Building and maintaining an opening repertoire can be a demanding task - for a start there are an enormous number of different lines to choose from. There's a strong temptation amongst beginners and improving players to opt solely for tricky lines in order to snare unsuspecting opponents, but this approach has only short-term value. As you improve and your opponents become stronger, very often these crafty lines don't stand up to close scrutiny, and suddenly you're back to square one with no suitable opening weapons. In this revolutionary book, Grandmaster Neil McDonald revisits the basic principles behind the English and its many variations. Throughout this easy-to-read guide readers are aided by a wealth of notes, tips, and warnings from the author, while key strategies, ideas, and tactics for both sides are clearly illustrated. This book is ideal for the improving players.

The early moves and ideas are introduced and care is taken to explain the reasoning behind them - something that is often neglected or taken for granted. As with previous works in the popular "Everyman Chess Starting Out" series, the reader is helped throughout with a plethora of notes, tips and warnings highlighting the vital characteristics of the opening play in general. Written by opening experts, this book covers the all the main lines and is ideal for the improving player.

Everyman Chess's Starting Out series has firmly established itself as the leading guide to studying openings for up-and-coming players. These books are distinguished by their easy-to-read layout, the lucid explanations of the fundamentals, and the abundance of notes, tips and warnings to help the reader absorb vital ideas. Starting Out opening books are ideal for enthusiastic chess players who have little experience of the openings in question and who wish to appreciate the essential principles behind them.

The user-friendly design helps readers absorb ideas. The book concentrates on the key principles of the opening and is ideal for improving players.

the Back Cover
Ideal for those wanting to understand the basics of the English Opening.
The English is a sophisticated and popular opening system that is suitable for all types of players and can lead to both positional and tactical middlegames. Many of the world’s top players, including Kasparov and Kramnik, include the English in their openings weaponry. In this groundbreaking book, Grandmaster Neil McDonald revisits the basic principles behind the English and its many variations. Throughout this easy-to-read guide the reader is aided by a wealth of notes, tips and warnings from the author, while key strategies, ideas and tactics for both sides are clearly illustrated. This book is ideal for the improving player. *Written by an openings expert *All the important lines are covered *A back-to-basics look at one of the most important openings.