Starting Out: The Colle Paperback – June 1, 2007

It’s a good book

I thought a club level player's review might be helpful. Too many chess books seem to be written by chessmasters for chessmaster-wannabe's, and not at a level that is useful to club-level players like myself (Class D) wanting to get better. I've now put about a month of serious study into the Koltanowski Colle, which this book teaches in depth (at least from my level, it is depth). I've been playing the Colle whenever I play white, and, voila! people say I'm playing better! I'm learning the ideas in the book by playing across-the-board, making some moves too soon, too late, or right on time. The system has been working for me, even though the people I've been playing against have not been using the reversed Queen's gambit (c5) move, which Palliser says should be happening more often than not ?!The author gives some advice (on page 16) on "how best to use this book", which I think is crucial -- "Play through the main line which begins each section, stopping only to examine any sub-variations which catch the eye. . .and then study the illustrative games". The main line is inbold print. Otherwise, this book may not be easy to get through and understand. I agree with just about everything in Jeremy Silman's review, so I won't address those issues.For someone who wants to learn the Colle-Koltanowski, or improve his knowledge of it, and has the discipline to not get lost in sub-variants, this book should improve your chess.

A great job and a balanced one, I own several books on the Colle. This is the most balanced. The good strong black tournament player is not going to go directly into the Colle ending; you'll see many King's Indians and Queen's Indians.The book has excellent coverage of the Nc6 and Nd7 lines. It has good coverage of the side lines. I still believe the Smith and Hall book has the best coverage of the side lines. Perhaps not the deepest stuff, but easiest to learn.If you are going to play any opening, please pick up a database. This will give you a good feel for the ideas. This is one thing the author does well; he shows you typical club player errors.

This is an excellent in-depth treatise on the 1.d4 d5 symmetrical Colle. If this is what you are looking for, fine, then get it. However,club and tournament players who are hoping to use 1. d4 2. Nf3 3.e3 4. Bd3 for any black response will be disappointed. If you want to use the Colle set-up for most any black defense,this is not the book for you. I suggest you obtain  Winning with the Colle System  by Ken Smith and John Hall (2nd edition).

Very useful.

Very Satisfied

As far as I know this is by far the best and the most complete book covering the "Colle System".In the introduction the author is honest to say that the "Colle System", the "Colle" for short, is an easy opening to learn and with knowledge of a little theory and some typical motifs, one can be pretty successful with it up to a certain level"."Quite simple at + 2600 level, the likely absence of strategically middle game mistakes in the Colle, aligned to good theoretical knowledge and defensive technique, means that White's wining chances are pretty slim in comparison with the sharper e4 and d4 main lines in vogue at the highest level".So if you are not a titled player but just a poor mortal - like me - the "Colle" by Richard Palliser is a God sent gift.Palliser avoids one trap that many authors of previous "Colle" books have fallen into - which is over simplify things for White and just ignore the critical replies available for the Black pieces conductor.Palliser in this 5 stars book gives the reader all tools to take up the "Colle" with a small amount of theory and lots of instructive and deeply analyzed games, with an objective and balanced presentation and discussion of suggestions and ideas for BOTH sides.As Palliser wrote "the key challenge to your author is to instruct the reader in the main ideas of the Colle, while at same point not neglecting Black's best defenses and ways for White to then play the resulting positions".At this point I would like to quote GM Nigel Short foreword in "Play the Ruy Lopez" book by GM Andres Greet, which should apply 100% - in my opinion - to any and all openings manuals : "I will let you into a little secret: objective speaking, Andrew's book is not the complete answer to White's search for a guaranteed opening advantage. That should not worry you though. The most important thing, at any level, is to know more than you opponent. By studying this book and understanding, the ideas and not just attempting to remember precise sequences of moves, you will be very well placed. Enjoy it".Keeping in mind this excellent piece of advice, please note that Palliser's book is presented as follows, after a bibliography and a very instructive introduction.PART ONE1 - Black Plays ... c5 and ... Nc6.(Note: after discussing the early moves and transpositions - in my opinion this is the back bone of the book - Palliser goes deeply into the "8 dxc5" variation and into the "endgame").2 - The Main Line with 9 ... Qc7.(Note: The high lights of this Chapter, after the introduction, are "white plays Qe2", "restraining e5 with 10 ... Bd6" and the "modern defence: "10 ... h6").3 - Black Plays ... c5 and ... Nbd7.(Note: Here the author main concern is the various ... Bd5 and ... Be7 set-ups, plus the "Stonewalling").4 - Other Black Set-ups after 3 ... e6.(Note: Here the author deals mainly with the Black Queen Bishop fianchetto, either on move four or latter on, and with what he calls passive answers on move 4 like ... Be7,... a6 and 4... c5).PART TWO5 - Black's Third Move Alternatives.(Note: Here the author analyzes the so called "Anti-Colle" third moves, ... Bg4,...Bf5, ...g6 and ... c5).6 - Black delays ...Nf6.(Note: Here the author concentrates in second moves alternatives for Black like ...Bf5 - Baltic Style -, ... Nc6 - Chigorin Style -, ...c5, ... Bg5 and ...e6 - when Black deviates from the Colle main lines at an early stage of the game -).Basically every Chapter starts with an easy to follow "Main Ideas" discussion, with lots of helpful tips and warnings, followed by a "Theoretical Conclusion" paragraph and is ended with the deeply annotated illustrative games section (there are 31 complete games presented in the book).Besides that I must say that Palliser wrote the book in a very colorful and instructive language, as he was friendly addressing face to face to the reader. This is a big plus for chess fans like me that - as everybody already knows - are not native English speakers.All in all every chess student above the complete novice level up to 2,200 Fide rating will definitively considerably improve his her understanding of the Royal Game after studying this rare piece of jewelry..

I am a club player playing in Division 2 of our local league, and wanting to change my opening repertoire. This book has given me lots of ideas, and I have felt confident when using the opening after spending a weekend looking at the main lines. After each game I have taken the authors advice, going back to the book and looking at the line played in more detail. I really like Richard Palliser's humorous style of writing, and the complete games are a real pleasure to play through. I may well buy more of his books and try to improve my opening repertoire as Black! I have enjoyed my games when able to use the Colle system and would recommend the book to other players who do not know this opening well or who want to try a new opening. Have a look inside the book on Amazon to see if this system is for you!

Loads of boring computer variations rather than an exciting strategy on the different themes.

ok

No chapter on the (important) Zuckerman-Colle