The book generally received good reviews, but it is badly marred by typos. I think it’s not one of Mednis’ better books, but then I have never been a big fan of opening books anyway.
How important is a good opening? It depends! Mednis said there is a German expression to the effect that a good opening means the game is half won. That's really true in high level play, but for most of us it’s probably not. I sometimes play 10 minute games online and in those games you can get away with openings that wouldn't stand a chance in serious play.
In OTB play how important are openings for those of us who are rating-challenged? Obviously, coming out of the opening with a good position is better than coming out of it with a bad one, plus it does give us a psychological boost to know we stand better. More important though is having a good grasp of strategy and tactics and...endings.
Capablanca considered the main opening principle to be rapid and efficient development. That sounds simple enough, but he also added that the pieces have to be put in the right places. That last little point, put in the right places, probably means that most of us are going to play the opening like we play the rest of the game.
The great Hungarian GM Lajos Portisch probably gave the best advice for non-masters when he said the only task in the opening is to reach a playable middlegame.
Mednis was of the opinion that non-masters don't have to play the latest theoretical lines and advised playing whatever opening one likes and understands. He also gave good advice when he said it's foolhardy to voluntarily choose a line where, if your opponent plays correctly, you hand over the advantage. That would eliminate a lot of openings and gambits known to be unsound.
There are three areas of significance in opening play:
1) King safety
2) piece development
3) control of the center.
The first two areas are self-evident, but the value and importance of the center is not sufficiently appreciated. The importance of center control has been known to average players since the days of Steinitz. The Hypermoderns deepened our understanding of center control when they showed that it can be done without occupying it.
What are the best moves according to Mednis? White has five: 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.c4, 1.Nf3 and 1.g3.
What if you don't want to play any of them? Mednis recommends playing any of the three "mediocre" moves. These are moves that have positive features, but also have inherent deficiencies. These are:
1) 1.b4 with the plan of 2.Bb2 aiming at d4 and e5.
2) Nc3 which influences the center, but precludes utilizing the c-Pawn.
3) 1.f4 which does nothing for development and slightly weakens the K-side, but it does control e4. Don't play anything else!
As black, good moves against 1.e4 are: 1...e5, 1...c5, 1...c6, 1...d6, 1...Nf6, 1...g6 and 1...e6.
Against 1.d4 you can play: 1...d5, 1...c5, 1...c6, 1...d6, 1...d5, 1...Nf6 and 1...g6.
If you want to take your opponent out of the book, and probably yourself along with him, you can play mediocre moves: Against 1.e4 you can play: 1...Nc6 and 1...d5. Against 1.d4 you can play 1...Nc6 and 1...f5.
Mednis believed that if you play according to opening principles you should be fine, but as play develops the position gets more complicated and move selection requires concrete thinking. Just remember most opening moves that are unmindful of opening principles are probably inferior.
The following is an interesting game between Karpov and Korchnoi that was played in their 1974 match involving the Yugoslav Attack was instructive.
It was well known that Karpov had excellent results against the Dragon, so why did Korchnoi play it? Possibly because the previous year Korchnoi had defeated Karpov in a Dragon and believed he might not be up on latest theory. That wasn't the case though and after the game Korchnoi didn't want to talk about it, saying it wasn't a real game, but a result of home preparation. Sour grapes! Korchnoi had as much opportunity to do his homework as Karpov. I am giving the game with an abridged version of Mednis' explanatory notes plus a few observations by Stockfish. Karpove had an amazing 100% accuracy rating when his moves were compared to Stockfish at 15 seconds per move!
[Event "Candidates Final Match, Moscow"]
[Site "Moscow URS"]
[Date "1974.09.18"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Anatoly Karpov"]
[Black "Viktor Korchnoi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B77"]
[Annotator "Edmar Mednis/Stockfish"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "1974.09.16"]
{B78: Sicilian Dragon: Yugoslav Attack} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4
Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 {The center P-formation is in white’s favor because his P on
e4 controls more space. It’s generally true in the Sicilian that if black
can play ...d5 without any disadvantage he will have equalized. The move 5...
g6 has slightly, but fundamentally, weakened the K-side since the g-Pawn can
now be attacked by h4-h5 and the opening of the h-file. White has the option
of castling on either side and doing so on the Q-side is reasonably safe. The
main idea is to open the h-file and trade off black’s B.} 6. Be3 Bg7 (6...
Ng4 {No reasonably strong player would ever fall into this trap of attacking
the B with this move.} 7. Bb5+ Nc6 (7... Bd7 8. Qxg4) 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Bxc6+) 7.
f3 {The Yugoslav Attack. White plans on Qd2 and O-O-O. With the move 7.f3
black’s annoying ...Ng4 is prevented, the e-Pawn is protected and Pg4 is
prepared. There is nothing wrong with the old 7.Be2.} Nc6 {Black develops this
N to its best square) 8. Qd2 (Preparing to castle Q-side.} 8. Qd2 O-O {Even
though white is preparing a K-side attack this is the safest place for the K
plus it brings his R into play and increases his chances of playing ...d5.
Castling Q-side is not a viable option because the K would not be safe because
the c-Pawn is missing. Also on the Q-side, the K would interfere with his
counterplay.} 9. Bc4 {This is most common. On c4 the B is aggressively placed
to attack f7 and black’s freeing move ...d5 is inhibited. The disadvantage
is that because the B is unprotected here black can gain a move or two for his
own development.} Bd7 {Logical. Black develops his last minor piece and is
ready to start play along the c-file with...Rc8. Still, it took master play a
long time to figure this out because at one time the fear of white’s B on c4
was so great that it was believed black had to take immediate steps to
neutralize it.} 10. h4 {White’s strategy here is to castle Q-side and open
the h-file, so it probably does not matter is he castles first or plays this.
The reasoning behind playing this first is that it is sharper as it entails no
disadvantage and immediately subjects black to attack. Note that even though
the B on c4 is undefended there is no reason to voluntarily lose a tempo by
retreating it to b3.} Rc8 {Jere black has two basic options. 1) Start an
immediate counterattack as Korchnoi does here, or 2) try and combining attack
and defense with 10...h5.} (10... h5 {Beginning in the 1980s black began
playing this in an attempt to slow down white’s attack. This move does that
but at the cost of fundamentally weakening black’s K-side, plus he will be a
move behind with his counterplay.} 11. O-O-O Rc8 12. Bb3 Ne5 {with equal
chances.}) 11. Bb3 {Black threatened to win the B with 11...Nxd4} Ne5 {Aiming
for immediate counterplay along the c-file.} 12. O-O-O Nc4 13. Bxc4 {The fact
that white has made two moves with this B and is now forced to make this
capture on a square that it controlled just as well from either f1 or e2
demonstrates the strategic disadvantage of 9.Bc4} Rxc4 14. h5 {This is a well
known line in the Dragon, which was a favorite defense of Korchnoi. Here white
sacrifices a P for an attack. Korchnoi almost always accepted Ps because he
had great confidence in his defensive ability. White does not waste any time
with a move like 14.Kb1 nor does he bother preparing this advance with 14.g4,
which is not bad. It’s just that 15.h5 is more forceful.} Nxh5 15. g4 Nf6 16.
Nde2 {This is a nice multipurpose move: 1) it overprotects the N on c3 from a
potential exchange sacrifice, 2) the N can go to g3 or f4 from where it can
join the attack and 3) it threatens 16.Bh6.} Qa5 {Black continues with his
counterattack.} 17. Bh6 {Eliminating the dark squared B is a part of white’s
overall strategy. Note that black’s B is valuable for both offensive and
defensive purposes.} Bxh6 {Engines prefer 17...Bh8, but even then black's
position is theoretically lost.} 18. Qxh6 Rfc8 19. Rd3 {Safety first. Karpov
wants to make sure his opponent has no chance to play a thematic sacrifice of
the exchange on c3.} (19. Rd5 {This is a more direct approach and it's also
quite good.} Qd8 20. e5 dxe5 21. Rd2 Qe8 {Losing. Correct was 21...Qf8 when
white is better, but not winning.} 22. Nd5 {White gas a decisive advantage.
Prandstetter,E (2365)-Spiridonov,N (2490) Agard 1976}) 19... R4c5 {[%mdl 8192]
Black's position is already very poor, but this move results in the loss of
the game.} (19... Be6 {is his best chance,} 20. g5 Nh5 21. Nf4 Qe5 22. Nxh5
gxh5 23. Qxh5 Qg7 {White has a modest advantage but in Brikov,I (2401)-Kurilin,
A (2294) Tula RUS 2014 the defense proved to be too much for black.}) 20. g5 {
[%mdl 512] ...and wins} Rxg5 {This meets with a surorising refutation, but
there was nothing better.} (20... Nh5 21. Rxh5 {This attempt to get fancy
throws away the win.} gxh5 22. Nf4 Rxc3 23. bxc3 Rc5 24. g6 hxg6 25. Nxg6 fxg6
26. Qxg6+ Kf8 27. Qh6+ {Draws. Note that black's K can;t flee the checks...}
Ke8 28. Qh8+ Kf7 29. Qh7+) 21. Rd5 {[%mdl 512] Very pretty.} Rxd5 (21... Nxd5
22. Qxh7+ Kf8 23. Qh8#) 22. Nxd5 Re8 23. Nef4 (23. Nxf6+ {would be a horrible
mistake ruining all white's previous play.} exf6 24. Qxh7+ Kf8 {White's attack
is gone and black is a P up.}) 23... Bc6 24. e5 {[%mdl 512] Another
sledgehammer blow.} Bxd5 (24... dxe5 25. Nxf6+ exf6 26. Nh5 {Black cannot
avoid mate.}) 25. exf6 exf6 26. Qxh7+ Kf8 27. Qh8+ {Black resigned. A perfect
game by Karpov! His moves matched Stockfish's 100%.} 1-0
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