Abc's of Chess

This was my very first chess book I checked out at a library several years back, and had the most enlightening impact on my game. All the credit goes to this book exclusively and I can't emphasize enough how damn good this book is. It is absolutely indispensable in scope and comprehension. Highly recommended to beginning chess players who at least know how to play the game or have a basic grasp on how to play chess.Bruce Pandolfini takes you through many different games,(it is best to get a chess board and dedicate a 30 minutes to an hour a day 3 days a week going through the motions. Better to use a real chess board than an online program to really get the feel for how the moves and tactics interact with each other. Online programs are good practice, but nothing beats using a genuine chess set when first starting out and upping your game to new levels.There is a section on the tenets or general rules to go by, another section on what the tactics are called with examples. There is also asection on highly recommended books by Bruce to advance your game from beginning to advance and what steps you can take to reach chess mastery. This is not a childrens book, but a well put together set of tactics and strategical gameplay. Even great chess players that I have know had good things to say about this book.Despite the title being called "The ABC's of Chess" this book gives you a crash course in chess concept from A-Z and will really open your eyes for the game. It is very easy to read and by the time you read through and go through the game motions illustrated in the book your chess game will open up to greater heights. Very highly recommended to people just starting out or even to people that have played chess for just a few years, but never really knew anything more than sacrificing pieces just to win games.If you get ONLY one book on beginning chess books get this one, and hide it from your friends while you crush them assuming they haven't gotten a hold of the same book or are a chessmaster.This is the only chess book that really is worth it's weight in gold and in spite of the title(throwing you off thinking it's a children's book on chess)I assure you it is NOT! It is the book that will get you on the road to conquering the chess board and having your friends pull their hair out wondering how you know what you know when you get them in pins, forks, skewers, and undermining them(all tactics thoroughly explained in the book)As I said I give it a 5 star rating!

This a nice little book that covers a lot of ground in bite sized chapters. I think that is important so that the reader doesn't get discouraged or bored. The chapters are based on his column at the time for Chess Life. This book favors being "wordy" over lots annotations which I think suits club players getting better. Why do books for 1200-1400s have to be written like they are NIC monographs?Chapters on tactics, strategy, minor piece play and the book even considers the fundamentals of closed games. Its a fun read since you can jump around and learn what interests you that day (or figure out why you lost that day.) This book isn't complete but it will give you the tools to not only get better but also figure out what questions to ask next!

While probably a little too advanced for the absolute beginner, this book contains lots of useful nuggets of practical chess instruction for the more "experienced" novice thru intermediate chess player. For the absolute beginner, more appropriate would be "Lets Play Chess" and "Pandolfini's Ultimate Guide to Chess", both by Bruce Pandolfini. Once the material in those are learned, then you should be ready to tackle this very instructive book.

My title speaks for itself

I thought the book would be easier to read.

Not one of Pandolfini's good books. The information given is mostly brief and too basic.

ABC was written over 30 years ago. It was an incredible book for its day. Now there are far superior books by Pandolfini himself and other authors. Why 4 stars because when I received this book as Birthday present 32 years ago it was the best overall general chess book of its day. Purchase one pandolfini's other books

The ABC's huh......real nice. This book advertises that it is for players of all levels. That is 100% false. I know all the pieces...know all their moves, understand check and checkmate. In other words...I can play the game. Let's call that beginners level 1. So, I buy this book so I can learn some strategies. The book starts out using the new algebraic notation to describe moves and nowhere in the book does it explain what it means. Not even an appendix. The book is totally useless to me. Thanks Bruce....you got my money.

The diagrams in the book are so small and blurry and of poor print quality that you sometimes have problems recognizing the figures. This makes the book unusable. Unfortunately.