Teach Yourself Better Chess (Teach Yourself) [Paperback]

William Hartston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1997

Teach Yourself Better Chess is for all those players who know how to play chess but would like to be better at the game. In 75 easy-to-follow lessons, the reader is guided towards an understanding of correct strategy and tactics. Each new concept is explained in depth, followed by an example of the idea in practice, usually taken from grandmaster play. It delves deeper into the principles of good chess, explaining how there is an underlying meta-principle concerning the deeper laws of co-operation between pieces. Teach Yourself Better Chess is designed to bridge the gap between beginner and master. It will be enjoyed by anyone who has read the same author's Teach Yourself Chess, and anyone else who wants to learn more about good chess.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Hartston is an experienced and well-known chess player and writes the daily chess column in The Independent. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Ntc Pub Group (February 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 084423933X
• ISBN-13: 978-0844239330
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,294,474 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The title sounds like it's a primer, but it is not!, August 26, 1998

By 

N. Beach "romansperson" (Chapel Hill, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teach Yourself Better Chess (Teach Yourself) (Paperback)

The title might lead one to believe that this is a beginner's manual, but this book is really aimed at the weekend tournament warrior, probably rated at least 1500. I have several beginning students and am always on the lookout for new ideas and angles in primers to enhance my lessons. I pulled this book off the shelf at the library in anticipation of doing just that. Opening it to the first page of chapter 1, I found myself struggling to solve the "White to move and win" diagram! What kind of beginner's manual is this!? After three full minutes the winning idea finally came and a quick thumb-through of the rest of the book confirmed that I wasn't going to find many lesson ideas. Rather, this book is intended to change the stereotyped way amateur players think at the board. Befitting Hartson's training as a psychoanalyst, his purpose is to get into the amateur's head and alter his attitudes and thinking at the board. There is a lot of great advice here presented in short, 1-2 page lessons based on master tournament play. Many first-hand examples from the author's own games. This little book would be a great help to tournament players rated 1500-2200 (the lessons turned out to be for me). And at the price, it is a certified bargain.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Gem: 75 Mini-Lessons For Just About Any NonMaster, January 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Teach Yourself Better Chess (Teach Yourself) (Paperback)

A beautiful and highly useful tutorial book that explains in 75 mini-lessons various concepts ranging from tactics to strategy, openings to endgames, calculation to intuitive judgements. Novices and intermediate players are probably best-suited for the book's contents but even stronger (1800+ USCF) players can find interesting concepts and examples to review. I'm 2009 USCF and I admired the book's style and directness: what a fun way to learn chess.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prefabricated chess intuition - with instructions, February 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Teach Yourself Better Chess (Teach Yourself) (Paperback)

"Experts know the 'rules' - masters know when to break them" & this book might help you find some of the loopholes! Full of easily absorbed ideas that will help 1400-2200 players avoid superficial play by providing another perspective.

You know about good and bad bishops, but what about bad 'good' bishops & good 'bad' bishops? Rooks belong on open files... but sometimes they belong on closed files, supporting pawn breaks to force the file open . You play PN3 in order to play BN2 ...except sometimes you want to play PN3 and have to play BN2 to cover the resulting weak squares...........

There are around 70 (!) such maxims including the exceptional circumstances where they cannot be applied. Each lesson is about two pages long - easily digested over a tea-break and equally easy to remember. The flip side of this brevity is somewhat patchy coverage, but it's still the best value chess publication since Simple Chess.