An Invitation to Chess: A Picture Guide to the Royal Game [Paperback]

Kenneth Harkness (Author), Irving Chernev (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 6, 2008

An Invitation to Chess is perhaps the most successful chess book ever written, with sales of over 100,000. It is a basic beginners book, starting with the moves of the pieces and rapidly advancing to more complex problems and examples.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kenneth Harkness was the inventor of the Chess Rating System. He was for many years the editor of Chess Review magazine, and was the author of the Blue Book and Encyclopedia of Chess and several other chess books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Ishi Press (March 6, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0923891935
• ISBN-13: 978-0923891930
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,519,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for Beginning Players, January 23, 2003

By 

A.Trendl HungarianBookstore.com "What should ... (Glen Ellyn, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: An Invitation to Chess : A Picture Guide to The Royal Game (Paperback)

I used "An Invitation to Chess" when I taught a grade school course in chess fundamentals. Of all the chess books I have seen geared purely toward the beginner, I found this to be the clearest, best organized, and, just as the subtitle claims, it is "A Picture Guide to The Royal Game."

Lots of pictures help explain the moves and motions of a piece in the context of a larger strategy. Chernev and Harkness used photos of the board as well as standard board drawings. They require modernized, as the photos are a bit blurry, and the drawings have an old newspaper keyline look. The copy is succinct, but not dry. As a reader, I found it less clinical than many of the chess books with dozens of lines per opening.

This is a long way from anything Lasker or Fischer wrote, but the audience intended here is looking to play the game effectively, unworried about becoming a grandmaster. At least, not yet.

The content list breaks things down to subsections like "How the King Moves and Captures," and "How the Pawn Captures 'en passant.''" They provide a special section cautioning the new player of common mistakes, like "Premature Attacks," and "Pawn Grabbing with the Queen." This is invaluable because young players routinely shoot for point control over game control.

I fully recommend "An Invitation to Chess" by Irving Chernev and Kenneth Harkness. Use this to teach your children, or use it to study up when they start to beat you.

Anthony Trendl
http://anthonytrendl.com

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Single best choice for beginners, November 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: An Invitation to Chess (Paperback)

Though this book is getting a bit old, a better beginners book has yet to be written. Getting into the habit of asking yourself "what does he threaten?" is crucial to the beginning player. They really should update it to algebraic.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great For Newcomers, April 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: An Invitation to Chess (Paperback)

When I first learned the rules of the game, I found this book to be of great value, if only for the simple advice of "always ask yourself why your opponent played a certain move. What does he attack?" and "before your make your move, ask yourself what your opponent's best reply would be." You can find more comprehensive books, but this is my choice for a useful, friendly, quick guide to better chess. I'd buy this for a younger player or newcomer in a heartbeat. Why intimidate someone with a huge tome when you can painlessly improve with this volume?