In the opening, each player tries to control the center, set up a flexible pawn structure, develop the pieces rapidly and harmoniously, sometimes even go for direct attack. But there are so many complicated variations -- how can you memorize them all?

You can't -- and you don't have to! If you understand the basic goals of the opening you're playing, you will know which moves fit logically into its overall scheme. This classic, best-selling volume, now completely reset in modern algebraic notation, explains everything you need to know to play the opening sensibly and successfully.

Reuben Fine, an International Grandmaster, is one of the world's top players and a leading theoretician of chess. He is the author of over half a dozen books, including the definitive Basic Chess Endings.