Modern Chess Openings

Reference book first published in 1911

Modern Chess Openings (usually called ) is a reference book on chess openings, first published in 1911 by the British players Richard Clewin Griffith (1872–1955) and John Herbert White (1880–1920). The fifteenth edition was published in 2008. Harry Golombek called it "the first scientific study of the openings in the twentieth century".

Although Bilguer's Handbuch des Schachspiels was more authoritative at the time MCO was first published, it was last published between 1912 and 1916, and was becoming outdated by the 1930s. MCO was popular with English speaking players and has continued to be updated throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, with fifteen editions from 1911 through 2008. Early editions were small enough to fit in a pocket (the first edition was 190 pages), but later editions grew and the fifteenth and most recent version is 768 pages. In 1977, Harry Golombek said "The work became popular at once and for over forty years was regarded as the main book on the openings throughout the world." The first three editions (1911, 1913, and 1916) were the work of Griffith (who won the 1912 British Championship) and White, with an introduction by Henry Ernest Atkins. Editions through at least 1946 continued to be attributed to Griffith and White, with P. W. Sergeant and Maurice Edward Goldstein providing revisions starting with the fourth edition in 1925. In 1939, Reuben Fine, who had won the AVRO tournament the year before, edited 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 seventh through thirteenth editions, assuming editorship starting with MCO 8 in 1952. Korn was assisted on certain editions by Jack Collins, Larry Evans, and Nick de Firmian; Evans and de Firmian have held the U. S. Championship. 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 15 in 2008, was written and edited by de Firmian. Since 1980, there have been other one volume opening encyclopedias to rival MCO: Batsford Chess Openings (BCO) in 1982 and 1989, and Nunn's Chess Openings (NCO) in 1999. John Watson wrote that MCO 13 "really isn't up to modern expectations", but called MCO 14 "a vast improvement over its predecessor No. 13 in almost every respect" and comparable in quality to NCO.

Edition Year Authors Publisher1 1911 R. C. Griffith and J. H. White, with an introduction by H. E. Atkins British Chess Magazine 1913 R. C. Griffith and J. H. White, with an introduction by H. E. Atkins Longmans, Green & Co. 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 Whitehead & Miller5 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 Walter Korn under the editorship of R. C. Griffith and P. W. Sergeant Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons8 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 A. & C. Black13 1990 Walter Korn, revised by Nick de Firmian 14 1999 completely revised by Nick de Firmian David McKay15 2008 completely revised by Nick de Firmian Random House

" the most important single book in world chess literature". – American Chess Correspondent, writing about the tenth edition.