Checkmate!: My First Chess Book

I bought this book for sort of a review after not playing chess for years. This little book is an absolute treasure-and a journey throught the mind of the true genius of the game. It is laid out in style that flows like a river. The layout is short easily read paragraph's that make the major point interespersed wiht beautiful little diagrams that explain the details and examples. The book is only about 90 pages long and more than half of that is diagrams and pictures. This style works beuatifully for maintaning and capturing your attention you can't put it down. Rather remarkable for someone like me who has a short concentration span. Never before has so much been said with so little-the total amount of writing in the whole book would only take up a couple of pages in an ordinary book. Even if you not a beginner or in need of review I couldn't more highly reccomend reading this and take a journey the the fascinating mind and style of a fascinating geius. Garry Kasparov is the only human to repeatedly defeat the worlds most advanced chess computer. The one that repeatedly beat Bobby Fischer, Boris Spaasky among others. I would give this 10 or more stars if the ratings went up that high

For a beginning player, the graphics are well done. Geared to a younger audience, the rules are explained so as to enhance retention. The examples in the back are well known to experienced players, but help the novice to more easily get up to speed. Normally, someone of Kasparov's calibre is too far removed from the beginning level to explain things easily. This isn't the case here. I put this in our middle school library to help budding players get started. I've recommended it to others and will do so again for aspiring chess players.

I found this book great and easy for learning the moves, and also the idea behind the game. Strategy is a little beyond this book but, good learning tool, "you gotta crawl before you walk!"

I have been researching for months to find a good 'starter' book to begin a chess club. I have searched online and made many stops at book stores and even asked many questions. Some of the books out there are excellent, but the cost was a little more than I wanted to spend as I am starting the club for homeschoolers and wanted to do it more as a ministry than a money-making enterprise. To me, a great technician doesn't always translate to a great teacher. No doubt Kasparov was the former, but after reading this book he is definitely the latter as well. I believe it is an excellent book for beginners and even intermediates will find clear and colorful information here. It is also fun to read (a great quality especially for young people). The contents are: 1) the basics 2) the pieces and their moves 3) notation 4) winning and drawing 5) more about the pieces 6) tactical play 7) checkmate 8) opening play 9) endgame play 10) solutions to puzzles 11) glossary For my needs it clearly achieves a 5 star rating. It is an inexpensive way to start a club or even to teach children. Not only that, but I will be teaching my wife tonight using this very book. Thanks Gary!

In my first week of the fourth grade, the teacher announced that everyone in the class was going to learn how to play chess. She believed that it was the best game to be incorporated into an educational scheme and she was right. We all learned and certain times each week were set aside for games of chess. It was a very popular time, as playing any game was preferable to doing other things like spelling and writing practice. I am in complete agreement with this philosophy, firmly believing that everyone should learn to play chess. This book is an excellent way to start, which is what you would expect, given that Kasparov is considered the best chess player ever. He starts with a description of the pieces, how they can move and their power rankings. From this, he sets up the game and explains the basic goal of the game as well as the algebraic notation used to represent the movement of the pieces. Kasparov uses a series of situations to illustrate problems, such as how to force a (stale)mate from a specific orientation. Solutions to these problems are given at the end and many of them are nontrivial. You are really required to think hard before finding the answer to some of them. Basic strategies such as classical openings, defenses, the pin, a skewer and back rank mating options are covered. The illustrations are very high quality and it could have been used as the textbook for my fourth grade class, where I first learned how to play. Adult beginners will also find it an excellent way to learn. Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.