Customer Reviews

The Chess Kid's Book of Tactics

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

This is a very, very basic book on tactics. It is just ok for someone that has just learned how the pieces have moved.
I found that there was not enough examples of problems to make this book worth while. There explanations are not very good and not as clear as my other two chess books on tactics and traps in the opening (they all had a lot more material too). I felt that the diagrams were much bigger than they needed to be and that a lot of space was wasted on the pages. I have looked at the McKay Chess Library for Kids and they don't seem to have anything beyond super beginner stuff that is the same style.

I got this book for my Birthday and must say it does not even begin to compare to my Serawan Tactics book. It does not have enough examples and it doesn't do much to tell you what is going on with what it does have. I like books that tell you move by move what is going on, where mistakes are made on both sides. Often a series of moves are given and you don't know where the other person went wrong because it doesn't tell you.
My two star ranking is generous - probably 1.5 if they allowed it.

This book is lame in my opinion because,
Number One - I found some mistakes in it that no writter or publisher should miss,
Number two - There isn't enough actual stuff in it. It will take someone in my grade who has learned to play no time to go through it and be bored stiff if he has been playing chess in the club at there school.
Number three - Overgrown sizes of diagrams just take up space. This book look like the company that published it got the material and had to make it BIG to make it into a book instead of a booklet.
Number four - Judge this book by its cover and you will not want it! I gave it away to a friend so I can beat him. Maybe not so nice, but this book actually teaches you some incorrect stuff!!! My other book by the David MaKay Library by another writer was very good, just not this one. So don't judge a book by its publisher, but by its author is my advice.

I found that between the lack of proper explanation, poor organization and mistakes in this book it should never have been written. A good book on Tactics: Art of Attack in Chess (just fantastic) for more advanced players and 1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations for mid range, and Winning Chess Tactics for Juniors by Hays for kids.

There is a reason why this book doesn't have very good reviews. After reading the first part of it I found it was not well organzied, had some big mistakes and didn't tell anything what was going on with the games it has. It shows a lot of games where it only takes you up to the tactic where you must solve it but does not tell you where the other person went wrong (the other books give a queston mark "?" to tell you where) and what was correct. You want to know where the mistakes were made and what should have been done- then what to do to take advantage of the mistakes.
There should be some strong knowledge of chess before a book should be wrote.

I have spend over a week using this book. I think this is an honest review. I can understand why it has two stars by others. The author has probably tried his best but the problem is that there are better tactics books and I own a couple. One is the Reinfeld book, 1001 Winning sacrifics and combinations and the other is Seraswans book on tactics. They have more things and tell me better why they work.
I do chess class after school in New York City and have heard good things about the author of this book. He is not my chess teacher but am sure he would do good as my teacher in person. So you might still want to buy this book because my ranking by stars is only due to other better books like it but the book is ok.

I was looking for some thing that would teach me tactics in openings or when I would be at any point of the game. I was very, very disapointed when I found this book didn't explain things very well.
Well here I go, one,two, three (I hope you give me a good review for being telling you as a 5th grader about writting a review because I am doing this review because I am in a summer scool class),
Number One Thing:
It does not tell almost every time were the person who made a mistake made it. I want this so I will not make the same mistake.
Number Two Thing:
I ran out of things to learn much. I wanted to see more stuff and things. The book is SKIPPY. It doesn't expain WHY!!!!
I want a book that TEACHES ME TACTICS, ESPECIALLY WHEN I START A GAME IN THE OPENINGS WHERE TRAPS ARE USED.

Most of the games do not show where the mistakes were made and all of the games do not have notes to them to tell what is happening. If a move is bad it should have a question mark and tell you what was correct. I wanted a book that would explain things to me.

This is the worst tactics book I have seen. The games have little to tell you where mistakes were made that lead up to taking advantage of them. The games have few comments period.
There is not enough material in the book to make it serious to learn from.
So what books I recomend to study tactics? They are WINNING CHESS TACTICS FOR JUNIORS by Hays, WINNING CHESS TOURNAMENTS FOR JUNIORS and THE ART OF THE CHECKMATE. Look into these three books and then make a decision.

Wow! The other reviews have dumped on this book. I can see some of their points. Maybe this book doesn't match Seirawan's Tactics book or some of the other books in the McKay Chess Library for kids, but it is fairly good.
The author provides a wide range of good examples of tactical problems for young kids to work on. They are provided in a simple format that is not difficult to go over. Whereas, I read complaints on the "oversized" diagrams and lack of use of space, I might consider this a plus for small children who simply do not want a "cramped book". I think the fellow did a fine job and this book is worthy of consideration. Also consider getting the other book in the McKay Series, "Chess For Juniors" which would be a fine companion to this book.