Winning Chess Traps for Juniors: Tactics in the Opening [Paperback]

Robert M. Snyder (Author)

Book Description

In Winning Chess Traps for Juniors, nationally-renowned chess coach Robert M. Snyder takes his Chess for Juniors book a step further by covering sixty-four additional opening traps. . Traps are arranged by opening to help students improve their knowl- edge of the most important openings. . Traps contain important tactical themes designed to improve pattern recognition. . Students are challenged at various points to find the best move. . Written for the beginner to intermediate player-this book is clear and easy to read, though not just for juniors!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert M. Snyder, National Master, is a highly regarded chess educator whose students have won thirty-six individual first-place titles (a national record) in championship sections at the National Scholastic Championships. His teams have won first place in championship sections at the National Scholastic Championships ten times. He has introduced chess to more than 170,000 elementary and junior high school students. In 1983 Mr. Snyder founded the Chess for Juniors club, which grew to become one of the largest and most successful youth clubs in the nation. He currently trains students by giving lessons through the Internet. Mr. Snyder is also author of the bestsellers Chess for Juniors and Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors.

Product Details

• Paperback: 196 pages
• Publisher: Wheatmark (July 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587366339
• ISBN-13: 978-1587366338
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,499,708 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

386 of 388 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FANTASTIC MINI-LESSONS for a classroom use by CHESS TEACHERS or STUDENTS on their own., August 5, 2006

By 

M. Martinez "CHESS TEACHER" (Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winning Chess Traps for Juniors: Tactics in the Opening (Paperback)

As a chess teacher (and tournament player) who has been teaching grades 3 through 8 in local schools "Winning Chess Traps for Juniors" has been a lot awaited book.

When given a short period of about 20 to 25 minutes for instruction a chess teacher needs to maximize the use of time with the most efficient way to teach a variety of important ideas to the students. With this book I can cover the most important tactics along with teaching opening concepts at the same time - kill two birds with one stone! The students like being shown how a tactic is reached before it is executed! So, here we go with these 64 mini-lessons (each often containing many tactics and traps on the side - clearly pointed out) that the students enjoy.

This book has a nice lay-out making it easy to read. The language is clear (I certainly feel than an upper level elementary school student could easily understand the reading level). The games being are in order of openings with the main theme shown in the title (also covered in the table of contents). Therefore, a teacher (or student) can select games based on type of opening or type of trap/tactic and find them quickly. The 196 pages contain a lot of extremely useful information. There is a nice variety of openings (1. e4, 1.d4 and others) without an over emphasis on any one type.

The level of this book is ideal for children or adults who are just past having grasped the basic rules and maybe know some very basic strategy, right on up to the average tournament player. Because of the material being covered and the way it is presented this book is for beginning players rated from 500 up to intermediate players rated 1600.

I have seen most of the other books on chess traps. None of them provide the detail and quality of analysis found in this book (and most others are not up to date). I also have found going through a short game containing a tactic to be a far superior way of providing instruction as opposed to using a book that only has the tactic, but not how it was set up.

I am looking at this book from a "chess teacher's" point of view and highly recommend it for anyone running a chess class or for students of all ages who want to simultaneously improve their knowledge of tactics and openings.

277 of 278 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LEARN IMPORTANT TACTICS WHILE IMPROVING YOUR OPENINGS - Just what I have been waiting for!, September 17, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Winning Chess Traps for Juniors: Tactics in the Opening; Large Print Edition (Paperback)

An important note: This is the large print edition of the same book, by the same title - "Winning Chess Traps for Juniors". The Large print edition is ideal for very young readers (who like a large workbook size format) or for anyone who prefers the ease of reading large print.

"Winning Chess Traps for Juniors" is the best book ever written on opening chess traps. After having purchased and read several other books on opening traps finally I found a book that provides an explanation of what is going on from the beginning of the trap until it ends. It is much like a book of well analyzed short games with important tactical themes.

"Winning Chess Traps for Juniors" is not a book on how to "trick" your opponent by using cheap tricks. This is a book that provides solid analysis of both common and less common openings along with the typical tactical mistakes that occur in these openings. In other words, you will improve both tactics and opening knowledge at the same time. What stands out about "Winning Chess Traps for Juniors" that rewards it with a five star rating?

1. Openings are arranged in order making it easy to find the openings you are interested in. However, I might suggest just going through it from cover to cover.
2. There really aren't just 64 traps. This is not a "one trap per page" book (which I have found in three other trap books). There are often numerous traps branching off the main trap being covered making this book contain effectively hundreds of traps.
3. There isn't just a focus on the "springing of the trap". There is detailed analysis from the start of the opening, pointing out why other moves may be stronger or weaker along the way.
4. This book has so many diagrams (with the coordinates around the boards for the beginner) a strong player doesn't even need a board.
5. There are a good variety of openings covered along with all of the most important tactical themes. It is made clear that the author doesn't repeat the exact same traps covered his previous books (unlike some authors who reorganize the same material from previously written books to create more books). Actually, some of the same "themes/patterns" are covered again, reinforcing the material covered in the author's previous - but presented in totally different positions (e.g. Legal's mate, Noah's Arc Trap and the Classic Bishop Sacrifice).
6. There are problems within the traps for the reader to solve - "what's the best move?'. This makes the book challenging and more fun, while forcing you to think. This helps point out for chess teachers wanting to use the book, where they should challenge students along the way.
7. The writing style is clear and easily understood.
8. The book refers the reader when covering the opening and some tactical patterns to specific locations in the author's other books where more detail can be found.

Who is this book for? Actually all ages of players (ages 8 up to and including adults) who are beyond havening learned the basic rules and intermediate players. It would make a great text book for a chess teacher to use in their classroom to allow efficient teaching by covering openings and tactics at the same time.

278 of 280 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best ways to learn tactics and even a 3rd grader can use it!, September 20, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Winning Chess Traps for Juniors: Tactics in the Opening (Paperback)

I just got this book (in the new LARGE PRINT edition that is exactly the same book, except it is super-sized and is like a big workbook) and have not been able to put it down! Instead of just being given a position and trying to find the solution like lots of tactics books, in this book you get to see everything that happened before the tactics happen. This book also tells the ideas behind the moves and you are learning about the openings that have the tactics. You are asked to "find the best move" and there are plenty of diagrams to make it easy to follow along. You can use a sheet of paper to cover up the next moves so you do not accidentally see the answer. This is a fun book and I think it is one of the best ways to learn tactics and improve your understanding of the ideas behind the openings.