Chess book review, Improve your opening play, Chris Ward
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Improve your opening play

Chris Ward

Difficulty: Beginner

Category: Thinking process

Readability: 7/10

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How difficult it is to read the book without using a board. A book with 10/10 readability is a bedtime story, a book with 1/10 is a puzzle book full of variations. Readability doesn’t represent the quality of the book.

Usefulness: 3/10

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Usefulness is a measure of how useful the book is for chess improvement within the topic it covers. Books with a high usefulness score should help you improve quicker than those with a low score.
For chess players who are starting out, Improve Your Opening Play could be a valuable resource when it comes to understanding basic opening principles and choosing a repertoire for both sides. There aren’t many resources that offer a simple, easy to understand overview of every important opening, which makes this book very useful for beginners struggling to create their first opening repertoire.
  • 2004
  • Everyman Chess
  • Chris Ward
  • Pages: 143
  • Physical

Improve Your Opening Play by Chris Ward is a great book for beginners to learn the differences between openings, the ideas behind them, and the principles that should be followed when playing or facing them. There aren’t many resources that offer a simple, easy to understand overview of every important opening, which makes this book very useful for those just starting out and struggling to create their first repertoire.

The book explains the principles behind openings, and helps the reader absorb them using simple logic anyone could follow. It’s divided into symmetrical and non-symmetrical openings, in other words, classical and modern, which helps new players understand the stylistic and strategic difference between the two. It also covers the fundamental principles applicable in all opening structures as an introduction. As an advanced player, I couldn’t properly assess just how useful the introduction was, but I think it’s well written and helpful. Ward covers concepts such as planning a pawn break, the fianchetto, why central pawns are important, and why you should develop quickly, which are essential knowledge for any beginner.

Ward says in the introduction: “Up to a certain point, provided that you are aware of basic principles and ideas, there is no need to start booking up on pages of theory that may take much of the fun out of the game.” Instead, he believes, a book like Improve your opening play is sufficient for beginners to start playing relatively sound chess without having to invest much time into creating a repertoire. That makes sense.

The book is only 143 pages long, and you could go over it in a day. It’s simple to follow, and it’s not filled with variations. Instead it focuses on ideas and principles. No chess board needed for this one! Even for beginners.

For chess players who are starting out, Improve Your Opening Play could be a valuable resource when it comes to understanding basic opening principles and choosing a repertoire for both sides. I’m yet to find a book that could do a better job at teaching beginners openings so efficiently.