How to Beat Your Dad at Chess

Do you know how to mate? You can now get actual experience in the most important basic positions. This book will test you and teach you new positions you probably didn't know about before. Without knowing these patterns you will miss many important opportunities in your game. HOW TO BEAT YOUR DAD AT CHESS has 50 of the most important patterns. By looking at the title and cover it may at first appear to be just a book for kids, but it is for all ages (though not for a beginner). [...]The cover may look silly, and the title may not really tell you what the book is all about, but it is well organized and should be a fine addition to additional books on other parts of tactics. I highly recommend this as an important and excellent book for those who are intermediate skilled chess players.

I started off with CHESS FOR JUNIORS (my third book was UNBEATABLE CHESS LESSONS FOR JUNIORS) as my first chess book (excellent first book) dove right into HOW TO BEAT YOUR DAD AT CHESS. I really found the checkmating patterns to be well organized - a great tactical workbook! I wouldn't hesitate to get all three of the first books I read. I have moved on to others, and come right back and say - these are the best three books to start off with!!!

This book teaches mating tactics in so many ways!* 50 patterns, 2 pages each* For each pattern, a brief description of the elements which must be present. (This is similar to more advanced checkmate books, but at a very simple level.)* Then, a couple of diagrams with arrows, showing the motion of the key pieces, with the moves written below. Very good for improving visualization, so you might spot the pattern later.* Then another similar pattern, with 2 diagrams.* Then a couple of positions for you to work out yourself, with solutions directly underneath.* And finally, near the back of the book, a set of a few dozen positions. They include theme numbers for you to use as hints if necessary. Solutions are separate. This reinforces the learning.These are all attacks on the castled king, not How To Take Advantage of Opening Blunders, or How To Solve Unlikely Chess Positions. These positions can actually occur in your games, even Fischerandom. The attacks are simple, but not obvious. Some are even by the Black pieces!Nice hardcover for a thin book. Large diagrams. Feels great in your hands. Very well-designed.Excellent book for someone rated between 1200 and 1500. I keep it in the bathroom. (I use different chess books in different ways. I take tactics puzzles to the gym. I always keep a chessboard handy for endgame books. I use a miniature set for studying openings. And I follow along with game anthologies by using a computer database and watching the computer analysis. And I am improving rapidly.)Do one theme (two pages) per day. In two months you'll have actually finished an entire chessbook, and you'll miss it! You will find yourself improving your own defenses because you'll know what to look out for. One of the few chess books you'll actually read cover to cover, and it's cheap for a hardcover.

I found the title to be an unfortunate choice; it makes the book look like a kids book. Kids will benefit, but so will anyone with a USCF rating below ~1500. This is not a book about how to move the pieces. It doesn't outline basic strategy such as controlling the center, developing your pieces, or castling early. Instead, almost the entire book is devoted to "The 50 Deadly Checkmating Patterns." These range from the simple back-rank mate to four variations of the Greek gift sacrifice to methods of salvaging a "Petrosian draw" in the endgame. Chandler argues that these are common themes, and that by working through the well-diagramed, two-page-per-example sections, we will notice these possibilities in our play. He includes a test section at the end to how well the material has sunk in. The text is easy to read with clear, well-anotated diagrams (the key move is indicated by an arrow as well as the text), and the hardcover version withstands abuse in your gear bag. This is a superb book to glance at while you're waiting for the tournament to start.