Taming Wild Chess Openings

Effective recipes for club players

No matter how unconventional, irrational or even crazy a chess opening is, sooner or later every chess player will have to face it.

When that happens, you can count on a well-prepared opponent who is more than happy to roll out his pet line.

John Watson and Eric Schiller provide club players with solutions to a huge selection of these rarely-played or tricky chess openings. They concentrate upon ideas and strategy, with enough analysis to satisfy the needs of practical play.

Only when a sharp reply is required, Watson and Schiller will recommend a more complex variation filled with tactics. In the vast majority of cases they present a simple and safe way to approach the position, requiring little memorization and still leading to a promising game.

There is a lot of fun material in this book, and you may be surprised to see how even strong grandmasters have indulged in the craziest variations. Chess isn’t all main lines and 20 moves of theory!

John Watson (1951) is an International Master who has written over 30 books, several of which have won prestigious awards. He coached Tal Shaked, the 1997 World Junior Champion.

Eric Schiller (1955) is an American FIDE Master who is a highly productive chess book writer. He has taught chess for over 30 years.

British Chess Magazine:
"A very handy reference work for the club player and the source to turn to in a bid to avoid losing once again to gambit x from the chap you always encounter in the Friday round of a weekend congress."

Johan Hut, Noordhollands Dagblad:
"Contains every crazy opening you can think of. Strangely enough, it also has normal gambit openings that are quite playable but which the authors find ugly. And some weird openings that are good, but those are a small minority (..) A very funny book."

Gary Lane, Chess Moves Magazine:
"Gives a good line against all the wild and wacky variations (..) It is fascinating to read about so many gambits that I had forgotten or never seen before. A treasure trove of brilliant ideas that will benefit all tournament players."

Elburg Chess Reviews:
"A lot of crazy chess openings that are only suitable for bullet chess if you ask me, but at the end of the book there are 80 pages or so with more serious lines such as the good old Evans Gambit."

Max Euwe Centre, Amsterdam:
"All in all a funny, albeit somewhat bulky, book - especially for the club player who finally wants to kill the Grob of his fellow club member or is looking for something crazy to use in blitz."

B.H.Wilders, Nederelands Dagblad:
"A splendid and bulky book, both for those who wish to try out something funny and for those who don't want to be unpleasantly surprised  (..) Recommend for club players."