doefmat wrote on 11/21/17 at 14:34:17:


I personally think the plans are somewhat easier to understand in the Slav than the QGD, but at a club player level there are other things that are more important than an "objective" comparison, because there will be deviations from theory pretty early on in every game.

Also, depending on what system you play against d-pawn specials, one or the other opening might suit you better.

With that said, the book is very good and worth buying anyhow

I'm reminded of such people as Max Illingworth (in an update from a year ago) and (I believe) LeeRoth who have expressed the heretical(?) view that 3...Be7 and 3...Nf6 are equally good.

Thank you for pointing this out.

The chapters about the Exchange are indeed big, but to me they form the heart of the book.

I don´t mind playing 3...Nf6. I was just wondering what the pros and cons are regarding the repertoire presented in your book. But this is of course not essential for your work.

After studying your book I´m looking forward playing the QGD in my next tournament games.

Fllg wrote on 10/12/17 at 15:03:25:


Black is fine after 3. ... Nf6 as well as after 3. ... Be7. The author does a good job explaining how to play the resulting positions. I suppose he could have done the same with 3. ... Be7, but then again, this is a repertoire book and not a comprehensive survey. I can also imagine that the team at QC liked the idea of tackling the cornerstone of many white repertoire books of this decade, which is the classical exchange variation with 3. ... Nf6. It seems to fit in better with the idea of a classical repertoire. Objectively there is nothing wrong with any of both variations.

Hello guys. The same "omission" was pointed out at the QC blog together with the line 1.c4 e6 2.e4?! (or maybe just "!?").

In both cases, it is not the case that i "forgot" to mention these lines in the book. I simply chose not to cover them. As far as these sidelines are concerned, there are two wonderful books by Quality Chess, one is Avrukh's and the other one comes from Mikhalevski. I could never match their analysis quality and thoroughness. So, i chose (together with the editors from QC) to offer a "starter's repertoire" in the English and other sidelines and refer to those two books for anyone interested in more. Oterwise the size of the book would have been much bigger and it would lose its purpose (which was not an encyclopedic manual but rather a practical guide).

In any case, this is what i answered in the QC blog, trying to stay in the spirit of the book, being as practical as possible:

"I dont think that the Stonewall Attack is covered in the book (i think!). It is not a great system though. Just remember not to close your bishop with …e6. Play c5-Nf6-Nc6 and Bg4 or Bf5 before …e6.
I think that i missed it, because White can play the Stonewall in a more flexible way starting with the move 1.f4 and at some point , together with the editorial team, we decided not to cover the 1st move sidelines in the book. I couldn’t match Mikhalevski’s thoroughness, so i saw no point doing it."

and regarding the English line with 2.e4:

" This chapter was supposed to be a short one, giving basic guidelines of a “starter repertoire”.
Certainly, in that position 2.e4 is a move no doubt, although a rare one (after 1.c4) and (imho) a dubious one after 2…d5. It most certainly will lead to the type of exchange French we covered with Jacob in “Playing the French”.
In the resulting IQP position, Black plays Nc6-Nf6-Bb4-Qd6 and puts his rooks at e8 and d8. If i recall correctly, after the move a3 we gave two options for Black. One was to play Ba5 and put the bishop to b6 in order to put pressure at the center and the other one was Bxc3 following a positional masterpiece of the 13-year old Carlsen!
I hope this makes some sense to you!"

(if you want to visit the relevant discussion, it is here:
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/blog/6199#comments)

The book is fantastic! Only one omission: i can't find the line 1.d4  2. e3. 3.Bd3 and f4

I bought the book on the Forward Chess app a few days ago and just found the time to look through it.

In short, it is excellent. I especially appreciate the detailed coverage of the other d-pawn openings (the ones that avoid 2. c4), since I face those the most while playing online. The repertoire presented for them is simple, direct, and fits together nicely with the suggested QGD lines.

As a returning club player searching for a black repertoire, I bought a few books and experimented with various things, and generally wasted a lot of time that should've been spent playing. But if I could go back in time, I would just tell myself to buy Ntirlis's playing 1. e4 e5 and 1. d4 d5.