Complete Chess Course

Rating:
Summary: great, great, great!
Review: An outstanding book for beginners as well as advanced chess players. The book takes the player from beginner to the advanced stages of chess with outstanding advice on openings,middlegame and endings, all illustrated by master games. There are chapters on how to play the white and black pieces and a host of clear diagrams and easily understood explanations. All of this in a big book of over 600 pages. This book is a classic, without question. Although Reinfeld is criticized for making his books simple I dont find this to be a fault, but a virtue. This book is an excellent example of clear and easy to understand writing. Practice not knowledge makes the master. A GREAT book!

Rating:
Summary: great, great, great!
Review: An outstanding book for beginners as well as advanced chess players. The book takes the player from beginner to the advanced stages of chess with outstanding advice on openings,middlegame and endings, all illustrated by master games. There are chapters on how to play the white and black pieces and a host of clear diagrams and easily understood explanations. All of this in a big book of over 600 pages. This book is a classic, without question. Although Reinfeld is criticized for making his books simple I dont find this to be a fault, but a virtue. This book is an excellent example of clear and easy to understand writing. Practice not knowledge makes the master. A GREAT book!

Rating:
Summary: Good for Beginners and Novices
Review: Over 675 pages, this was the first book i bought a few years ago that got me 'really' interested in chess. The descriptive notation is a bit tedious since this book was published back in the 1950's. However, many openings are addressed, most of which i had never heard of at the time. Some of the past negative reviews here on Amazon about Reinfeld's book are true. I can only assume Reinfeld was trying to cover as much general information as possible, which doesn't lend well to strong intermediate advancement. As a chess player though, i think it is important to know descriptive notation as well as algebraic and you have to start somehwere. I would recommend a used copy at a discount store if you don't feel like paying full price for more up to date books in this category. I haven't looked at the book in quite awhile, but the only real error i remember is Reinfeld's damnation of Philidor's defence (1.e4 e5, 2.Nf3 d6). Perhaps during that era that defence had a bad reputation, but it's definately a sound defence. The Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5, 2.Nf3 Nc6, 3.Bb5) often has Black playing an early d6 hemming in his King's Bishop, so what's so bad about doing the same thing using Philidor's defence? Overall, a decent book, but out of date.

Rating:
Summary: Friendly, Non-Intimidating Introduction To The Game: Fun!!
Review: Reinfeld is (was) one of the most user-friendly authors of introductory chess books. Reinfeld loved the game, explained it in simple and clear terms and made a reader believe he could play better chess too. This is a book for novices and lower-rated players looking for concepts and simple themes. For me this book has nostalgia value only (I'm rated 2150 USCF now) but I'd recommend this book for people who are casual players not looking for serious annotations with riqorous analysis, but do want something instructional that won't be over their heads. As a kid, reading Reinfeld WAS FUN!!

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Places to Start
Review: Reinfeld's book alone brought me from a frustrated 11 yr. old who usually lost to his father, to, 1 1/2 years later, 138 straight games without a loss against him. Regardless of what the gentleman from Atlanta may say (twice!!... he's still reading it). Page 202 has a stunning game I've used on average players when the chance arose more than a few times. I would recommend this book to anyone for the basics of a good game start to finish.

Rating:
Summary: Several out of date books have been rebound into one volume.
Review: The analysis *frequently* leaves out the best moves. Some of the answers to puzzles in the tactical sections are not correct. (I verified this fact with my computer.) At least the principles Reinfeld espouses are useful for the beginner. Most of the individual volumes were originally published in the fifties and the analysis is often out of date. The publishers could have at least corrected the outright mistakes and updated the notation to algebraic. You would be much better off with a new book by Chernev or Pandolfini.

Rating:
Summary: Reprints eight out of date books by Reinfeld.
Review: These eight books from the fifties are full of weak tactical analysis that is inexcusable in today's age of readily available computer chess programs. Furthermore, the book wasn't even updated to algebraic notation. Reinfeld only managed to be one of the most prolific chess authors at the expense of quality and depth. Your money would be better spent on a higher quality (and cheaper!) book by Chernev or Pandolfini. Reinfeld's coverage of the openings is not complete either, as the title would suggest. It isn't even very insightful. Fine's 'Ideas Behind the Chess Openings' would be a better (and again, cheaper) alternative.

Rating:
Summary: This book has been extremely useful.
Review: This book has been very informative and focuses clearly on the fundamentals of sound play. It's very readable, and is written with wit and humor. I've enjoyed every page! That it's not in algebraic notation shouldn't be any sort of a concern at all. Especially useful are the sections on "How to Win when you're Ahead" and The section titled "The Nine Bad Moves". I'd recomend this well-organized book to anyone who's revisiting chess, especially! Reinfeld was probably the most prolific chess author of his time.

Rating:
Summary: CAUTION !
Review: This book may teach you something if you don't even know how the pieces move. I have never seen such a large book with this much "Fluff". Fluff is basic, useless, words and diagrams meant to do nothing but take up space on otherwise blank pages. I purchased this book along with many others while stationed in Nevada as an Army recruiter. I purchased books and awarded them to the top students in our local chess tournaments. The "winner" of this book donated it to the school library after just a few days. After taking a closer look at it I couldn't blame her. This is an overpriced hardcover book.

Rating:
Summary: CAUTION !
Review: This book may teach you something if you don't even know how the pieces move. I have never seen such a large book with this much "Fluff". Fluff is basic, useless, words and diagrams meant to do nothing but take up space on otherwise blank pages. I purchased this book along with many others while stationed in Nevada as an Army recruiter. I purchased books and awarded them to the top students in our local chess tournaments. The "winner" of this book donated it to the school library after just a few days. After taking a closer look at it I couldn't blame her. This is an overpriced hardcover book.