Customer Reviews

Abc's of Chess

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a compilation of his Chess Life columns and it's packed with useful information. Because it is a collection of short articles, it's a wide-ranging, readable discussion of many concepts: open vs. closed games, mating nets, using the right rook, etc. For the beginner to intermediate player, this book is a one-volume reference on playing better chess. Think of it as an excellent "second book" after you know the pieces, moves and notation.

This book is good for beginner to intermediate chess players with emphasis on positional themes. Pandolfini is at his best teaching the endgame and following his endgame advice will help beginners play decent (but not great) endgames without further in depth study. I would recommend this book for the player who is looking to improve without doing too much hard work.

The hallmark of a good teacher is to be able to take an esoteric concept or idea and transform it into an easy to understand, and repeatable, system. Bruce Pandolfini in this book, as well as others, is most successful at this. For a beginning student, this book is a must for the library. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

This volume is a general overview of how to improve one's chess. It is not a primer for total beginners, but rather a compilation of Mr. Pandolfini's fifty best "ABCs of Chess" columns from Chess Life magazine up to 1986, the year this book was published.

To me, the best features of this book are the sections on openings, tactics, handling of the various pieces (i.e., the power each piece exudes), strategy, and a good introductory section on the closed game. I made good use of these principles and I believe that I'm a better player as a result. I'd thank Mr. Pandolfini personally if I could for sharing his knowledge. I can understand why he's America's most respected and perhaps best chess teacher.

But I have to dock this book one star for it's only scratching the surface of the endgame. Only one article from this book was devoted to this arguably most important phase. Mind you, it was just as informative as all the others. Still, even I thought Mr. Pandolfini could have done better here.

Still it's not a bad book. In fact, it's pretty good. I'd recommend it to semi-beginners who have gotten past the how-to-force-mate phase and want a good general overview of what awaits them in their chess studies.

Another good title like this one, that I recommend, is Jose Capablanca's "Chess Fundamentals," which gives a good foundation in studying the endgame. And for folks like Scott Williams, whose review of this book appears in this column: Don't be so negative. If you want to find out what a book is about, read the synopsis. And if you want a really good chess primer, I'd recommend Mr. Pandolfini's "Beginning Chess."

Before criticizing a book by Pandolfini, it's important to understand the intended audience. The majority of his books are meant for people who have played no more than a handful of chess games. That explains the many negative reviews he receives.

In contrast this book, one of Pandolfini's most advanced, is aimed at players around 1350-1450. Consisting of 50 articles culled from his old chess magazine column, it has some very useful explanation and illustration of the sort of strategic ideas that players of this strength seek, with a depth of analysis that is shallow enough for these players to follow without a board. (I'm about 1500, and this book is just a bit too simple for me. By the way, I was about 1200 at the start of the year, so I do know what I'm talking about when I suggest how beginners can improve.)

Personally, I'd skip the early sections. The "Fundamentals" are not fundamental; they're simple pieces of advice you've already heard. The part on "Openings" is somewhat esoteric compared with the rest of the book, although I loved what Pandolfini had to say about the Four Knights Game, that ubiquitous and boring closed game which beginners wander into blindly. And there are far better sources of information on "Tactics" than what you'll find here.

The true value of the book begins with the section on positional ideas. This is worth studying. Then continue to the end, through the sections on middlegame strategic concepts, endgame themes, and planning.

As for prerequisites, you'll need to be fairly adept at tactics and possess strategic knowledge at the level of Chernev's Logical Chess Move by Move.

It is evidently difficult to bridge the gap between simple aphorisms for beginners and the complex positional understanding of veteran club players, so I give this book 4 stars for a noteworthy effort.

This book covers the concepts and goals of chess play. It does require good visualization skills (the ability to envision what a board will look like after a series of moves) but that's a requirement for chess players, anyway.

This book is sufficient to teach chess to a beginner. But why did the same author write the Ultimate Guide to Chess and keeps on writing more books that are supposed to do the same stuff? Probably retiteling them and slightly changing the format will get more books done and out there to make you more bucks! Smart guy when you run out of things to say.
As I said this book is sufficient to introduce you, but look at other books too.

A collection of articles based on Pandolfini's Chess Life columns in the 1980's. Covers wide range of topics from how to play open/closed games, mating patterns, 64 tips to improve, etc. Most useful to brush up on themes you may have forgotten, but doesnt give any real in-depth instruction in any one phase of the game.

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!

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