Everyones 2nd Chessbook

This book does give a few good pointers to the beginning player, but is nothing spectacular. There is nothing here that couldn't be figured out by playing a few games of chess -- before you move see if you are hanging a piece, look for the best move, take your time.

In college, I was a fair player - I was playing at expert strength (low 2000's USCF) towards the end of my serious playing days. But, then life happened, and I haven't been able to play much - some occasional games on the internet is all. But too much speed chess has ruined me - my moves are way to superficial, and I just don't think through stuff much anymore. Now I have 2 elemetary school kids, so I taught them the moves, and watched to see if they were interested in playing. I got out my old set, and started going through some of my old books. The kids picked up on what Dad was doing, and started asking me to play - and they started playing each other. I've been trying to teach them some stuff - and have gotten them to know how to mate with Q&R vs. K, and what a back-rank mate is. But the other 'elementary tactics' books I could find were too advanced for them. Couldn't get them to watch their opponents moves, and leave stuff hanging. I came across the author's articles on the internet, and he struck a cord with me - he hit on exactly the problem my kids were having, and had a plan for how to get them to improve. I picked up the book, and I couldn't agree with the author's points more. His description of how kids think right after learning how the pieces moves fit EXACTLY what I saw my kids doing. His description of how to approach their improvement makes perfect sense to me - I now have a plan! If you've taught your kids (or yourself) the basic moves, and don't know what to do next - this book is for you. It doesn't cover the basic rules and piece movements, so you need to get another book for those topics. Then get this book, and be ready to take the next steps. Once you complete this book, then starting in on some elementary tactics books is a great next step. You'll be on your way to some serious chess then!! In the end, I doubt my kids will every be GrandMasters - but they love playing, and learning Dad's "sneaky moves". I'm looking forward to the day when they beat me in a serious game...

I purchased this book as a way to fill the void in any of the fundamental knowledge I may have. I am currently rated in the high 1400's, but felt that I may have missed a few things along the way. While this book didn't really provide any new information to me, it did kind of help me focus of the small things. A more advanced book can sometimes make you feel like you have a huge amount of information to absorb, while taking it in small steps like this book helps you feel as though the task of mastering chess is possible if taken in small doses. So, if you have the basics down, skip this book, if you are tired of stupid OTB errors, then maybe you should try this book out. After you've finished this book, you know that you aren't going to make an error that will cost you a game to a U1200 player. Most embarassing!