might go with variation specific books later as I progress in my chess career, so I'll keep those in mind for when the time comes.
If you can find it, Secrets of the Sicilian Dragon by Gufeld and Schiller is an excellent book. It covers move order, essential concepts, attacking plans for white/black, tactical themes for white/black, typical mistakes; it's not overloaded with analysis/continuations and very readable. One of the best opening books I've ever seen.
For Sicilian Najdorf repertoire:
The Sicilian defence by Ftacnik (2nd edition will be coming out in Dec 2011)
Experts on the Anti-Sicilian by Aagaard and Shaw
If you want to get a good primer on middle-game play in the french, I hands down reccomend Mastering the French with the Read and Play Method (Neil McDonald, Andrew Harley). It's an amazing book for learning how to understand the opening through studying pawn structures and middle-game themes. It is currently out of print, but you can find a downloadable copy on google no problem.
As for a repertoire book, Watson's Play the French is a classic. I wasn't aware it was out of print though, and I sadly don't have any other suggestions =(
I agree with you that book is excellent.
The flexible french by Moskalenko is the ideal book for forming a decent french repertoire. I am playing you at the moment and feel that you are a more positional player which seems to be a good fit for the french. Which french lines are you struggling with?
The flexible french by Moskalenko is the ideal book for forming a decent french repertoire. I am playing you at the moment and feel that you are a more positional player which seems to be a good fit for the french. Which french lines are you struggling with?
My worst french lines involve any Winawer, and especially the Qg4 version. I actually have picked up Play the French by Watson, but its going to take awhile to get through. The material is quite detailed and dense.
To be honest, I've actually thought of myself as more of a tactical player! However, I'm midway through reading through How to Reassess Your Chess - so maybe some of that has rubbed off!
Another good French book is Tactics in the French by Gennady Nesis, although it is more of a middlegame book than an opening book--it deals with what to do after the opening is over.
The Sicilian Najdorf - Alot of study, but what a weapon to add to your opening repertoire as Black
The Complete Najdorf: Modern lines, by John Nunn and Joe Gallagher
The Complete Najdorf: 6.Bg5, by John Nunn
If you want to get a good primer on middle-game play in the french, I hands down reccomend Mastering the French with the Read and Play Method (Neil McDonald, Andrew Harley). It's an amazing book for learning how to understand the opening through studying pawn structures and middle-game themes. It is currently out of print, but you can find a downloadable copy on google no problem.
As for a repertoire book, Watson's Play the French is a classic. I wasn't aware it was out of print though, and I sadly don't have any other suggestions =(
This book is awesome. It helps you understand how to play the French instead of just throwing variations in your face. Grab the copy if you ever find one.
How To Play The Sicilian Defense (David Levy, Kevin O'Connell) from The MacMillan Chess Library.
This in an older book an the very basics of the Sicilian Defense. It divides each chapter with the different Sicilian pawn structures and lists ideas for both black and white and also gives conclusions (summaries) and 'Golden Rules' of how to properly play the position for both sides.
Again, you will not be inundated with a mass of variations, just the ideas to keep in mind so you won't get lost so easily.
Sicilian and French repertoire books
I had always played the French casually, until I had gotten to the point where I needed to really improve my openings to progress further. I bought Dzindi's Black Repertoire book, which advocates the Sicilian Dragon against e4.
I still enjoy the French, but admit that I am good at some variations, but others are unfamiliar to me. Dzindi's book has gotten me interested in the Sicilian too, but I'm finding I need more depth - a more deep rooted understanding of the opening itself.
I'm looking for the best general repertoire-style books for either the Sicilian or the French that are out there. For the French, a friend suggested Winning with the French (Uhlmann), or Play the French (Watson), but both of these are unavailable (out of print?) on amazon.ca.
Just curious if you have any suggestions on a solid French and a solid Sicilian book.
My online rating is about 1700+, 15 min games at a local chess club give me about a 50/50 W/L against opponents with an average CFC rating of 1700 (I don't have my own official rating yet).
I'll pick between the French and the Sicilian based on the books suggested and their respective reviews. I enjoy them both enough that I might get books for both - adopt one as a main opening and the other as an occasional "mix-it-up" opening.
Thanks in advance,
Justin