Chess for Dummies

Rating:
Summary: Not a good chess book
Review: 362 pages of what!?? I wonder...If you really dont know how to play chess any chess set you buy, like at wal-mart, will have instructions on how to move the pieces. For places to play online I recomend you do a search online and you will find sites like yahoo chess and ICC which are both popular forums. That about takes care of the 362 pages of chess for dummies.

If you are serious about improving your chess there are far better books for beginners. I would recomend books like Winning Chess (volumes) by Seirawan and How to reasses your chess. Trust me, this book will do little more than teach you to move the pieces.

Rating:
Summary: This is the best Chess book.
Review: A few years ago, I took up Chess. I was looking for a book to upgrade my skill level. I browsed for hours if not days in bookstores in the hope of finding a Chess book I could actually read. You will note that Chess books are written in a strange cryptic language that make the Greek used in PhD level math look like kindergarden blocks by comparison. Finally, after a lot of research I came accross Chess for Dummies.

This is the Chess book you can actually understand, and quickly learn from. You improve your skills by learning a key set of strategies that apply at all levels of the game. Unlike other books, you don't need to memorize the 100 most famous Russian Chess matches before you can play descent Chess.

This book took me as far as I cared to go. I found myself playing descent Chess in rather competitive environments such as the most advanced rooms of online Chess websites, and playing blitzkrieg Chess in public plazas reserved almost exclusively for Chess geeks.

I have since quit Chess. But, I am sure I will pick up the game again. When I do, I will certainly review the Chess for Dummies.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: A superb book for both the beginning and intermediate player. One of the few chess books on the market that is actually enjoyable to read. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Very good introduction and more...
Review: After completing another introductory chess book I started to read chess for dummies and find it very explanatory. I especially like the fact that the reader is presented the essential chess terms one by one

Rating:
Summary: Finally!
Review: Finally, a good chess book for true beginners! This book really helped me out a lot. It's one of the only books I could find that didn't assume that one already knows notation. In fact, notation isn't even used. It's touched upon, and Eade encourages the reader to learn it, but he concentrates more on terms and openings and basic strategy, rather than scaring away someone new to chess by forcing them to learn notation immediately. I even got my friend to read it. She'd never played chess before and found it quite easy to read. It's a great book for beginners 18 and up. I'd definitely recommend it for chess players trying to get a spouse or friend involved in this exciting sport.

Rating:
Summary: aka "How to Play a Respectable Game as a Beginner"
Review: I found this book very enjoyable to read and still get a good, basic understanding of the game. It doesn't get bogged down in a lot of detailed analysis but gives a good background in the strategies and tactics of the game. It not only improved my game but has given me a better understanding in studying the games of the masters.

Rating:
Summary: A Well Written Book With Limited Information On Chess
Review: I had not picked up a chess piece for more than ten (10) years so I was looking forward to reading this book as a "refresher course" in chess. I WAS VERY DISAPPOINTED.

While a very well written book (a rarity in chess literature) the information is confusingly presented and not nearly has helpful as "The Idiot's Complete Guide To Chess."

My wife is a complete novice and she began reading this work so we could play chess together. She became so confused that she gave up reading this text in frustration. Therefore, I warn chess beginners that this book may not be the expected panacea.

This work does have an excellant discussion of chess terms and a history of the top chess players with a list of these players best games.

My apologies to you people who loved this book, but unfortunately I was very underwhelmed by this work.

Rating:
Summary: Idiots and Dummies have been bested in beginners manuals
Review: I was a below average player at best and I went out searching for a guide that could do much more for me than just start me off but could lead me down the path to understand the complicated chess literature. Being an avid reader and wanting to understand the game, I went through both of these books before I picked up the Best beginners guide around, "Alpha Teach Yourself Chess (in 24 hours)". Polgar, Truong and Horvitz put together the best introductory book you can find for the game of chess.

If you've never played, or if you just started and want to learn a little more this is the best book on the market.

The only questionable part of the book is the pro-Polgar twist it throws into some of the lessons, but the bright side to this is the ability to attract more female players to the game of chess.

Rating:
Summary: Very good introduction and more...
Review: I'm big a fan of the For Dummies series (I own 6 books from the series.) My favorite is the one written by Eric Tyson on Personal Finances. That book changed my life! I went from a financial illiterate in 1997 to the president of an investment company (that I founded) in 2002. Although I don't agree with everything Eric Tyson suggested in the book, that was a well written and entertaining book.

This book, by James Eade (who may be a great chess player), is average, at best. I got the book from Amazon 3 days ago and read it from cover to cover in 3 days. I went from a beginner who knew most of the rules of chess to a beginner who knows most of the rules of chess and a few names of opening moves. I'm no better now than I was 3 days ago. There is very little about how to win (which is the goal of most who play chess I think). Maybe I just expected too much after my first few For Dummies books. The section on online chess and resources is way out of date since this book was probably written in the mid to late 90s before the big internet boom

So if you know almost nothing about chess. This is may the book for you. But if you do know something about chess and its rules, this book probably won't change your life or your game.

Rating:
Summary: It's really for dummies
Review: I'm big a fan of the For Dummies series (I own 6 books from the series.) My favorite is the one written by Eric Tyson on Personal Finances. That book changed my life! I went from a financial illiterate in 1997 to the president of an investment company (that I founded) in 2002. Although I don't agree with everything Eric Tyson suggested in the book, that was a well written and entertaining book.

This book, by James Eade (who may be a great chess player), is average, at best. I got the book from Amazon 3 days ago and read it from cover to cover in 3 days. I went from a beginner who knew most of the rules of chess to a beginner who knows most of the rules of chess and a few names of opening moves. I'm no better now than I was 3 days ago. There is very little about how to win (which is the goal of most who play chess I think). Maybe I just expected too much after my first few For Dummies books. The section on online chess and resources is way out of date since this book was probably written in the mid to late 90s before the big internet boom

So if you know almost nothing about chess. This is may the book for you. But if you do know something about chess and its rules, this book probably won't change your life or your game.