Modern Chess Openings

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Modern Chess Openings (usually called MCO) is an important book of chess openings, first published in 1911 by the British players Richard Clewin Griffith (1872–1955) and John Herbert White (1880–1920). Although Bilguer's Handbuch was more authoritative, it was becoming outdated by the 1930s. MCO was popular with English-speaking players and continued to be updated throughout the 20th century, with fourteen editions from 1911 through 1999. Early editions were small enough to fit in a pocket (the first edition was 190 pages), but later editions grew and the fourteenth and most recent version is 734 pages.

The first three editions (1911, 1913, and 1916) were the work of Griffith and White, with an introduction by Henry Ernest Atkins. Editions through at least 1946 continued to be attributed to Griffith and White, with Philip Walsingham Sergeant and Maurice Edward Goldstein providing revisions starting with the 4th edition in 1925. In 1939, Reuben Fine became the first master strength player to edit MCO. Fine was not able to work on subsequent editions of MCO, so in 1948 he wrote Practical Chess Openings. As Practical Chess Openings was not revised in any further editions, MCO remained the most popular English language opening reference.

American Walter Korn worked on the 7th through 13th editions, assuming editorship starting with MCO-8 in 1952. Korn was assisted on certain editions by Jack Collins, Larry Evans, and Nick de Firmian. The first twelve editions used descriptive notation to record the moves, and only with MCO-13 in 1990 did the series begin to use the now-standard algebraic notation. The most recent edition, MCO-14 in 1999, was written and edited by de Firmian.

[edit] Editions

Edition	Year	Authors
1	1911	R. C. Griffith and J. H. White, with an introduction by H. E. Atkins
2	1913	R. C. Griffith and J. H. White, with an introduction by H. E. Atkins
3	1916	R. C. Griffith and J. H. White
4	1925	R. C. Griffith and J. H. White, completely revised by R. C. Griffith, M. E. Goldstein, and P. W. Sergeant
5	1932	R. C. Griffith and J. H. White, completely revised by P. W. Sergeant, R. C. Griffith, and M. E. Goldstein
6	1939	R. C. Griffith and J. H. White, completely revised by Reuben Fine, R. C. Griffith, and P. W. Sergeant
7	1946	R. C. Griffith and J. H. White, completely revised by W. Korn under the editorship of R. C. Griffith and P. W. Sergeant
8	1952	edited and completely revised by Walter Korn
9	1957	completely revised by Walter Korn and John W. Collins
10	1965	completely revised by Larry Evans under the editorship of Walter Korn
11	1972	Walter Korn
12	1982	Walter Korn
13	1990	Walter Korn, revised by Nick de Firmian
14	1999	completely revised by Nick de Firmian

[edit] References

Hooper, David and Kenneth Whyld (1996). The Oxford Companion To Chess. Oxford University. ISBN 0-19-280049-3.

Catalog information on MCO editions is available from the Cleveland Public Library John G. White Chess and Checkers Collection and the Copac UK Academic & National Library Catalog.