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Hot Topic (More than 10 Replies) The Modern English vol. 2 (Read 9599 times)
Stigma
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Re: The Modern English vol. 2
Reply #11 - 06/21/19 at 03:45:07
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So this volume 2 on the Symmetrical English and others has been out for a a couple of months now.

The blurb says "It is based on active fight for the centre by e3 and d4", so I wondered if there were no main lines at all, but from the slightly more detailed variation index at http://www.chess-stars.com/resources/ME2_Contents.pdf it looks like they play ambitiously with d4 and e4 at least in the Maroczy Bind, the Hedgehog and the Double Fianchetto. The two options given after 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 are also main line as far as the English go: The Mikenas 3.e4 and the "Anti-Nimzo" 3.Nf3 Bb4 4.Qc2.

IM Schuch notes a few omissions already mentioned here in his review on the Niggeman site:
https://www.niggemann.com/en/the-modern-english-vol-2.html . This happens largely because the authors really want to switch to main line 1.d4 openings like the Grünfeld, the King's Indian, the Dutch and the QGD. They still give alternative "anti" lines against Grünfeld and QGD setup, but nothing that avoids the King's Indian or the Dutch apparently. Not a deal breaker for me as I like to mix and match different sources anyway, but I'm sure this will disappoint some readers.

I'm still on the fence here; If I end up buying this one it's largely for the Maroczy, Hedgehog, Double Fianchetto and Anti-Slav/Semi-Slav lines. Can anyone confirm if these chapters are up to the usual Chess Stars standard?
  

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Pantu
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Re: The Modern English vol. 2
Reply #10 - 04/27/19 at 07:37:04
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Glenn Snow wrote on 04/07/19 at 04:17:47:
Quote:
Reading through the Index on Variations in the sample, I'm wondering where 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.e3 e5 or 1.c4 c4 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.e3 e5 are covered.  I'd thought this was causing problems for white, but either they are dismissed with a short note or they have just been missed.

I looked through the index of the first book in the series and I don't see it there either.


It's covered in the annotated games (2 and 3).


Ah, but a bit superficially  Sad

I ordered both volume 1 & 2 together and received them earlier this week.  My expectations: good coverage of interesting/unexplored ideas, multiple options against mainlines, convincing improvements over existing theory/books, clear direction and good explanation of plans - and to be clear, this is what seems to be there and the books are well worth having.  Initial impression would be to give these books both 4/5.

However it seems that there are a few lines missing (that are not explicitly said to be missing - e.g. it is recommended to transpose to QGD but it is out of scope) that surprise me. It's of course possible that I haven't seen where they are as coverage is split across chapters.

From what I've noticed from browsing so far:

In the line I queried above, which I found when opening the book for the first time: 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.e3 e5 5.d4 cxd4 6.exd4 e4 7.Ne5 Bd6!? which I thought was the current problem here is not mentioned. Neither is 5...exd4 6.exd4 d5 which I'd like to know what to do against, but I give a pass here as no other book I know mentions it!  But 5...cxd4 is covered in a small note to their mainline 5...e4 where coverage looks good enough at first glance.

Panjwani's Maroczy coverage has been checked carefully here, but after 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.e4 Bg7 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Ng4 8.Qxg4 Nxd4 9.Qd1 only 9...e5 is covered, 9...Ne6 seems to be missing.

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 and it's mentioned black has tried 12 moves but only 3 are covered - 3...Bc5, 3...a5 and 3...Ba5 (briefly).  I would have expected 3...Be7 (second most popular) to have some coverage.

1.c4 b6 is totally missing.

Experienced players should hopefully be able to plug these holes themselves, but at least for people starting 1.c4 they should know some things aren't in here.  But then there is the nagging worry that in the lines I don't know anything about, what is missing there?

To reiterate: first impression is that these are excellent books with a few holes in coverage. The 7.Ne5 Bd6!? line above is the biggest bugbear for me personally as last time I looked at it I didn't find anything for white, the others I have something in my files already.
  
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Pantu
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Re: The Modern English vol. 2
Reply #9 - 04/07/19 at 15:19:11
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Thanks for confirming - chess stars are usually quite thorough.
  
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Glenn Snow
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Re: The Modern English vol. 2
Reply #8 - 04/07/19 at 04:17:47
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Quote:
Reading through the Index on Variations in the sample, I'm wondering where 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.e3 e5 or 1.c4 c4 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.e3 e5 are covered.  I'd thought this was causing problems for white, but either they are dismissed with a short note or they have just been missed.

I looked through the index of the first book in the series and I don't see it there either.


It's covered in the annotated games (2 and 3).
  
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Pantu
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Re: The Modern English vol. 2
Reply #7 - 04/05/19 at 20:55:49
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Reading through the Index on Variations in the sample, I'm wondering where 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.e3 e5 or 1.c4 c4 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.e3 e5 are covered.  I'd thought this was causing problems for white, but either they are dismissed with a short note or they have just been missed.

I looked through the index of the first book in the series and I don't see it there either.
  
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Re: The Modern English vol. 2
Reply #6 - 03/30/19 at 10:30:31
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It is out on ForwardChess now.
  
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MW
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Re: The Modern English vol. 2
Reply #5 - 03/17/19 at 23:25:47
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The Chess Stars website says end of this month.
  
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Re: The Modern English vol. 2
Reply #4 - 03/17/19 at 16:08:44
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When is vol 2 being published?
  
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TN
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Re: The Modern English vol. 2
Reply #3 - 03/17/19 at 07:40:05
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What do you think about Volume 1? How is this volume different in terms of analytical quality?
  

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Antillian
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Re: The Modern English vol. 2
Reply #2 - 03/16/19 at 22:24:21
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According to the introduction, the authors propose you transpose to 1. d4 mainlines against the King's Indian, Dutch and Modern Defences.
  

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Re: The Modern English vol. 2
Reply #1 - 03/13/19 at 15:26:32
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KI is in Volume 1 (via 1.c4 e5).
  
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alyechin
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The Modern English vol. 2
03/13/19 at 15:03:30
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KI missing?

Content:

Chapter 1. 1.c4 c5. Symmetrical with ...g6 13
Main Ideas 13 Step by Step 16 Annotated Games 25

Chapter 2. 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6
Main Ideas 34 Step by Step 40 Annotated Games 52

Chapter 3. Symmetrical with ...e6, ...Nxd5
Main Ideas 67 Step by Step 72 Annotated Games 83

Chapter 4. Symmetrical with ...b6
Main Ideas 89 Step by Step 92 Annotated Games 99

Chapter 5. Maróczy Bind
Main Ideas 107 Step by Step 113 Annotated Games 126

Chapter 6. Anti-Grünfeld
Main Ideas 133 Step by Step 135 Annotated Games 146

Chapter 7. Anti-Nimzo
Main Ideas 159 Step by Step 162 Annotated Games 171

Chapter 8. 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4
Main Ideas 178 Step by Step 182 Annotated Games 195

Chapter 9. Anti-Slav and Chebanenko
Main Ideas 202 Step by Step 206 Annotated Games 216

Chapter 10. Anti-Meran
Main Ideas 220 Step by Step 223 Annotated Games 232

Chapter 11. Anti-Queens’s Gambit
Main Ideas 238 Step by Step 240 Annotated Games 246

Chapter 12. Odds and Ends
Step by Step 249 Annotated Games 253
  
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