Thanks for the Hansen review. Disappointing to read 

Looks like a lazy effort. They didn't have to do much work to get buyers of the First Book to get the update, but not this little. What a stupid wasted opportunity.

I really thought buying it for me would be a no brainer as I get every Pirc book I can lay my hands on, but at least I can just print of Hansens review and look up the game refs for myself.

And if they have taken Vigus's analysis without credit, then that's shameful.

Fortunately with PiB&W and Dangerous Weapons there is plenty for Pirc players, and so this dud can be ignored.

There is a quite detailed review of the revision at 'Chess Cafe': http://www.chesscafe.com/hansen/hansen.htm.

I devoured Pirc Alert! and used it pretty successfully in a couple of big tournaments. I hope Pirc Alert! II won't suck, and that they put in the effort to make the second version worthwhile. If not, it might cast the first one in a negative light.

The nice thing is that if it's good, I could quickly get myself up to date and have a second choice against 1. e4.

As an aside, I don't think Chess Openings for Black, Explained is so bad. It's certainly better than it's White counterpart. The suggestions are pretty solid, and any normal club player could definitely play this repertoire with great success. Maybe you'd need a better book if you're over 2300 or something, but for anything lower it's probably sufficient if you work with computers.

Schaakhamster wrote on 08/02/09 at 15:17:04:


The same could be said of Pirc Alert (and problably most if not all opening texts), but the work I put in patching the holes for myself helped me learn a lot about the Pirc.

The first thing I'm going to do when I get Pirc Alert II is to turn to see what improvement there is for the busted TN on p273.

Then I'll go through my margin notes to see what's been improved against my own analysis.

I'm hoping I'll get a good work out from Pirc Alert II and that it won't just be a money grab.

HoemberChess wrote on 08/01/09 at 18:25:34:


No. 

I am actually secretly hoping that this book sucks. Having made up my mind to give up the Pirc, the last thing I need is from someone to write a really good book on it and lure me back.

Well, Pirc Alert, the original really was good. It was what made me fall in love originally with the Pirc. But Vigus' "Pirc in Black and White" was pretty good too, and is still not that dated. So Pirc Alert II had better come damn good.