Modern Chess Openings

''Modern Chess Openings'' (usually called ) is a reference book on chess openings, first published in 1911 by the British players Richard Clewin Griffith (1872–1955) and John Herbert White (1880–1920). The fifteenth edition was published in 2008. Harry Golombek called it "the first scientific study of the openings in the twentieth century".Harry Golombek (editor-in-chief), ''Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess'', Crown Publishers, 1977, p. 202. .

History

Although Bilguer's ''Handbuch des Schachspiels'' was more authoritative at the time ''MCO'' was first published, it was last published between 1912 and 1916, and was becoming outdated by the 1930s. ''MCO'' was popular with English-speaking players and has continued to be updated throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, with fifteen editions from 1911 through 2008. Early editions were small enough to fit in a pocket (the first edition was 190 pages), but later editions grew and the fifteenth and most recent version is 768 pages. In 1977, Harry Golombek said "The work became popular at once and for over forty years was regarded as the main book on the openings throughout the world."

The first three editions (1911, 1913, and 1916) were the work of Griffith (who won the 1912 British Championship) and White, with an introduction by Henry Ernest Atkins. Editions through at least 1946 continued to be attributed to Griffith and White, with P. W. Sergeant and Maurice Edward Goldstein providing revisions starting with the fourth edition in 1925. In 1939, Reuben Fine, who had won the AVRO tournament the year before, edited ''MCO''. Fine was not able to work on subsequent editions of ''MCO'', so in 1948 he wrote ''Practical Chess Openings''. As ''Practical Chess Openings'' was not revised in any further editions, ''MCO'' remained the most popular English language opening reference.

American Walter Korn worked on the seventh through thirteenth editions, assuming editorship starting with ''MCO-8'' in 1952. Korn was assisted on certain editions by Jack Collins, Larry Evans, and Nick de Firmian; Evans and de Firmian have held the U.S. Championship. The first twelve editions used descriptive notation to record the moves, and only with ''MCO-13'' in 1990 did the series begin to use the now-standard algebraic notation. The most recent edition, ''MCO-15'' in 2008, was written and edited by de Firmian.

Since 1980, there have been other one-volume opening encyclopedias to rival ''MCO'': ''Batsford Chess Openings'' (''BCO'') in 1982 and 1989, and ''Nunn's Chess Openings'' (''NCO'') in 1999. John Watson wrote that ''MCO-13'' "really isn't up to modern expectations", but called ''MCO-14'' "a vast improvement over its predecessor No. 13 in almost every respect" and comparable in quality to ''NCO''.Book Reviews by IM John L Watson #28
2000.

Editions

Quotations

* "... the most important single book in world chess literature". – ''American Chess Correspondent'', writing about the tenth edition.

See also

* Opening book
* List of chess openings

References

Further reading

*

*

Catalog information on ''MCO'' editions is available from the Cleveland Public Library John G. White Chess and Checkers Collection and the Copac UK Academic & National Library Catalog.

Cleveland Public Library

Copac UK Academic & National Library Catalog

{{Chess, state=collapsed

Chess books
*Modern Chess Openings
Chess in the United Kingdom
Chess in the United States
1911 non-fiction books
1911 in chess