IM Christof Sielecki just released the book Keep It Simple 1.e4 (A Solid and Straightforward Chess Opening Repertoire for White). This book is based on the Chessable course by IM Sielecki that was released in March 2018. Chessable's slogan is ‘bringing books to life' by taking classic print books and turning them into fully interactive spaced repetition courses. This is the first time the reverse process has taken place. This process actually has a distinct advantage. Chessable is a very interactive learning platform and students directly interact with the authors of the courses. The feedback of the 1200 Chessable students has provided a very strong quality assurance process for the variations and the printed book.
Keep It 1.3 Release Notes Archive Version 1.3.6 Requirements. MacOS Sierra 10.12 or later. When using the Add Tags popover, unused tags will no longer be shown. When clicking a file:// link to a folder in a note, rich text or plain text document, the folder will now be opened in the Finder, rather than selected. Keep It 1.3 Release Notes Archive Version 1.3.6 Requirements. MacOS Sierra 10.12 or later. When using the Add Tags popover, unused tags will no longer be shown. When clicking a file:// link to a folder in a note, rich text or plain text document, the folder will now be opened in the Finder, rather than selected.
The repertoire in the book version and on Chessable are exactly the same. The only difference between Chessable and the printed book is that the printed book contains an additional 30 model games.
The repertoire is based on the following principles:
- The chosen lines must be easy to learn
- It must be possible to find your way if you forget your lines
- The chosen lines may not be the most critical, but are uncomfortable for the opponent.
The book is meant for players rated 1500 and higher, my estimate is for players from 1500 up to 2200. Although the repertoire is solid and can be played at any level, I believe that from master level onward one is more interested to learn the main lines and the corresponding structures. For this level I would recommend the books of e.g. GM Parimarjan Negi and GM Boris Avrukh.
The main repertoire choices of IM Christof Sielecki are:
- e4 e5 – Scotch four knights
- e4 c5 – Sicilian Rossolimo, Moscow and 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 c3
- e4 e6 – Exchange variation
The Chessable course consists of over 700 variations supported by nearly 60,000 words! Currently there are almost 1200 students which makes the course one of the most popular courses on Chessable. The course has received very positive reviews (4.9 out of 5 by 150 users).
On Chessable you can also buy an additional 18 hours of video in which IM Sielicki explains in detail all the variations. IM Sielecki is very experienced in video chess instruction. His popular YouTube channel ChessExplained has over 30,000 subscribers.
Keep It 1.3 Release Notes Archive Version 1.3.6 Requirements. MacOS Sierra 10.12 or later. When using the Add Tags popover, unused tags will no longer be shown. When clicking a file:// link to a folder in a note, rich text or plain text document, the folder will now be opened in the Finder, rather than selected. Keep It 1.3 Release Notes Archive Version 1.3.6 Requirements. MacOS Sierra 10.12 or later. When using the Add Tags popover, unused tags will no longer be shown. When clicking a file:// link to a folder in a note, rich text or plain text document, the folder will now be opened in the Finder, rather than selected.
The repertoire in the book version and on Chessable are exactly the same. The only difference between Chessable and the printed book is that the printed book contains an additional 30 model games.
The repertoire is based on the following principles:
- The chosen lines must be easy to learn
- It must be possible to find your way if you forget your lines
- The chosen lines may not be the most critical, but are uncomfortable for the opponent.
The book is meant for players rated 1500 and higher, my estimate is for players from 1500 up to 2200. Although the repertoire is solid and can be played at any level, I believe that from master level onward one is more interested to learn the main lines and the corresponding structures. For this level I would recommend the books of e.g. GM Parimarjan Negi and GM Boris Avrukh.
The main repertoire choices of IM Christof Sielecki are:
- e4 e5 – Scotch four knights
- e4 c5 – Sicilian Rossolimo, Moscow and 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 c3
- e4 e6 – Exchange variation
The Chessable course consists of over 700 variations supported by nearly 60,000 words! Currently there are almost 1200 students which makes the course one of the most popular courses on Chessable. The course has received very positive reviews (4.9 out of 5 by 150 users).
On Chessable you can also buy an additional 18 hours of video in which IM Sielicki explains in detail all the variations. IM Sielecki is very experienced in video chess instruction. His popular YouTube channel ChessExplained has over 30,000 subscribers.
So if we ‘let the figures do the talking' and consider the number of raving reviews and the popularity of IM Sielicki as a Youtube broadcaster then there can only be one recommendation: buy Keep It Simple 1.e4!
There are different options to buy Keep It Simple 1.e4:
- Book - $20, - on Amazon USA (standard price $30,-)
- Chessable: - $25, - as a MoveTrainer™ Opening course (spaced repetition)
- Forward Chess - $19, - in electronic chess-format (board, analysis and text)
- Kindle - Not available yet
The 18 hours of video on Chessable costs $160,- which seems hefty but is quite reasonable if you consider that this amount equates to approximately 2 hours of training by an International Master.
If you are serious about making this part of your repertoire then I recommend that you buy the Chessable version. The spaced repetition environment of Chessable is gold and is the only way to learn the massive 700 variations.
GM Fabiano Caruana chose in his match with WC Magnus Carlsen 3 times the Rossolimo-variation. I was curious to see how the recommendation in the Keep It Simple 1.e4 book compares to what was played in the World Chess Championship match. IM Sielicki recommends to play 4.0-0 (after the opening moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6), while Caruana went for White's main alternative 4.Bxc6. Still there is one moment where the 2 variations (4.0-0 and 4.Bxc6) lead to similar positions though through a different move order.
Let me conclude by mentioning a few things that I would have done differently:.
- Include more information on what the typical plans are of White and Black for the opening in general and specifically at the end of a variation. Mauricio Flores Rios did an excellent job in his book Chess Structures. What are the typical plans for Black and White and which moves and piece configuration fit into that plan? Many players rated 1500-1900 might look at the final position of a variation and ask themselves: ‘And where do I go from here?'
- Related to 1, I would have selected more model games between Grand Masters and Amateurs because these games often make the ideal plan very clear as there are no grand master nuances and grand master resistance.
- In general, I believe players need to learn the balance between material, time (lead in development) and space. There are openings which are very well suited for doing this, like the Evans Gambit. The Evans Gambit was played by Fisher, Kasparov, Nakamura etc. A gambit of a pawn for a lead in development and space you will not find back in the solid recommendations in this book.
Overall this is an excellent book that delivers exactly what the title states: A relatively simple (700+ variations!), solid and straightforward repertoire. Many 1500+ players will be very happy that this repertoire is now available and can be trained on the Chessable platform.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Keep It is a notebook, scrapbook and organizer, ideal for writing notes, keeping web links, storing documents, images or any kind of file, and finding them again. Available on Mac, and as a separate app for iPhone and iPad, Keep It is the destination for all those things you want to put somewhere, confident you will find them again later.
Keep It is the successor to Together, can import Together libraries, and all Together 3 users can get a discount to upgrade to Keep It. See Information for Together Users below.
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Use labels to color-code items for quick visual recognition. Labels are listed in the sidebar so you can quickly see everything with a particular label.
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Use the Recents list to see things you've added or viewed lately, with the latest shown at the top. Favorites provide quick access. Deleted Items are automatically removed after 30 days.
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In Compact Mode, Keep It for Mac becomes a single column, ideal for using alongside other apps or in split screen.
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Pretty much anything can be dragged to Keep It, and you can also add things from a variety of apps with Keep It's share extension.
Keep It is the successor to Together, and will import your Together libraries. While many things will be familiar, Keep It offers some great new ideas and improvements, including:
View and Edit
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- Summaries in the list and enhanced thumbnails, on both Mac and iOS
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- Favorites Bar for quick access to lists
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- Deleted items automatically removed after 30 days
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Search and Filter
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- Use keywords when searching, and natural language for dates
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- Tag Filter can filter combinations of tags in the same straightforward way on both Mac and iOS
…but just about everything in Keep It is more refined, works better, faster, and often makes more sense. See Keep It for Together Users for more.
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Together 3 users can get a half-price discount when moving to Keep It, and free licenses are available for anyone who purchased Together 3 in the 6 months before Keep It was announced.
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See the Keep It Support page for information on obtaining these discounts, and how to move from Together to Keep It.
