Openings for Amateurs
3 book set
By Pete Tamburro
1. Openings for Amateurs
Format
:
Paperback
Publication
date : 2014
Number of pages : 360
Publisher : Mongoose PressISBN : 978-1936277506
Openings
for Amateurs is written with two kinds of chessplayers in mind: average
“club” players who can’t afford to learn variations 30 moves deep; and
scholastic players looking to take the next step in their chess
development.
This is really two books in one! The Primer covers
the most frequent mistakes made in the opening and considers many common
misconceptions about this phase of the game. Popular chess author and
lecturer Pete Tamburro devotes special attention to the best ways to
meet both tricky lines like the Blackmar-Diemer and the Belgrade Gambit,
and “system” attacks such as the Colle and the Barry, while discussing
such vexing topics as when to chase a bishop and whether to believe
openings manuals.
Part II
offers a selection of openings that you are invited to consider based
on your needs, and presents 53 annotated model games to help you
understand the openings’ ideas rather than just memorizing moves. The
aim is to help you determine where you are now and then how to pursue
your chess goals – while helping you right away to survive the opening
in your next tournament
2. Openings for Amateurs–Next Steps
Format
:
Paperback
Publication
date : 2020
Number of pages : 276
Publisher : Mongoose PressISBN : 9781936277940
Building
on the tremendous success of Openings for Amateurs in 2014, Pete
Tamburro offers a new collection of practical tips to help club-level
and young chessplayers to play the opening on their own terms. Centering
the discussion around 67 selected model games, Openings for Amateurs –
Next Steps covers troublesome variations commonly seen in amateur play,
such as the Smith-Morra Gambit, Grand Prix Attack, Schliemann Defense,
Anti-Grünfeld, Two Knights, London System, Stonewall Attack, and the
Benko Gambit, among others.
As befits an experienced chess
teacher, the author gives special attention to promoting positional
understanding of the Open Games, isolated queen’s pawn strategies, and
plans revolving around the queenside pawn majority. In combination with
the original volume, you will enjoy over 600 pages of common-sense
explanations for average players and 122 model games, enabling you to
cope with your booked-up opponents because you understand what the
positions are about once you get out of the opening.
3. Openings for Amateurs: Theory vs. Practice
Format
:
Paperback
Publication
date : 2025
Number of pages : 300
Publisher : Mongoose PressISBN : 9781936277650
The
final volume in Pete Tamburro’s trilogy is finally here! Chock-full of
practical advice aimed at the average-to-advancing club player, Openings
for Amateurs – Theory vs Practice rounds off this acclaimed series with
discussions of sharp and sneaky openings you will often face in
tournaments and cautionary tales of the opening traps that people still
fall into. And since you’ve advanced this far, there are 38 carefully
annotated games on key themes in positional chess, including a close
look at isolated queen pawn openings; what to know about the Minority
Attack; learning why “equal” doesn’t always mean “drawn”; and a deeper
dive into the Ruy López, where you will learn some grand strategies –
one of them going back all the way to Alexander the Great.
The
final section is a special feature, rarely seen in the chess literature:
a collection of nearly two dozen games from the biggest amateur team
tournament in the world, where Pete illustrates what he’s been talking
about in all three volumes. It’s a chess feast of 85 games explained to
amateurs the way they should be!