Customer Reviews

The Right Way to Play Chess

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It has been said that one becomes serious about chess when one buys their first book on the subject. I became serious when I bought this book. Pritchard's agenda is to take the absolute beginner to the standard expected of a good club player. That's quite a leap, but it's a goal Pritchard achieves with ease and style. Beginning with an explanation of how the pieces move, we move through basic concepts (forks, pins, en passant etc.), tactics, strategy, how to handle the opening (including a list of the most common openings currently played), middle-game and end-game. All of the subjects are handled in a highly literate style that is accessible to all ages, with the sure-footedness of a seasoned master, and without condescension. The reader feels assured that the lessons being given are of the highest quality, and that the principles absorbed will always be relevant, regardless of fashion.

From my own experience, The Right Way To Play Chess completely transformed my game. Prior to reading this book, I knew how the pieces moved, and considered myself a chess player. Yet I was constantly defeated by friends, and grew increasingly frustrated at the apparent ease with which they did this. Having read the book, the defeats came to an abrupt halt (strangely, so did the games - a coincidence, I'm sure). Against most casual players, I now had not only the ability to handle most situations but also, crucially, the knowledge to enable me to *understand* why certain situations should be handled that way.

The Right Way To Play Chess remains absolutely outstanding, the benchmark for beginners. I cannot imagine a better book for giving you a rock-solid foundation on which to build your chess career.

I had been playing chess very occassionally and with absolutely no instruction for some time, especially on Yahoo! Chess. Then, I saw Garry Kasparov vs. Deep Junior on ESPN2 (side note: I wish they'd show chess somewhat regularly), and I was immediately taken. I searched for a short while for a beginners chess book and found "The Right Way to Play Chess" by D. Brine Pritchard.

If you buy this book, it would be quite helpful to have a chess set or program. There are illustrations, but they usually come after ten or more moves in Pritchard's examples, and are difficult to follow without a visual aid. This is the only major downfall, and is why I did not give the book 5 stars.

Also, if you're not a buyer from the U.K., you might be slightly put off by Pritchard's diction (he's British), although I really saw no problem with it.

As any beginners book should, "The Right Way to Play Chess" starts off with the rules of the game. Even if you are familiar with the game, there is some information here you might be unfamiliar with, such as the "en passant" rule. If you already know what that is, then it's probably safe to skip the first chapter.

After that, everything is useful, even to those who have experience. Rudimentary theory covers positions and moves you will see time and again, such as the pin and the fork. After some helpful examples from play and basic coverage of the powers of the chessmen and strategies you should keep in mind for each, the book is basically divided into the opening, middlegame, and endgame, and is capped off with examples of master play.

The structure of the book is well-thought out and organized. Pritchard provides very useful examples in each section. After studying this book (and occassionally using it for reference), I have become a stronger player.

I would recommend this book to any beginner who is fairly serious about getting better.

Not bad. Maybe 2 typos. I was getting my behind kicked on yahoo chess, but this book and a few puzzles has helped me to finally win some games. And I am only on page 95!! I hope I finish tonight since it is the weekend and I can go back and be more competitive. Good book, but you will need more to supplement this. I suggest puzzle books, and books dedicated to tactics, strategies, combos, sacrifices, and the openings. This books stuffs all of that into one and you can't do that in 224 pages.
Overall, I would recommend it to a friend. It is a good starting place.

I must admit that I am only on the 3rd chapter of this book. I began reading it 4 days ago. It has helped me tremendously. I had to give it a rating before I finished the book to let those who are in a similar position see how great this book is. I have been playing street chess for about 7 years. I must say that I was pretty good or at least thought I was. I had no formal training, I didn't even know what an 'opening' was. I could play but didn't have a solid foundation of strategy and tactics. For the past 3 months I have been searching for a book that would give me a good foundation. It was necessary for me to Reassess my chess from the ground up. Several books were over my head and I thought about the Idiot's Guide. Anyway, "The Right Way to Play.." has helped me to understand annotations and several other aspects of learning about the game from the first few chapters. If you are a somewhat good player w/out any formal training and do not know where to take your game from here, get this book to build a solid foundation and you will be sure to increase in knowledge and ability.
I will write again when I finish this book to give you a more serious and in depth rating of TRWTPC.

Anyone who is either thinking about getting into chess playing or is currently getting their behinds whipped by friends would do well to pick up this book. It is a fantastic start to a chess library, as it gives the novice player a solid background as well as a few nifty moves to make one a formidable player. This book teaches a player how to think two, three, or four moves ahead and accurately predict how your opponent will fall in line.

This should only be the first in a series of books any beginning player should read, but itis a highly recommended starting place.

"The Right Way to Play Chess," now in its eighth edition, has been internationally acclaimed as "the best" book for beginners. It might well be subtitled "Chess without Tears." Designed to take the drudgery out of chess, it guides you easily and confidently through all the stages of the game. It may be a while before you can take on Bobby Fischer, but it's the best first step you can make.

This is a good first book for a kid to start with I enjoyed it. Sometimes it gets a little bit hard to follow becuase there are not enough illustratons. Otherwise a great book!

This disease called Chess first infected me at age 11 or so when I found this book in a library in West Africa and having nothing better to do, read it from cover to cover. I promptly forgot all about it. Cut to 8 years later and needing a hobby (since my motorcycle stunt-driving days were over! :-) I remembered this brilliant book and sought it out. I found D.B. Pritchard's other book ('Begin Chess', another great introductory book) but continued searching until I found it again, after all these years, at a used bookstore. Joy! For beginners, there's really nothing better; D.B. Pritchard, like most British writers of yore regardless of the subject- matter, uses simple and precise prose to introduce the Chess grandmaster-to-be to this wonderful game. Highly recommended for the beginnning player.

I read few chess books but hardly to understand and comprehend so my games so terrible. I picked-up this book last month then i learn right material winning combinations which read some of this pages alas, it also improve my basic calculation. Great book for beginners to all ages!!