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Modern Chess Openings, 15th Edition (Chess) | 
| Author: Nick De Firmian
Publisher: Random House Puzzles & Games
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $18.25
You Save: $11.70 (39%)
New (32) Used (8) from $18.25
Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 74057
Media: Paperback
Edition: 15
Pages: 768
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.1 x 1.6
ISBN: 0812936825
Dewey Decimal Number: 794.122
EAN: 9780812936827
ASIN: 0812936825
Publication Date: April 8, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Modern Chess Openings is the best and most trusted tool for serious chess players on the market. First published over a half-century ago, this is a completely revised and updated edition of the book that has been the standard English language reference on chess openings. An invaluable resource for club and tournament players, it now includes information on recent matches and the most up-to-date theory on chess openings.
Modern Chess Openings is ideal for intermediate players ready to elevate their game to the next level or International Grandmasters who want to stay on top of recent chess innovations.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 (Nearly) Exhaustive Encyclopedia of Openings April 14, 2008
DS in Houston (Houston, TX)
25 out of 28 found this review helpful
As advertised, this book is for the serious chess player at intermediate level and above. It contains extensive tables for all the main and most commonly played lines in openings played at higher level competition.
The introductions for each opening are informative and interesting. It is easy (for advanced players) to then follow the tables to learn the main lines and the major variations of the openings. I'm sure that MCO will continue to be a great resource for intermediate and higher level players who need to have a reference book handy to look up an opening that is new to them, or to study a variation.
A word of caution: This book may have very limited value for low level players, and virtually none for beginners. I think the back cover is very misleading, saying "Whether you are a beginner interested in learning the fundamentals, an intermediate player ready to elevate your game, or an International Grandmaster who wants to stay on top of all recent chess innovations..." That is completely dishonest. This book has NO instruction on rules of the game for beginners, zero information on basic strategy and tactics for novices, and very little analysis on why certain moves are better or worse than others. Do NOT buy this book for novices.
And this book does not address openings commonly encountered at lower levels of competition. For example, there is no section on the Smith-Morra Gambit (I recommend Bob Ciaffone's bookSmith-Morra Gambit Finegold Defense), and nothing that I can find on the many-named opening 1.e4,e5 2.qh5!? which can terrorize less experienced players on the black side of the board. I'm sure there are many other openings common at lower levels of play that are not included here.
There are also very few diagrams to go with the tables detailing the openings covered. Low to mid-level players must have a chess board set up and work through physically moving pieces on the board. It is just going to be tough slogging for anyone not very familiar with algebraic notation, or without the knowledge and experience that comes with playing
many thousands of games.
Finally, how can a book published every eight or ten years "reflect all the latest changes in the game, including recent tournament matches and important works on theory" as advertised. I doubt top level players will trust this book to have the latest theory, when they have access to information on line that is cutting edge.
So for you 1300-2000 rated folks who need a handy reference book to look up opening lines, this is probably a great book for you. But for the beginners and lower-rated, player/buyer beware!
 An underrevised revision May 6, 2008
Gina Kruml
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
Regrettably, MCO 15 is not what it should be. First, like MCO 14, there are countless typographical errors. Experienced players will no doubt suffer through this, but the editors are the ones who should have suffered so that readers do not have to. Secondly, most of the material is in lifted from MCO 14. Mr. De Firmian has his favorite openings and updates those better, but for non-topical lines developments go unmentioned. Thirdly, in spite of the claim that variations have been checked by computers, I have found serval cases where computer evaluations refute those given. So while computers must have been involved in the production of the volume, it would be interesting to know what percentage of the lines were actually checked. For an author who is sensitive enough to never fail to use the he/she convention, perhaps more thought could have been given to the environmental impact that this book would have given its limited use. More could be said, but I think that this suffices for those who are looking to spend thier money wisely.
I agree with Gina Kruml - this book is sloppy May 16, 2008
Arthur Berger (Kew Gardens, NY United States)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
The review by Gina Kruml is right on. I had waited for years for the new edition....what a disappointment. The number of typographical errors is staggering. It's hard to find an opening free of typos. In a chessbook, this is particularly bad and I tend to fault De Firmian, the author. Doesn't he have any responsibility to read his own work? Kruml blames the editors, but I think Kruml is too kind.
The book also does a poor job on providing the names of the more obscure openings. Although they may be covered, no names are attached and they are not indexed. How does this help the chess student? Blame the editors, but it seems as if De Firmian detached himself from any supervision. As for the number of he/she's puffing up the text (and slowing down the reader), well Kruml did nicely mention the environmental impact. This must be the fault of the knee-jerk editors.
Of course any decent chessplayer has to buy this book...it's a classic. But it's so sad to see chess computers getting better and MCO editions getting worse.
 The BEST MCO ever, but will it be the last?? April 10, 2008
"Franky" (USA)
11 out of 16 found this review helpful
Death of a series? For about 100 years now MCO has been the best single volume English language opening reference book available. The 15th edition is the best of the line, combining both broad and deep coverage via a team of experts and computer error checking. Sadly, it looks like this year there will be no hard cover edition. Worse yet, one has to question the very existence of the MCO franchise. With World Champion strength computer software available for about $50, computerized Opening discs (Both general and specialized openings) appearing every year, not to mention massive on line data bases free on the Internet, I have to wonder how a printed book, updated about every 6 and 1/2 years, is going to survive? If there is an MCO 16, I predict it will be on disc (or downloadable) only. Are we seeing the last ever edition of MCO in printed form? I hope not. MCO has been more than a book to me during my 35 year tournament chess career, it's been a friend.
I pass April 13, 2008
harrythompson (Fort Knox Rox)
7 out of 33 found this review helpful
Spotted this in a book store, thumbed through it and decided not to buy-- the layout is in chart format with additional lines listed as a, b, c etc.
Not easy to read or understand, and lots of white space on most pages, so I took a pass on this, will stick with my individual opening books. I find the chart format irritating and downright a lazy way of presenting the material. GIVE ME STRAIGHT LINES!
I have a 2000 elo rating, and the problem with amateur chess is that children dominate the internet, cheating with their chess programs, and using fast time limits under 10 minutes per game. The better you are, the more time should be allowed to consider your moves. So kids have it backwards, thinking that their 1700 level deserves a fast 8 minute game, which impedes their progress towards improvement.
This opening book is impossible to read due to its chart format, there was plenty of space to lay out the moves; I cant read this and wont invest the time it takes to decipher the codes.
I have two dozen specialized advanced opening books and will stick with those. And to you children who think you have talent playing meaningless on-line chess at 10 minutes per game, there are better ways to spend your time unless you are the typical spoiled American with the media attitude that beauty is more important than intelligence, in which case modeling men's underwear should be your calling.
All said, chess, that is professional chess has degenerated into a con artist scam game, just read Shirov's Fire on Board Part 2 published in 2005 to see what I mean, and how he got the shaft from the deplorable Kasparov, who has been caught cheating in the past by violating the touch move rule. I enjoy reading chess books and would rather lay on my back in bed and read a chess book than start a family and pop out three kids and send them to college and go into debt and pay off a mortgage and a car loan and credit cards and work like a slave or indentured servant in order to fulfill someone else's idea of the American dream, the American dream being to become enslaved to debt and work all your life and die a pauper with no savings. Yes, chess has saved my life!
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