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Rating: Summary: Not good! Review: A huge disappointment! Just a database dump of games! If you want to learn this opening find a used copy of Estrin's book and supplement it with the Informant and/or a database.
Rating: Summary: An excellent monograph Review: A modern look at the most interesting lines of the Two Knights. I found the assessments of many variations are thoughtful and interesting. Playing through the variations and comparing one's own assessments with the authors' takes effort, but it's worth it in this case since there are many fascinating variations in the notes. Not for those who want to skip to the end of the chapter and have the authors tell them what to think. I liked this book a lot and would recommend it to anyone who likes thinking about the Two Knights (I certainly enjoyed it as much as Estrin's revered tome).
Rating: Summary: Complete pablum. Review: Beliavsky et al.'s book is one of the worst chess books I have ever seen. The book is so poorly laid out that it is difficult to follow the various variations and subvariations. Otherwise, it is bascially a dump of games and lines that have intrigued the authors, omitting many other lines, and possibilities. Don't expect to find scintilating commentary either because all the notes are in Informator-speak hieroglyphics. I have studied chess for over ten years and own over 50 chess books. This book is one of the worst. Just run a search on the Two Knights in ChessBase and save your money for a nice dinner or trip to the movies.
Rating: Summary: Complete pablum. Review: I was looking for new ways to deal with 3. Bc4 in my ICC blitz repertoire. I'm 1733 USCF over the board, with an ICC blitz rating that can hover anywhere from 1200 to 1600, depending on my mood and the (usually low) quality of my play. I thought the 2 knights might be fun, because I like the quirky defenses like the Keene Defense to the KG and Bird's variation of the Ruy.Gee, the 2 Knights is one aggressive countergambity, wild opening. Beliavsky does a really good job of making it interesting, but it's pretty wild, even as a blitz weapon. I'm a timid, second rate player. If you're the sort of person who loves the King's Gambit as white and loves defending the wilder KG variations as black, you'll probably love the Two Knights. Me? I learned that in the rare instances that I play 1 e4, the proper third move for me after black's 3...Nf6 is 4 d3. It's not that the Two Knights is unstoppable--far from it, it's pretty on the edge lots of times. It's just that the whole darn thing is just so....complicated! But if you're into tactics and you want a new blitz weapon, this is a good purchase!
Rating: Summary: This is pretty sharp stuff! Review: I was looking for new ways to deal with 3. Bc4 in my ICC blitz repertoire. I'm 1733 USCF over the board, with an ICC blitz rating that can hover anywhere from 1200 to 1600, depending on my mood and the (usually low) quality of my play. I thought the 2 knights might be fun, because I like the quirky defenses like the Keene Defense to the KG and Bird's variation of the Ruy. Gee, the 2 Knights is one aggressive countergambity, wild opening. Beliavsky does a really good job of making it interesting, but it's pretty wild, even as a blitz weapon. I'm a timid, second rate player. If you're the sort of person who loves the King's Gambit as white and loves defending the wilder KG variations as black, you'll probably love the Two Knights. Me? I learned that in the rare instances that I play 1 e4, the proper third move for me after black's 3...Nf6 is 4 d3. It's not that the Two Knights is unstoppable--far from it, it's pretty on the edge lots of times. It's just that the whole darn thing is just so....complicated! But if you're into tactics and you want a new blitz weapon, this is a good purchase!
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