To be released within 3-4 weeks in the U.S.

books:

	• Starting Out: The Accelerated Dragon: Fundamental coverage of a dynamic Sicilian Andrew Greet Everyman Chess, 2007 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A good start

This book is an overview and, in accordance with the title, starting reference over the accelerated dragon. The author has tried to cover most relevant main lines after 5.Nc3 and 5.c4 as well as some of the more important early deviations. As a bonus there is a very interesting chapter on the hyper-accelerated dragon (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6) which is an important tool to avoid certain move-order issues, in particular 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5.
In general the author focuses mainly on providing a solid understanding of the ideas behind the lines, and only occasionally delves into sharp theorethical lines. This is a good thing, but means that to play a line on a higher level one will need to do some additional research to be fully prepared.
On the whole the book is written from the player behind the black pieces point of view, but some advice for white players facing hte accelerated dragon is also provided. It is not a repertoire-book, but still the author gives certain recommendations, which is good since he clearly states where a judgement is his personal preference rather than a solid theorethical truth. Another good thing is that mr. greet has studied the important earlier works on the opening and the references to those are quite valuable.
My only objection really is that the evaluations of the positions in the analysis is a bit too superficial. Many times the verdict is that "black has a fair share of the chances" which based on my analysis is sometimes true, and sometimes not. In essence you will need to check the analysis if you intend to play a certain line and also play out some of the positions to catch mistakes in the evaluations. On the other hand this is true in most cases and nothing special for this book.
In short - currently the best book to get if you intend to incorporate the accelerated dragon into you repertoire. If you just want to know how to handle it as white it does provide some insights, but is of much less use. Combined with some of the earlier standard works (In particular Nielsens and Hansens book from 2003) it will give a solid base to build upon.

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Good job

Andrew Greet has done another good job. I'm pleased for the full coverage of the Accelerated Dragon and for the Chapter One dedicated to my favorite Hyper- Accelerated line. I bought also the book "Play the Ruy Lopez" and only the handicap of my poor english language disappoints me.
I have also the "Accelerated Dragons, J. Donaldson & Silman" and I recomend for Acc.Drag. fans to study first the Greet's book. He play's dragon and he know the plans and also he know how to explain it. Very, very good book for all the level's player's.

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To be released within 3-4 weeks in the U.S.

I have been contacted by the publisher of this highly anticipated title and have been informed that it has just been released from the publisher in the UK.

It is available from Amazon.co.uk as it is being shipped by the publiusher to Amazon.

It should be available in the U.S in about 3-4 weeks.

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The Dynamic Dragon...squares beware!

I must give a thumbs up to the, IM Andrew Greet, who has done an oustanding job on this dynamic opening. This book has a good introduction to the Sicilian Accelerated Dragon. White players can also benefit from this book too.

Here is a sneek preview of the book contents:

1. The Hyper-Accelerated Dragon
2. 5 Nc3-Classical and Other lines
3. Yugoslav Accelerated Dragon: Introduction and 7...Qa5!?
4. Yugoslav Accelerated Dragon: Mainline with 7...0-0
5. Lines with Nxc6
6. Maroczy Bind: Classical variation
7. Maroczy Bind: Gurgenidze System
8. Maroczy Bind: 7...Ng4
9. Maroczy Bind: Avoiding Exchanges with Nc2
10. Maroczy Bind: Sidelines

Furthermore, this book gives advice for both black and white. The book covers do's and dont's, themes, sidelines, and provides master games for illustration. At the end of each section, a summary and conclusion are both provided. The reader will have good insight to dynamic system. Dragon players must be prepared for one of white's best setups, namely, "Maroczy Bind". The bind limits black's counter-play to certain degree and gives black a different game to play. The book gives lines to play against the "Marcozy Bind" and white must play accurately to maintain even the slightest edge.

For those who want to play and/or study the Dragon, I would recommend this book and "Accelerated Dragons" by John Donaldson & Jeremy Silman. First, read "Starting Out: the accelerated dragon" and then read "Accelerated Dragons" by John Donaldson & Jeremy Silman in that order. The reader will gain a solid understanding and be prepared as a dragon player.

Overall, this is a good book and great effort by Andrew Greet to cover a dynamic weapon. It's well worth the money spent. A must have, don't let this one pass. Get it!!

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A new standard for opening literature

With regard to instructive opening writing for mortals, there are a few good authors, a handful of great authors, and then there is Andrew Greet. This guy cares about his readers. His books are written with passion and pride. They are gifts from him to us. Who knows his motivation - perhaps paying forward his experiences with a past mentor - but we get to benefit from his generosity and diligence.

I have his book on the Ruy Lopez (now my White option against 1...e5) and I thought that was great. But he has taken to the Starting Out format like a duck to water and shames the others in the series, and many of them are pretty darn good. There is so much instructive material in here it is amazing. You are really going to *learn* this opening - to understand the chess it embodies, not just some lines.

The book appears to have wide coverage of the opening, including both White and Black alternatives. It does not address anti-Sicilians except that it has a large section on the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon (avoids the Rossolimo). With respect to the analysis, Carsten Hansen in his Checkpoint column at chesscafe and John Donaldson at Jeremy Silman's site both reviewed it very favorably, and they seem to be very knowledgeable about the opening.

If you are an Accelerated Dragon player I am sure you are going to learn stuff - certainly enough for it to pay for itself. If not, this looks like a sound opening that you could take up at any chess level, and with this book as a guide you are going to save an awful lot of time. Coaches are alway chastising we mortals for continually switching openings and spending too much time on openings in general. Well, pick this one up and your search is over.

Thank you Mr Greet. I won't get to benefit at the table because it's not my opening, but it's always uplifting to witness excellence.

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Starting Out: The Accelerated Dragon is a further addition to Everyman?s best-selling Starting Out series, which has been acclaimed for its original approach to tackling chess openings. International Master Andrew Greet, an Accelerated Dragon expert, revisits the fundamentals of the opening, elaborating on the crucial early moves and ideas for both sides in a way that is often neglected in other texts.

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