an ordinary chessplayer wrote on 08/27/20 at 20:32:00:


I got this and it looks good. It opens up well with both ChessBase (CBV) and Chess Opening Wizard (PGN). I expect Chess Assistant will also open at least one of those formats.

I have found that having a book and digesting it's contents are two different things. Long gone are the days when I could slip a textbook under my pillow and wake up in the morning immeasurably smarter.

This seems to be a very good book. The author does a good job of presenting best play by both players.

The sharp line has it's appeal in many lines. I've done well with it in a few speed games. In one line in the book, the play seemed a little convoluted which has put me off. But maybe with a another look, I will be convinced.

The solid line appeals to me because the play seems so straightforward. Black plays in the center and forces white to respond.

It's a little discouraging that white has good win/loss statistics in more than one line of the "solid" line. However the author provides encouraging analysis. Mileage may differ as your statistics may prove to be very good.

I recently played black against a stronger player in a speed game in this line. Since I was not really familiar with the material, I improvised and still got an excellent game. It's good to know that one can do well when finding one's own moves.

With the open (...dxc) Catalan, Black makes a bid for freedom. He wins a pawn, at least temporarily, and opens lines. Black can choose from among many set-ups. Some lines have good win/loss statistics and evaluate well with the computer. Even so, white often has more space in the center and has the potential of the Catalan bishop. Consequently, it can be hard to find a system that you feel totally comfortable with as Black.

The closed Catalan is no panacea as it seems passive. Lines with an early ...Be7 have scored poorly for black. Lines featuring an early ...Bb4ch have scored as well as the open Catalan in the last 5 years.

Anyway, this book provides two repertoires, one new, one well-established. You could choose either depending on your mood and your opponent.

Janjgava suggests the Open Catalan with ...a6, so I suppose it's Pavlovic, I have it, and perhaps I mixed-up the Publisher and year with some other book? I have so many chess books that confusion is the rule. Thank you very much for the feedback.

Stigma wrote on 08/27/20 at 16:33:33:


Just checked : Kotronias covers 5...0-0/6...dxc4 main line

I remember a repertoire book (actual book, not DVD) published some time ago, at least 8-10 years, advocating this line: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Nf3 c5. It was published probably by Batsford (not sure at 100%). Anyone can kindly help me in finding the title of this work? Thank you.