Opening

It is too bad that one cannot assign stars in two categories; content and value. Winning With the Kan would be worth three to four stars based upon its content, but at $22 it is too pricey. At 141 pages and 32 annotated games, WWTK does not compare to most other opening guides. Gary Lane's Beating the French ($16.95), for instance, weighs in at 160 pages and 44 games and Murray Chandler's The Complete c3 Sicilian ($22.50) has 232 pages of text and 70 deeply annotated games. Aside from the price, this is not a bad little book. It influenced me enough to take up this flexible line. Certain variations of the Kan may not be rugged enough for use at the very highest levels of chess (2700+), but for the rest of us patzers, the Kan (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 a6) can be a workhorse. Mortazavi does a nice job of covering the ideas behind the opening moves with several game fragments that show both what to do and what not to do. He does less well at showing the head-spinn! ing transpositional qualities of this opening, especially Sheveningen set-ups and the idea of 6 g3 and Bg2 for White. If your Pelikan, Najdorf or Four Knights is taking a beating and you don't mind Maroczy Bind/Taimanov formations, take a look at this book -- but try to find it at a reduced price!

i would agree with the reviewer above about the price, but this book can be found used now and for 12-15$......well, the first two chapters alone are worth that if you play the kan. there are newer books out now, but those first two chapts will pay dividends for anyone who plays the kan (and some other hedgehoggish positions) (forget subas book on the hedgehog and look no further). mortazavi provides some of the clearest strategic instruction on how to play those positions that i have ever seen. i highly recommend it

....actually i highly recommend mortazavi work on a new one with gambit press......if anyone is listenting....really someone needs to write a set on taimanov-kan and scheveningen....make it a repetoire book if you need to cut down on pages :)

I bought this book, thinking that since Cafferty is a good writer, that this might be an excellent intructive opening manual, along the lines of the "Mastering the..." series. Alas, I have been disappointed, as the book had kind of a "Time/Life Books teaches the QGA" feel to it. It is hard to put my finger on it, but this just isn't a very good or necessary book.

Basically I give it 3 stars cuz its average at best book... Nothing really that makes it worth any higher rating... Yet the price I would say makes it a 3 Star book worth thinking about picking up... This is mostly the older versions of the book but there is about 18 pages added for 2001 update... He does not cover certain gambits that I wish he would... Such as the Icelandic(Palme) Gambit and Portugeuse... Others that are left out I do not really mind so much... I did learn that Benko gambit was called Volga Gambit... Also that at a tourny when first unleashed it had 10 wins and 5 draws no loses... So reading that in the past edition of book was rather interesting... Especially since at time of original it was not so widely used... I mostly got it for gambits vs. d4... Some of the gambits I found sorta interesting/worth looking at vs it are as follows... The Henning-Schara, Indian counter gambits such as budapest, Blumenfield, Nimzo Indian defense, Gruenfeld, Modern Benoni, Volga Gambit, Quasi-Volga Gambit, Albin-Counter Gambit, Englund(no real coverage), also some gambits vs. english... Yet nothing really worth mention other then Bellon... Which Bellon really isnt worth mentioning probably... Still it is not the best book, but you may find it interesting... Has coverage of Falkbeer counter gambit and Latvian as you might expect... Dover makes some decent cheap books... This book is about 223 pages so you get a decent value for you dollar... I would say if you want some ideas of gambits as black to use vs white... Take a look at this book and decide for yourself...

Keith Parks has spent his adult professional life furthering the spread of Christianity around the world, and Gary Baldridge's biography tracks his efforts in that endeavor. The book might initially appear to appeal only to Baptists familiar with that denomination's foreign mission program and with the internal political struggles of the Southern Baptist Convention. The biography has, however, potential attractions for anyone interested in observing the arc of personal development from a childhood of fragile health, through a youth marked by insecurity, to a maturity of assuming enormous responsibilities and courageous risk taking. As President of the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board for twelve years, beginning in 1980, Dr. Parks administered a budget in the millions of dollars, and undertook radical reorganizations in the face of rising opposition within the Baptist structure. He envisioned and implemented means of sharing the Christian message across geographical and political boundaries in a "world without borders." The rift between ultraconservative and more moderate Baptists widened to the point that Dr. Parks could no longer function effectively in his professional position and "retired" in October of 1992. Although he had concluded a career in missions of almost forty years and had surely earned retirement, Dr. Parks stepped out once again, in 1993, into leadership of global missions, this time for the fledgling Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which had been organized as an alternative for "moderate" former-Southern Baptists. Now in his seventies, Keith Parks has once again retired. The account of Dr. Parks' life and dedication to missions leads the reader to anticipate continued support, advice and influence from Keith Parks no matter what his professional status may be. I recommend this book, although it is a bit repetitive and could have been enriched by more human-interest vignettes. The subject is particularly interesting to mission-minded Christians, but also demonstrates both the constraints and opportunities a given organizational structure can afford a visionary leader.

Published in 1993 with over 130 pages, I have yet to face a player who has followed the move order given in this variation of the Dutch defence (1.d4 f5, 2.g3 Nf6, 3.Bg2 g6, 4.Nf3 Bg7, 5.O-O O-O, 6.c4 d6, 7.Nc3). There are variants to Whites Move 4 such as Nh3 and c3. This book would seem to be more suited to the tournament player where the competition will oblige said lines. I can't even get the average player to use Move 2 of g3. Just from reading it, i can tell it offers solid advice and principles, but i have little use for it right now unfortunately. It was the only 'Dutch' book i could find at the time, and i didn't pay full price for it, so i don't feel completely ripped-off. My suggestion is to get this book if you employ the Dutch and play in tournaments regularly or look elsewhere for a more generalized viewpoint of the Dutch defence.

Here is 104 pages of analysis of 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cd 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7. The opening is one of the sharpest and most heavily analyzed openings in chess. Much is outdated since this book was published in 1977. Uses English Descriptive. Lots of diagrams. Needs to be updated.

Those who are decrying the methods & motives of Ken Starr would do well to read this insider's account of the IranContra case by the New Yorker's legal writer.

Among the familiar elements of the story are politically motivated prosecutions (Toobin wanted to join Judge Walsh's staff because he disagreed with Reagan's Central America policy), press leaks (by Toobin himself) & relatively minor charges (lying to Congress, obstruction, etc.)

What distinguishes the story of IranContra from Whitewater is the absence of political attacks on the special prosecutor by the White House. In fact, at one point Reagan makes a special appointment of Walsh when North challenges the constitutionality of a special prosecutor appointed by Congressional statute.

These days, in the pages of the New Yorker, Toobin attacks everything from sexual harassment law itself to degradation of privacy rights in his effort to delegitimize the Starr investigation. One wonders if he's forgotten the personal experiences that he defly portrays here.

GRADE: C+

I recently joined the International English language program in Berkeley-UCLA and was told to acquire this book. It truly helped me to achieve my studies objectives by taking me to a journey through the English language, proven the most spoken idiom in the planet but chinese. You surely may want to have it handy for your future consultations even though you are already versed in Shakespeare working tool.

The Opening Up of American Education (OAE) by Ruskin Teeter is a brief historical account of the American institution known as education. The text focuses on education's most powerful beginnings; dismal as they may be. Teeter looks at education past; what that led us to today; and the process by which new-age education was revealed and changed. Teeter encourages the reader to approach the educational system with an inquiring and analytical curiosity: how did we get where we are and where are we going. OAE traverses through the role of educators, politics and the community from the marm schools and colonial schoolmasters to today's academies and public school houses. The many avenues viewed are seemingly designed to promote and stimulate thought while conveying the less than perfect route our education system took to get to its present destination. The majority of Teeters chronological events are so negative in nature that the reader may be shocked by some of the in-your-face historical accounts. Teeter does however, offer secondary sources at the end of each chapter to allow the reader to seek further information on the subject matter.

Being a Black female who grew up in the 50s and 60s, and having been a victim of a large portion of these educational woes, I found myself battling with the issues raised and engaging in lively discussion with my cohorts. The few topics in the book: dismal beginnings, racism in education, feminism in education and the current reversal of progress truly reflect continuing controversies. Teeter not only looks at the plight of the southern child, but of women as a separate, but unequal entity: traversing the dim start of the women's movement for educational rights. Teeter intertwines a myriad of educational who's who in OAE from the rigorously self-taught Benjamin Franklin and his academies to the educators' lawyer, Thurogood Marshall who fought the good fight for equality in education.

Unfortunately, Teeter seems to be concentrating primarily on the negative aspects of society's approach to education and its reform. He leaves out several (or what I deem) important factors that led to today's stance. I was disappointed that the plight of the southern Negro did not include the efforts put forth by those who gave their lives to educate this element in rudimentary fashion in dimly lit homes and caverns. Emma Hart Willard was not mentioned and she was a champion of higher education for women. I imagine Teeter found himself overwhelmed when it came to noting the champions of our educational system. It is my great hope that he wrote this teaser as an attempt to rejuvenate the fight for educational excellence.

Hmm? I am not that good of a player, but surely the lines that Emms has picked here (within variations) are suspect. For instance in the Be2 variation he does not give any ample evidence on what to do with f4 g4 lines...these are very very tough to meet over the board and Black is in trouble without some theory to help him/her. The Bg5 Qc7 lines are adequate, but suited for under Master level? Emms is not sure who he is writing this book for. Surely the Najdorf word is sellable, but e6 for all these systems is not worth a weak word for all the possible variations that can occur with this move. e6 for every system is surely not as good as e5 and other tries...and this book will confuse players more then help help them build a system of openings. Just cause Kaspy plays it- not worth a whole general book.