Starting Chess

I began reading this book to my son when he was four. We started with the basics of how to set up the board and how the pieces move. Starting Chess helped peak my son's interest and learning in the game. He has now progressed to thinking about strategy and combinations as a result of Harriet Castor's excellent method for conveying the fundamentals found in book.As an Usborne book, I knew this would probably be a great tool to teach the game since the company designs interactive reading to compete with television and video games. The puzzles and great graphics throughout helped to stimulate my son's (and now my younger daughter's) interest. They are both really enjoying the game, and we play often.Highly recommended!PS "Chess For Children" by Ted Nottingham is an excellent follow on book to continue developing young kid's passion for Chess.

I began reading this book to my son when he was four. We started with the basics of how to set up the board and how the pieces move. Starting Chess helped peak my son's interest and learning in the game. He has now progressed to thinking about strategy and combinations as a result of Harriet Castor's excellent method for conveying the fundamentals found in book.As an Usborne book, I knew this would probably be a great tool to teach the game since the company designs interactive reading to compete with television and video games. The puzzles and great graphics throughout helped to stimulate my son's (and now my younger daughter's) interest. They are both really enjoying the game, and we play often.Highly recommended...

I began reading this book to my son when he was four. We began with the basics of how to set up the board and how the pieces move. Starting Chess helped peak my son's interest and learning in the game. He has now progressed to thinking about strategy and combinations as a result of Harriet Castor's excellent method for conveying the fundamentals found in book.As an Usborne book, I knew this would probably be a great tool to teach the game since the company designs interactive reading to compete with television and video games. The puzzles and great graphics throughout helped to stimulate my son's (and now my younger daughter's) interest. They are both really enjoying the game, and we play often.Highly recommended!PS "Chess For Children" by Ted Nottingham is an excellent follow on book to continue developing young kid's passion for Chess.

I've been reading this book to two kids in the family, ages 7 and 9, and they love it. Also we have a 3-year-old who likes the pictures and has slept with this book under his arm--what other endorsement do you need?The drawings are fun, with lots of animated characters. Chess notation is described but not required for learning the moves (drawings are shown instead). The book covers all the basics for each piece, discusses exchanges (and points per piece), special moves (castling, en passant), opening moves and tricks, and endgames. Plus there's some chess history and simple puzzles. High recommended.

Originally found this in the library. I knew some chess, but wanted to get back to the basics. The color art and thinness of the book (not a lot of long explanations to bog me down) attracted me to it, and I got quite a lot out of the simple, to-the-point concepts and explanations. I am now referring it to a friend of mine who is visually-impaired and wants to learn chess. The large print is good for his reading, and the simple explanations help him to understand chess without drowning in complicated teaching.