"Enjoyable, while also making the reader much more aware of where typical early pitfalls can suddenly spring from."

– CHESS Magazine (UK)

"There was a specific and a general use that I got from reading this book. The specific use was the particular openings that I play which are covered in this book. You quickly see where pieces should or shouldn't go in the openings you play. The general use was from the games in the openings that I don't plan myself. In those games it was easy to see how violating an opening principle could quickly lead to disaster. I believe that any player who either likes looking at chess games for fun, or who is serious about improving, would be well served by this book."

– Chris Wainscott, On the Road to Chess Master

"Traps, tripwires, fun, schadenfreude: these are things I associate this book with. It contains 753 miniatures, most of them with less than 20 moves. It is, above all, a very cheerful book. For a book of this size the price is very friendly."

– Johan Hut, Noordhollands Dagblad

"I have used this book as a teaching resource for a couple of months now and found it to be especially useful when working with junior players who know opening principles, but have a rudimentary knowledge of specific standard openings and certainly not an established repertoire. You can use the book to practice tactics ('What was the winning move here?') while learning about various openings (typical piece-placements and plans) and general principles too, because Nikolay Kalinichenko's perspicacious annotations emphasize sound play."

– Paul Kane

"Over 00 miniatures to enjoy and sharpen your skill. Provides class players with ideas to use in their own openings."

– Miguel Ararat, Florida Chess

"A smashing collection of 700 brilliant played miniatures, all pleasantly divided in various openings lines. This book holds instructive openings explanations and helps you as no other to develop the ability to punish errors in the opening."

– Elburg Chess Reviews

"Quite a lot of fine examples, also by strong players."

– Jeroen Bosch, International Master, Schaakmagazine

"A useful compendium of what not to do in the opening."

– Florian Jacobs