“Best by test.” – Bobby Fischer’s comment on his first move 1.e4 in his game against Arthur Bisguier in the New York State Open Championship, 1963.
Opening specialist and Correspondence IM Nikolaos Ntirlis has written several well-received opening books, including his previous opening repertoire book, Playing the English. For his new book, he offers a repertoire for White starting with Fischer’s favourite 1.e4. Like his previous book, this is a serious repertoire that demands a determined effort from readers to gain the most benefit from the book.
As the Table of Contents above shows, Ntirlis tackles the main responses to 1.e4 head on, rather than going for some anti-systems such as 2.c3 against the Sicilian Defence. However, in most cases he generally provides some fresh ideas in the major defences, instead of dealing for the absolute main lines that are used at the elite level. In addition, he adopts a “safety first” approach rather than suggesting dubious but complicated lines that can be refuted and leave White without a viable repertoire. Some of these suggestions were originally presented on Twitter/X and have since been adopted by elite players.
GM Anish Giri writes in the Foreword to the book:
“Others have also recognized the value of Nikos’s ideas, as some of them have leaked through and been used in games at the highest levels.
As for me, I didn’t stop at merely peeking at the free opening ideas. When I looked at Nikos’s recommendation against the Sveshnikov, I liked it so much that I was happy to steal it for my 1.e4 Chessable course! What can I do? The idea he found was fresh, interesting and tricky for Black to meet, while the alternative of covering 200 lines of the Rossolimo seemed a lot less appealing for author and readers alike.”
Other elite players such as Carlsen and Nakamura have also used the author’s ideas with success.
The author’s view on playing anti-systems is illustrated by his views on the Sicilian Defence:
“The sheer number of possibilities alone can make the Sicilian seem daunting, and explains why many players look for “safer harbours”, such as the Alapin with 2.c3, the Closed Sicilian with 2.Nc3 and 3.g3, or systems with Bb5. It feels overwhelming, like there’s simply too much to learn.
Nevertheless, I believe the above type of reasoning to be misguided, so I’ll be recommending the Open Sicilian for our repertoire. Despite the great multitude of possible Sicilian systems, you’ll mostly encounter the five most popular ones – the Najdorf, Dragon, Taimanov, Sveshnikov, and Kan – in roughly 75% of your games in this opening. Moreover, you should feel excited to face the Sicilian! After all, we play chess for rich positions and good winning chances. Systems such as the Najdorf and Dragon offer a world of dynamic possibilities – exactly what makes chess fun.”
Reimagining 1.e4
By Nikolaos Ntirlis
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In the current era, we are faced with the explosion in chess information, especially in opening theory. This then leads to the role of memorisation in opening knowledge. While the author is predominately a correspondence chess player, he is also concerned with over-the-board players. He writes:
“I do believe in memorizing opening variations, contrary to what some chess coaches will tell you. I just think that memorization needs to be performed in a smart and practical way. I believe you should focus on memorizing key positions and lines only. And ultimately, understanding the direction in which you should steer the game. That’s exactly what this book offers.”
This attitude has also governed the emphasis of the black defences covered in the book. As the Table of Contents above shows, the main emphasis is on the Spanish Opening and the Sicilian Defence. However, other popular defences such as the French and Caro-Kann are also covered in detail. Of course, the book, at around 300 pages, is not an encyclopedia, and it would be unrealistic to expect every single defensive idea to be covered, but the lines that are covered should be sufficient in practice.
Each chapter starts with an overview of the lines to be covered and ends with a summary of the chapter. This helps to orient readers to the material. Illustrative games are included to show how the variations can develop. In many cases, the analysis is quite deep to establish a definitive assessment of the lines.
As expected, the author has made extensive use of the current super-strong chess engines. His expertise in correspondence chess has clearly helped in this aspect of the book, and many new ideas are presented in the book. The author is realistic in his assessments of the suggestions and thankfully doesn’t oversell the ideas. He freely notes where Black equalises, but even in these lines, he aims for positions where an equal position doesn’t mean it’s a dead draw. Accordingly, White can continue to play on with some chances of an ultimate victory. These days, that’s perhaps all that can be realistically expected in the major black defences. In some cases, the author also suggests some alternative lines that lead to complications and leaves readers to explore these lines as a backup to the main suggestions.
More importantly, he also notes that what is equal for an engine is not necessarily equal in human games. For example, he writes at the end of one line:
“This is 0.00 for engines, but for humans White is no doubt better due to the healthier structure. The rook on a1 will soon get activated with a4-a5.”
Similarly, he writes at the end of another line:
“White has a pleasant edge. Granted, with perfect play Black should stay close to equality, but we are lucky we don’t often face Stockfish [the current strongest chess engine] in our tournament games.”
In conclusion, this is an exceptional and clear book that can be recommended to a wide range of players. The author has done an amazing amount of work and provided a repertoire for White after 1.e4 that can serve for many years. The suggested lines are clearly explained and backed by extensive computer-based analysis. The lines are fundamentally sound, rather than gimmicky one-off tricks that can be easily refuted. The book is therefore an exemplar of what a good opening book should be.
