gillbod wrote on 07/02/19 at 21:52:02:
I picked up the Forward Chess version.
It's more or less what I was expecting from reading the preview.
Quick points:
1) The KID and Nimzo chapters are to a large part recycled from previous Moskalenko work. Perhaps some new stuff has been added. There is certainly some material that has been cut compared to Revolutionize your Chess.
2) As mentioned elsewhere in the thread, it's not a repertoire book. E.g. gaps in coverage against the Dutch, what do do against 1...e6 1...g6 and 1...d6. It's certainly a foundation for a repertoire. Perhaps mainly useful for existing white d4 players looking to broaden their horizons.
3) Furthermore from 2, there are often several options given within each line. E.g. both the Saemisch (with classical e3 set ups) and f3 in the Nimzo. Against the Grunfeld, 5.Bd2 is the recommendation, but Moskalenko gives multiple plans for white, e.g. after 5...Nb6 6.Nf3, 6.Bf4, 6.Bg5, are covered. As well as 6.e3 followed by 7.Nf3 or 7.f4.
Against the Queens Gambit Accepted, again several options for white are given e.g. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 cxd4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0-0 a6 and now 7.Bd3, 7.b3, 7.Bb3, 7.a4 get a game of analysis each. Also 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bxc4 a6 5.Qe2 is given a game.
4) I can imagine that some buyers might not count the recommendations against the Slav (exchange) and the Semi Slav Triangle (Marshall Gambit, but with 6.Nc3 like Carlsen-Anand 2013 World Championship match) as aggressive. Particularly in the Triangle where finding sharp stuff is easier than finding quiet stuff! That he didn't choose to do so is perfectly fine by me, but it might not be to everyone's taste.
As an aside, the repertoire complements the old Keene + Jacob's Opening Repertoire for White very nicely. E.g. similar structures in the Nimzo, but different move orders (so the white player could choose between 4.a3 4.f3 and 4.e3). Benoni Flick Knife is covered, but with different plans. King side hacks against the KID where possible, but with queenside play likely if Black knows their theory. Gruenfeld plans which avoid the standard c3 d4 e4 pawn centre. Exchange Slav, but one with an early Nf3 and the other without. It's quite nice as a combination: thematic overlap, but different lines.
Other lines that I haven't mentioned above: Qc2 against the Benko. f3 exchange plans against he QGD (I've not looked at these chapters yet, only eyeballed them).
Some might not like that this is not a complete repertoire, and that it opts for some breadth of analysis over depth. But I will find some material in here to incorporate into my own play, so I'm happy.
Thank you so much gillbod. Well, I know a few "complete repertoires" who give just a few superficial lines against some defences, just to say "OK, we covered that", and although I would have liked this book to be a complete repertoire, I appreciate the Author's honesty in completely omitting what he hasn't covered. This said, I am really curious about this book.