Chess For Dummies

My wife bought this in hopes of sharing my own chess hobby. Instead, it probably kept her from ever wanting to touch a chess piece. No way does a beginner need an almost 400-page book. Better to buy something more digestible and then get another book if the chess fever sustains. In keeping with the "Dummies" title, this book truly does talk down to its readers; Chapter 9 is titled "Special Moves (The Ones That Start All the Arguments)" when all it contains are the rather unsensational en passant (at which point FM Eade further offends when he suggests your opponent will accuse you of playing by French rules), promotion, and castling. And, as many other reviewers have already (and accurately) pointed out, the progression of the book's actual contents is illogical. Possibly the best example is that "Chess Notation" is not covered until Chapter 17! (several chapters \*after\* the one on Endgame) That is criminal. And another: the chapter on Strategy ("The Principles of Play") comes two chapters after the one on Mating. Did the chapters get switched prior to publication? Indeed, a cursory examination found at least two instances where the author advises his readers to "jump ahead" to find relevant advice. Why not simply present the information in the right order to begin with? More problems to come. The diagrams are confusing with arrows galore and not-quite-ghosted-enough icons. There are even TWO Tables of Contents. (Both TOCs evidence pagination errors for Appendix B and the Index.) Actually, this is symptomatic of the macro problem with this book: too many words, too many pages, and ultimately, too much confusion. Appendix B (International Chess Notation) was interesting, but has no bearing on a novice player in the USA these days, and hardly saves the rest of the book. If you were to cut out the unnecessary chaff and reorganize the helpful content, there is probably more than one star in this book. But to the extent that it is sold as a book for beginners ("The Fun and Easy Way to Play Chess--and Win!"), it is quite dangerous, as it succeeds only in turning off many would-be chess enthusiasts. [This review is based on the first edition (1996).] P.S. The book my wife should have bought, and the one that virtually all of the dissatisfied purchasers of the Dummies one should look for, is: Learn Chess by British GM John Nunn. That assumes the person wanting to learn chess is an adult. For children, I would recommend: Chess for Children and/or How to Play Chess Like an Animal Chess FOR DUMMIES® 2ND EDITION 4 Contents at a Glance 12 Table of Contents 14 Introduction 22 Part I Laying the Groundwork 28 Chapter 1 Tackling the Chess Basics 30 Chesstacular! The Basics of the Game 30 Chessboard Chatter: Bringing Home a Board and Chess Set 33 Piecemeal: Putting the Pieces on the Board 39 Chapter 2 Greeting the Pieces and Their Powers 44 Mimicking a Castle: The Rook 45 Showing Off Slender Curves: The Bishop 47 Flaunting Her Pointy Crown: The Queen 51 Donning a Buggy Crown: The King 52 Galloping in an L-Formation: The Knight 54 Scooting Around as the Army’s Runt: The Pawn 56 Chapter 3 Getting to Know the Elements of Chess 62 Hogging the Board: Space 62 Getting the Most Bang for Your Buck: Material 67 Positioning Men in Good Time: Development 69 Protecting the Head Honcho: King Safety 73 Working Your Pawn Structure 75 Chapter 4 Looking Out for the King: Check, Stalemate, and Checkmate 84 Check ’Em Out: Attacking the Enemy King 84 Stuck in a Rut: Stalemate 86 No Escape for Ye King: Checkmate 87 Part II Gaining Chess Know-How 100 Chapter 5 Tactics and Combinations in Hand-to-Hand Combat 102 Knowing Your Tactical Game Plan 102 Combining Moves to Speed Your Progress 117 Chapter 6 Sacrifices: When It’s Better to Give than to Receive 130 Sacrificing for an Edge in Development: The Gambit 131 Giving Up a Bishop 133 Immediate Gratification: The Temporary Sacrifice 136 A Strategic Move for the Patient: The Permanent Sacrifice 138 Chapter 7 Mastering Mating Patterns 142 Beware the Unprotected Back Rank: Back Rank Mates 145 Pair the Heavy and the Light: Queen and Pawn Mates 146 Mount Her Royal Highness: Queen and Knight Mates 150 Create a Steamroller with the Bishop and Rook 155 Chapter 8 Building Pattern Recognition 158 Analyzing Chess Positions and Looking Ahead 159 Picking Up on Pawn Formations 160 Eyeing the Endgame Patterns 168 Chapter 9 Recognizing Pawn Formations 176 Exploring the Powers of Pawn Formations 176 Getting the Bishop Involved: The Fianchetto 179 Varying the Sicilian: The Dragon 181 Exercising Your Pawns’ Flexibility: The Scheveningen 182 Building the Stonewall 184 Creating a Megafortress at the Center: The Double Stonewall 185 Matching Color to Center Squares: The Closed English 187 Winging It with the Nimzo-Botvinnik 188 Chapter 10 Making Special Moves 190 Capturing a Pawn at Your Side: En Passant 190 Boosting Your Pawns’ Powers: Promotion Time 192 Guarding Your King and Putting a Rook in Motion: Castling 193 Part III Game Time: Putting Your Chess Foot Forward 198 Chapter 11 Selecting Your Strategy: The Principles of Play 200 Aiming for the Center 201 Exchanging Pieces 206 Doing More with Less: The Minority Attack 207 Controlling Key Squares to Lock Up an Advantage 209 Holding Back the Pawns: The Blockade 212 Chapter 12 Coming on Strong in the Opening 214 Developing Your Pieces 215 Attacking Your Opponent’s Pieces 216 Getting Ahead with Your Opening Moves 217 Exploring Common Opening Moves 221 Chapter 13 Making Headway during the Middlegame 236 When You Reach the Middlegame . . . 236 Formulating a Middlegame Plan 237 Attacking during the Middlegame 243 Chapter 14 Exiting with Style in the Endgame 246 Putting the Endgame into Perspective 246 The General Winning Endgame Strategy 247 Pawn and King Endings 248 Rook Endings: The Oh-So-Common Tricksters 258 Bishops and Knights: Minor Piece Endings 259 Part IV Getting Into Advanced Action 264 Chapter 15 Competition Play and Necessary Etiquette 266 Practice Makes Perfect: Joining a Club First 266 U.S. Tournament Basics 267 Tournament Chess around the World 271 Going Long Distance: Correspondence Chess 271 Miss (or Mister) Manners: Tournament Etiquette 272 Chapter 16 Hitting the Net with Computer Chess 278 Computers versus Humans 278 Chess-Playing Computer Programs 280 Chess Databases 281 Electronic Chess Instruction 281 Playing Chess Online 282 Chapter 17 Got Notation? Reading and Writing about Chess 284 Keeping Track of the Pieces As with each square for a chessboard, each chess piece 285 Writing the Moves of a Game 285 Accounting for Ambiguities (Which Knight, for Pete’s Sake?) 291 Commenting on a Game after the Fact 293 Reading Newspaper Diagrams 293 Part V The Part of Tens 296 Chapter 18 The Ten Most Famous Chess Games 298 Understanding the Games 298 Adolf Anderssen versus Lionel Kieseritzky: The Immortal Game 299 Adolf Anderssen versus J. Dufresne: The Evergreen Game 302 Paul Morphy versus Duke Karl of Braunschweig and Count Isouard 304 Wilhelm Steinitz versus Kurt Von Bardeleben 306 Georg Rotlewi versus Akiba Rubinstein 309 Stepan Levitsky versus Frank Marshall 311 Emanuel Lasker versus José Raúl Capablanca 313 Donald Byrne versus Robert J. Fischer 315 Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov 318 Garry Kasparov versus The World 320 Chapter 19 The Ten Best Players of All Time 326 Kasparov, Garry (1963–), Russia 326 Capablanca, José Raúl (1888–1942), Cuba 327 Fischer, Robert James (1943–), United States 327 Karpov, Anatoly (1951–), Russia 328 Morphy, Paul (1837–84), United States 328 Lasker, Emanuel (1868–1941), Germany 328 Steinitz, Wilhelm (1836–1900), Austria 329 Alekhine, Alexander (1892–1946), Russia 329 Botvinnik, Mikhail (1911–95), Russia 330 Tal, Mikhail (1936–92), Latvia 330 Honorable Mentions 331 The Strongest Players Never to Be World Champion 331 Part VI Appendixes 334 Appendix A A Glossary of Chess 336 Appendix B Other Chess Resources 362 Beginner’s Chess Books 362 Chess Equipment 363 Informative Internet Resources 364 U.S. Places, People to See, and Games of Interest 364 Index 366

proven Tactical Tips To Strengthen Your Game

Your Quick And Easy Guide To The Rules, Strategies, And Etiquette Of Chess

Kings, Queens, Knights - Does Chess Seem Like A Royal Pain To Grasp? This Friendly Guide Helps You Make The Right Moves. From Using The Correct Terms To Engaging In The Art Of Attack, You'll Get Step-by-step Explanations That Demystify The Game. You'll Also Find Updated Information On Tournaments And Top Players, As Well As Computer Chess Games And Playing Chess Online!

Discover How To:

• set Up Your Chessboard
• understand The Pieces And Their Powers
• recognize The Game's Patterns
• decipher Chess Notation
• employ Tactics To Gain An Advantage
• find Tournaments And Clubs

Schach besteht aus mehr als den einfachen Regeln, wie eine Figur ziehen darf. Es ist von Taktik, Finten, Phantasie und Strategien geprAgt. Um dieses Spiel, das manche als Kunst, andere als Wissenschaft sehen, ranken sich Mythen und es erschuf seine eigenen Helden. Der Autor James Eade bedient die ganze Bandbreite an BedUrfnissen, die ein AnfAnger hat. Neben den Grundregeln erhAlt der Leser eine Anleitung zur erfolgreichen Gestaltung der verschiedenen Spielphasen: der ErOffnung, des Mittel- und Endspiels. Computer- und Turnierschach kommen auch nicht zu kurz. Die Magie des Spiels zeigt er anhand der legendArsten Partien und berUhmtesten Spieler auf. Alles in allem das Rundum-WohlfUhl-Paket fUr SchachanfAnger. Chess for dummies / Шахматы для чайников КНИГИ ; ХОББИ и РАЗВЛЕЧЕНИЯ Название: Chess for dummies / Шахматы для чайников Автор: James Eade Издательство: Wiley publishing Год: 2005 Язык: английский Страниц: 366 Формат: pdf Размер: 11,5Mb Описание книги:Джеймс Eade начал играть в шахматы серьезно в 1972, когда Bobby Fischer брал шахматный мир штормом. Он конкурировал в своем колледже и в университетских группах и стал членом Шахматной Федерацией Соединенных Штатов (USCF) грастмейстером в 1981. В 1984 он становился грастмейстером USCF скачать с .com зеркало uploading.com 85 1 2 3 4 5