by John Donaldson & Carsten Hansen, 272pp. (2007 Russell Enterprises)

Understand Your Opening!

In 1998 a slim volume by International Master John Donaldson explored the crafting of a sophisticated but easily assimilated group of interrelated opening strategies intending to establish small but lasting advantages. The result, A Strategic Opening Repertoire, was an instant success. Now this second edition, revised by Danish FM Carsten Hansen with the assistance of John Donaldson, is greatly expanded – twice the size – with many more games and detailed explanations.

The lines presented here – based on 1. Nf3, 2.c4 and 3.g3 – will serve a player well throughout his career as they are based on solid positional ideas with an emphasis on understanding rather than memorizing. They will not fail because of one sharp novelty. The aim of playing 1.Nf3 is to head for queenside openings that restrict Black's counterplay. And using this repertoire, you will invariably find yourself on more familiar ground than your opponent.

From the Introduction to the Second Edition
"It seems hard to believe that almost ten years have passed since the publication of the first edition of A Strategic Opening Repertoire. Much has happened in the chess world since then, particularly in the area of openings where humans, aided by computers, have analyzed deeper and deeper. Ten years ago highly specialized opening books were still the exception, but now they are the norm. Such developments make me feel the need for books like the one you are holding in your hands is stronger than ever.
 
"I am not alone in thinking this. When it first appeared, A Strategic Opening Repertoire was the only book of its kind on the market. Not long after Angus Dunnington’s Easy Guide to the Reti and Tony Kosten’s The Dynamic English were published and in 2004 Nigel Davies’ The Dynamic Reti reached bookstalls. Clearly there was a need for an opening repertoire book geared to those who wanted to steer play along positional lines.
 
"This new edition of A Strategic Opening Repertoire is both revised and expanded. While I have gone through every page of this book, the lion’s share of the work was done by my colleague and fellow flank opening enthusiast Danish FM Carsten Hansen. I am particularly indebted to him for fleshing out the annotations to many of the games, particularly in the second half of the book. We both strongly believe in the value of well-annotated model games as a teaching tool and hope that this edition of A Strategic Opening Repertoire will increase your understanding of the game and deepen your position skills..." – John Donaldson, November 2007