“Beautifully written and inspirational… Mihail Marin’s excellent repertoire books on the English Opening have helped to cement the reputation of Quality Chess’ Grandmaster Repertoire series… Marin’s deep experience and passion for the English Opening is clear throughout the book… If you’ve even the slightest inclination towards the English Opening, this trio of books is strongly recommended.”
GM Luke McShane, New in Chess
“Is there a chess book that had a profound influence on you?
The entire ‘The English Opening’ series by Mihail Marin.”
GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen, New in Chess
“Marin introduces numerous new ideas that lead either to a small advantage for White or at least produce an annoying initiative that can keep Black on his heels… Without reservations, I recommend this volume to all English Opening players. 4 Stars (out of 4)”
Carsten Hansen, ChessCafe
“One of the outstanding chess books of 2009 was volume one of Romanian Grandmaster Mihail Marin’s trilogy on 1.c4… The second and third volumes in the series, recently released, maintain the same high standards… published on high quality paper with a clean, easy to read layout. They are available in both hardback and paperback editions with the former costing 8 Euros more. This might seem like an unnecessary luxury for an opening book that will eventually be outdated. However, if your budget allows and you intend to use these books a lot, it might be a wise investment. Will the difference in price be remembered after you have spent several hundred hours mastering this material?
I give Marin’s three volumes series on the English my highest recommendation.”
IM John Donaldson, (full review)
“It is a magnificent work, based on Marin’s experience with the English Opening… Marin’s vast knowledge of classic chess enriches the didactic value of the book.”
GM Zenon Franco Ocampos, Jaque
“Perhaps the finest work on the English Opening that I have ever seen.”
Steve Giddins, British Chess Magazine
“The Romanian GM has a well-earned reputation for writing great chess books, and these are no different… Marin does his best to keep White’s solutions within the realm of the English, which is doubly commendable… As always in Marin’s books, you’ll find lots of prose, a clear sense that the man loves to teach, and a ton of original analysis… Marin aims to make chess players out of his readers, not efficient zombies!
The hardback copies… are superb from a physical standpoint as well. The books are highly recommended.”
Dennis Monokroussos, The Chess Mind (full review)
“Thick, beautifully-hardcover books… I’m sure some of my team members who are addicted to opening with their c-pawn will just love these books, but for me, looking at all these lines just makes me realize life’s too short to try and understand all chess openings. But I sure marvelled at fragments such as this…”
Arne Moll, ChessVibes
“Volumes 2 & 3 are fine books with plenty of new ideas, enhanced by his very readable prose. These books are so well written that I think those new to The English Opening will find them just as useful as seasoned 1.c4 experts.”
Sean Marsh (full review)
