Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess

If you don't know the ABCs of chess, this book is for you. If you are looking for openings, gambits and traps - they are not present in this book. As someone has already noted - Its filled with a basic puzzles.

This gives page after page of diagrams where you determine if checkmate is avoidable, etc. Lazy book written by chess masters wanting to make money off Fischer's name. I was expecting game development, etc.

I'm ordering about six more copies right now so I do not run out when a friend or family member decides to learn chess. This book is the easiest way to learn the game beyond just knowing the rules. After this book a beginner can beat all other beginners who have not read the book because it teaches a little strategy. You geeks who don't understand why it sells so well should pick up a business or marketing book between your chess tournaments. It is not whose name is on the cover - this book targets the beginners only - that's over 99% of the population who have ever thought about playing chess. And people like me recommend it to every single beginner we know because it is so effective. The best part about the teaching is that it is taught so effortlessly. You feel like you're simply solving puzzles - easy puzzles - you barely notice that the puzzles are geting harder and harder and you are getting more advanced. I wish this method were used more often for other subjects! Ignore the bad reviews. They are from advanced players who have no interest in how mildly interested beginners adopt new skills. Beginners, do not give up on chess until you've tried this book.

Wow, so many reviews bashing this book for promising the moon and the stars and then not delivering! It's not a bad book! If you are brand new to chess, want to learn to play relatively quickly, without getting bogged down with the more advanced stuff, and want something you can pick up and put down for short periods of time, this is a good book for you. You will learn the rules of the game and the basics of winning the game (checkmate, not long term strategy). It's pretty engaging because it doesn't spend a lot of time on explanations, instead most of its space is devoted to puzzles. Each page has a short one-move puzzle, with the answer on the next page. It's a pretty quick 'read', and it's pretty basic, probably anyone over 1300 should look for something more advanced. I'm a little amused at all of the gripes: "It wasn't written by Bobby Fischer." - OK, fine, but that doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. Many books supposedly by experts were really ghostwritten, doesn't make them worthless. And knowing Bobby's anti-social nature, I suspect he wouldn't be the greatest teacher himself, anyway ;) "It doesn't teach chess." Sure it does. No, it doesn't teach *all* aspects of chess, but it does teach chess! It teaches everything you need to know to complete an entire game. "Not enough written text." This is more of a learn-by-doing kind of book. "Other books are better." Yep, there's lots of great books out there. This one has some good stuff in it, too.

This was the most influential book I read when learning chess 20 years ago. Since then, I have not found any book which has boiled down the goal of the game in such concise language and diagrams. I always recommend this book to those learning chess or desiring to become better players. It presents the fundamental objective: checkmate; and builds upon simple examples throughout the book until the end where the board situations become quite complex. Also, Bobby Fischer uses an innovative teaching method which presents the questions and solutions only on odd pages, so that when you get to the end of the book, you flip it over and read toward the front. This makes a person's progress through the book much faster and encouraging. Its an ideal method of teaching for young (and old) students of the game.