How to Play the English Opening

HOW TO PLAY THE ENGLISH OPENING
Author: Anatoly Karpov
Batsford (2007)
www.anovabooks.com
191 pages
$20.95

Reviewed by John Donaldson

HOW TO PLAY THE ENGLISH OPENING by Anatoly Karpov is not your typical opening book. It's not a comprehensive theoretical work, nor is it a repertoire book, instead what the reader receives is 30 heavily annotated games half of which involve Karpov.

HOW TO PLAY THE ENGLISH OPENING is not especially current (the games range from 1987 to 2004) nor does it cover all-important variations. You won't find anything on 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 nor 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 or 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.Nf3 d5 to mention three topical lines. Nor would it serve as a repertoire book for Black. Half the book is devoted to 1.c4 e5 but almost all of the games start with 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 -- there is nothing on 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 or 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 or 4.e4.

So what does HOW TO PLAY THE ENGLISH OPENING offer? It offers you Karpov's insights into certain lines of the English that he favored as White and (more often) Black. This means a deep examination of 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Bb4 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 e4 7.Ng5 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Re8 9.f3 e3 and various lines of the Symmetrical English.

Karpov's comments on opening theory might be slightly dated (this is a translation of a Russian book which was published in 2005) but his insights and explanations are clear and helpful, with plenty of prose explanation. Such knowledge from one of the all-time great world champions is not easily gleaned from Chess Informant commentary or the sort of cryptic computer notes that often pass for annotations today.

HOW TO PLAY THE ENGLISH OPENING is not a stand-alone guide to the English, but it could be a very useful supplemental work.

Click to buy (or get more information about): HOW TO PLAY THE ENGLISH OPENING

Other recommended books on the English are:

ENGLISH ...e5 by Raetsky & Chetverik ($22.95)

STARTING OUT: THE ENGLISH by McDonald ($16.95)

THE SYMMETRICAL ENGLISH by Carsten Hansen ($22.95)

THE DYNAMIC ENGLISH by Kosten ($19.95)

CHESS EXPLAINED: THE ENGLISH OPENING by Franco ($18.95)