Chess (Teach Yourself)

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Summary: A BEGINNER'S SELF-HELP
Review: For the very beginner, the arrangement of the contents of this book may seem haphazard, but its narratives are smooth-flowing.
Every introductory detail concerning the chess board and the chess pieces were included. The self-help outlook of this book ensured that its pages provided enough directives on how a chess beginner can develop space, coordinate his/her pieces, and plot strategies.
Overall, reading this book is a fine beginning step. Its lectures on how to utilize board space and pieces are commendable. I like the way it introduced popular gambits like 'Giocco Piano' and 'Sicilian Defence', although that it did not offer much on how to deploy and coordinate pawns as a territory conquering force.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best chess books available for amateurs
Review: I believe this small but detailed book serves as an excellent introduction to the game of chess. I only knew the basics of the game and had been playing every now and then before starting to read this book. The most important element -in my own subjective opinion- of this book is that it tells you exactly what you need to know at each stage of your preparation and nothing more. It is brief but extremely concise, and illustrative examples and exercises are presented at the end of each chapter.

Chapters are arranged as follows: Rules of the game, Elementary endgames, Elementary tactics, Principles of opening play, Endgame strategy, Strategic planning, Basic opening theory, Illustrative games, and finally, Chess problems, studies & fantasy in chess compositions.

My feeling is that if you go through this book carefully and pay attention to quality, at the end of it you will have definitely gained many important skills. At least this is what I am trying to do at the moment, since I have not finished reading this book. The language used by the author is excellent for beginners and amateurs in general.

My sincere thanks to the author for this excellent piece of work. Fully recommended for all amateurs and beginners.

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Summary: My views on Bill Hartstons very well done chess book
Review: I recommend this text for both total beginners (those who do not even know the rules) as well as those just play against friends and family and want to learn how to beat them with impunity or move up to play club players or computers.

The book has sections on tactics, strategy, endgames, and openings. None of these sections presents more than the beginner needs to know -- for example, the endgame section covers the rook and king vs. king endgame which every good chess player must learn to convert but leaves to later books rarer and more difficult endgames which would hardly do a novice any good.

An excellent feature is the section on illustrative games -- these cover many of the "classic" games in chess history. The authors taste in these seems to run toward the daring and romantic, but that's fine -- a novice can get more out of dashing games than complex positional struggles, and romantic games are fun to play out as well.

Rating:
Summary: My views on Bill Hartstons very well done chess book
Review: I totally agree with the way that Bill Hartston starts off with endgame technique, since this phase is extreamely important. Its like soccer youve brought the ball right into the oppositions penialty area you know youre in a solid pace to shoot, however youre not sure weather to attempt to pass it; or to go straight for the smash. You hesitate, next second the ball gets sweepted away form you.

This is very similar to chess endgames one mistake can turn the game against you. This is why its important to fine tune technique. The same goes with Maths, once you enjoy anything you can make remarkable progress.

I have throughly enjoyed this book, it seemed to have just the right balance of everything. Just in case youre wondering My name is Alexander Singer, Im 14 years old and goto Burnside High School.

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Summary: Excellent teaching book for the total chess beginner!
Review: TEACH YOURSELF CHESS (c.1996) by Bill Hartston, is a great book for the absolute beginner in chess for its ability to answer questions, and in its facility to instill a curiosity to further pursue the game!

The author immediately brought the novice up through the ranks, step-by-step, with simple direct language, which avoided confusion and dispair. From a good description of all the moves of each individual chess piece; to a prudent explanation of the need to know chess notation if you ever plan on improving your game through other books or just to follow a tournament in a newspaper; to an good introduction of the rules; followed with important basic endgames, and elementary tactics; leading up to endgame strategy, strategic planning, then basic opening strategy. Bill Hartston never applied pressure to the beginner to learn more than they should discouraging interest.

The author then did a valuable thing - he included a chapter on illustrative games from Grandmasters in chess and from World Championships. This can only increase an appreciation of the game and to promote a sense of identity and purpose onto the beginner for the pursuit of more chess knowledge.

Still TEACH YOURSELF CHESS was initially a little over my head, and I would recommend SAMURAI CHESS as a primer for its ability to make a comparison with a familiar theme - the martial arts. Only then was I able to draw analogies and absorb basic chess theory with application from Bill Hartstson's work. For example, the chess 'Expert' rating was explained in SAMURAI CHESS to be the equivalent of a Shodan, or, a first degree black belt, which immediately imparted to me a sense of proportion to all the chess ratings and abilities mentioned by Bill Hartstson. (For instance; unless you're a prodigy, it takes 8-10 years of hard work for a black belt in Judo and everything that goes with it, so I assume its the same for chess).

TEACH YOURSELF CHESS is a valuable tool for the autodidatic chess enthusiast which will allow them to apply its knowledge directly to a game of chess; and with its chapter on chess notation and illustrative games, this book allows one to increase their ability in the game. TEACH YOURSELF CHESS by Bill Hartstson is definately a well thought out learning implement for self starters. This is a book to give your son, daughter, young relative, or pal as soon as they show an interest in chess!!