Thank you Smyslov_Fan, I added the fen tags 

Agree, it's a typical "ctrl c+v"  book 
Here just a random example

White: Ehlvest,J (2650)
Black: Karpov,An (2725)
Event: Reggio Emilia
Date:  1991


...

Informator 51/33
13. Nd2 (13 b5?! Nd4 14 Nxd4 exd4 15 Na4 c6 =  )

* in the book:
Karpov's idea is to meet 13. b5 by Nd4 14 Nxd4 exd4, when the position is equal. Karpov is Karpov, but after 15. Na4 intending 16. c5, White is for choice.

or (after 13. h6 14. Kh2 Nd4)

Informator:
15. e3! +/- (15. b5 Nd4 /\ Ne6, g5)

in the book:
15. e3
Black was stil hoping for 15.b5, when he planned 15. ...Nd4, followed by ...Ne6. (...) (g5 idea is even omitted by the two "analysts")

informator's symbols are simply translated in this primitive "positional" stuff, the variations heavily pasted and... another  book is ready! 

There is no index of variation, and the repertoire is simply poor - what's the first move after all? 1. Nf3? and after 1. ... d5? 2. c4 e6 is considered a key position of this repertoire. Advices in the book: 

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bxc4 c5 5.O-O e6 6.Qe2 
followed by Rd1 and d4. "Yes, there is no white bishop on g2 but you don't have to learn too much theory to master this line of QGA (no ...Bg4 lines -  ) - , QGA is not covered in the book

or "Finally, 2 ...d4 is possiblle, although it is seldom seen outside GM practice. (...) It is better to play 3.g3, steering for a reversed Benoni. This is a bit beyond the subject of this book..." (why? it's move 3!  )

after 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4, 2. ... c6 can transpose into a Reti (poorly covered by 2-3 games at the end)  or "White can also consider 3.cxd5, heading for the dependable exchange variation of the Slav." (obviously not covered )

Imho a waste of money. A good DB (Informator for example), ctrl+F - eco codes A26, A30, A37 etc and the 3rd edition is ready for free.

Good afternoon all,

Could some one tell me, please, in what way this book is extended regarding the Catalan. Is it mostly for the main line or there are also more advises on side steps. Playing internet chess I often get into the line 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qa4+ Bd7, which was not mentioned in the first book. The only 5th black alternative, which is considered, is 5…Qd7.
Is the line with 5 …Bd7, and others 5th moves, now in the 2d edition of the Strategic Opening…?

Thanks in advance,
Bohdan

Just to clear this up, the Samsa game is not a Kafka reference.  Greg Samsa is a US player who has been North Carolina state champion a number of times.

I agree to a lot of negative facts mentioned, but overall ...
the good is good in explaning the strategic ideas of the openings (especially the first part of the book positions with e5); and this is most important for the average players;

IMRichardPalliser wrote on 03/12/08 at 17:49:17:


Apropos of names in this book, there was a strange coincidence with one of the games in the first edition. One of the players was listed as Greg Samsa. I initially thought that this was a joke, as Gregor Samsa is the name of the character in Kafka's Metamorphosis who awakens one morning to find himself transformed into a gigantic insect. I had heard that authors of compendia (e.g. old-style logarithm tables) deliberately seeded a few errors to protect against copyright infringement, so maybe Donaldson was doing the same thing but tipping his hand. But it turned out that the gentleman really exists and is an FM and USCF life master from North Carolina. (My apologies to him if he reads this and is sick of a lifetime of comments about his Kafkaesque name. It's really very cool.) I wonder, did the Samsa game make it into the second edition?

Quote:


There are a few games featuring the standard Réti set-up against ...Bf5 and ...Bg4 (double fianchetto and d3 instead of d4) but lines with ...dxc4 seem to be ignored. In fact, it is noticeable that the 'anti-Slav' games (for want of a better way of putting it) all begin with a 1.Nf3, 2.g3 order, with c4 following later - in most cases after b3 or d3 has been played ...