Nick de Firmian

Modern Chess Openings 14th edition came out in 1999. I don't know if there is a new edition out, but there might be after such a long time. This book is more of a reference than a book you read through all the way. Just find an opening you are interested in and go from there. The book is organized by the first move, split into five main sections. So it starts out with Double King Pawn Openings like the Ruy Lopez and Giuocco Piano, moves on to Semi-Open Games like Alekhine's Defense and the Sicilian, covers Double Queen Pawn Openings like the Colle System and the Slav, goes on to Indian Openings and finishes off with Flank Openings like the English Opening and the King's Indian Attack.

It covers pretty much every opening I can think of and then goes into the lines that follow, commenting on them along the way. So opening the book randomly leads to the Sicilian Defense Richter-Rauzer Attack. This opening goes like this:
1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 d6
6. Bg5 e6
7. Qd2 a6
8. O-O-O Bd7

After that, there is some section that looks like a table containing moves beyond the 8th move. Some of the lines are commented on, so if there was a famous game that used that particular line, it will talk about it and say whether or not it was successful. The book contains a bibliography at the beginning if you are interested in a more detailed account of an opening.… (mehr)