Beginning Chess: Over 300 Elementary Problems for Players New to the Game (Paperback)

by Bruce Pandolfini (Author) "Chess is a game of skill that originated more than fifteen hundred years ago, probably in the Indus Valley between Persia and India..." (more)
Key Phrases: rook skewers king, queen forks king, knight forks king, After White, Kel Rhl, Nat White (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Now even beginners can reap the rewards of Pandolfini's acclaimed teaching system. Over 300 problems, tailored to beginning players, encompass everything a player needs to learn, from the basic rules and vocabulary to the moves of various chessmen to sophisticated strategies. 300 line drawings.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Fireside; 11th edition (August 23, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671795015
• ISBN-13: 978-0671795016
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #28,855 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

378 of 378 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Modest Book on Tactics for the Beginner or just slightly above, May 10, 2006

A Kid's Review

BEGINNING CHESS contains a fair number of the types of positions with simple tactical themes that the "just beyond" the very beginning stage player should learn. Not a lot but not a bad bang for the buck! There really isn't a lot of material here (i.e. like Reinfeld's 1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations or Winning Chess Traps), but it is just enough to make a satisfactory book worthy for the "advanced beginner". Not at the top of my list, but still a worthwhile work.

97 of 97 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple and Not overwhelming book on basic chess tactics for the advanced-beginner, November 27, 2006

A Kid's Review

If you are past the stage of having learned the basic rules of chess then you are ready to enbark of the adventure of learning chess strategy. And, what is most likely to result in wins and losses for an advanced beginner is not having a deep knowledge of openings or endgames, but TACTICS!
If you were thinking of getting one of those 5,000 combination and tactics books you should hold off because you will be overwhelmed with a lot of postions that are not likely to come up in your games. Getting a book on basic chess tactics, containing the likely tactics you are going to see in play is most useful. Now there are a variety of ways and books to accomplish this. "Beginning Chess: Over 300 Elementary Problems" is a good starting place. Then you might consider one of the dozens of more complicated tactics books (such as "Winning Chess Tactis") or even a book containing opening tactics by getting an opening trap book (such as "Winning Chess Traps for Juniors" or "101 Opening Traps"). This is one of Mr. Pandolfini's best books.

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars collection of VERY simple tactics, October 10, 2003

By	Timothy Brennan (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The collection of tactical puzzles in this book are the easiest that I have ever seen. Most of the problems are 1 move tactics such moving a knight to fork two pieces. Some of the problems simply involve capturing a piece that is hanging. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but unless you have just learned the game it probably will be too simple for you. But if you have just learned how the pieces move, this will be a great start on the way to starting to solve tactical problems, which are a key to becoming a better player.

I am not familiar with many other tactics books that are this simple. A 1400 rated player could probably go through the whole book in an hour. It is probably even more simple than Bobby Fischer Teaches chess. But while that book focuses mostly on back rank checkmates, this covers different positions, with diagram after diagram for you to find the best move.

One nice thing is that in the end he doesn't just give the answer, he briefly explains why it is the answer. So instead of just saying "Nf6", he says "Nf6 forking the king and queen". Most tactics books, even for beginners just give the answer, and no explanation about why it is the answer, if you don't see it.