Teach Yourself Visually Chess

I bought this book to improve my empiric-learned game after many years without practice. The book describes at detail the strength and weakness of openings, strategies and game closures. It is an excellent choice for beginners and people not so new in the game, very understandable for 2nd grade kid.

Very good product for beginners and those who have not played in a long time. You really need several books on chess, but this is a GREAT product.

This book is so easy to read, makes the concepts so clear for a beginner, I keep it at my side. Very well written. Every beginner should have it. Annie

'chessguy' nails it -- Jon Edwards is a great teacher because of what he does not write. Leaving aside anything that does not get you up and running as a player with a clear understanding of the game's rules, tactics, and traditional strategies, this book is pure gold and betrays its simplistic visual "series" title. There's far more here than meets the eye. If you work your way through the book with a chessboard in front of you, it will go quickly. As a beginner in 2007, I bought over 50 chess books. However, this book was the most helpful of all of them. If you're buying someone you know who's recently become interested in chess a book, Jon Edwards won't let you down.

Most chess books for beginners are simply awful. It's quite refreshing to see a book like this. High resolution photographs of the board really make a difference. The writing is remarkably clear and free of jargon. Lots of great players unfortunately are ineffective teachers. Not so here. The author has his chess accomplishments, but more important he has taught the game for 30 years. It makes a difference and it shows. What impressed me most is how far the book will take you. There are the usual basics. Some very effective sections on openings, middlegame, and endgame play, including a section on the five steps to victory that you won't find in any other beginner's book on chess. If you casually compare this volume to the other chess books for novices, you'll quickly agree that this is the way to go.