Chess Books

This is the first non-beginners' chess book I ever read. Since it was the only chess book I had at the time, I read it over and over until I inadvertently memorized most of it. I can't say that it's the best chess book ever written. There are a few I like better, but this book was the right one for me at the time (1972).

I was a terrible player when I first read this book. Eventually I went on to become a pretty good one. I don't know how much credit Fischer gets. He probably would have told me to get a real job, but I loved the game no matter how awful I was.

I had the Descriptive Notation version in 1972. Sometime I lost it, but a few years ago, I managed to get a copy of it in hardback at a used bookstore for a couple of bucks. No, I am not offering it for sale.

I agree with all of the positive remarks in the previous reviews.
This book is magical. I still remember the names that Larry Evens
gives to each game some 30 years after reading the book. This one
chess book was responsible for me to go from a novice 1600 rated player to a expert almost overnight. The clarity of Fischers approach to the game and his marvelous annotations completely changed my understanding of the game. It is a pity that such a gifted player and writter turns out to be such a creep in real life.

My edition is Faber paperbacks 1972 and covers the period 1957-1967. I always tell people that it is the best (money) that I've ever spent! IM Larry Evans introduces all of the 60 games with titles like "Slaying the dragon", "Peekaboo strategy" and "Meat and potatoes". Although, of course, it is the annotations given by Fischer that make the book - highly recommended.

'My 60 Memorable Games' is a fantastic collection from one of the great players in the history of chess. But, if one happens to run into the Batsford edition of the book, don't trust it at all. Fischer has publicly spoken as to how Batsford has ruined his book. Here is the website where Fischer talks about it. http://home.att.ne.jp/moon/fischer/
It is true. It seems like the people at Batsford are purposely trying to ruin his credibility. They are trying to make him look like an idiot, like a no-good potzer. Nonetheless, the games are awesome and immortal. Fischer should publish a new edition of this book with 40 extra games. He should add the games from 1968 to 1972 and the games from the 1992 rematch.

I own the Faber paperback version. Love his chess. Pretty balanced, down to earth style. Not dry and dull like Capa or Botvinnik, neither is it too speculative and complex like Tal. More like a aggressive positional with scope for tactics - an in between of the above players. I have modelled my play on his style and i had been playing better chess. I dislike studying all those opening books with plentiful variations and theories, but through this book I learnt something about The Sicilian Najdorf and the KID and Sozins which I still play, and develop my own ideas based on the way Fischer handled those openings. Have to admit that this book is full of heavy analysis and variations which my limited abilities cannot fathom everything or visualise too far ahead, the analysis notes helps in the practice of calculating variations in the manner prescribed by Kotov in his book Think Like a Grandmaster as not many games books are filled with all kinds of variations and sub variations. Apart from the book being more for the stronger or advanced player's study, lesser players like myself can gain quite a fair bit of ideas and insight in just playing through and appreciating the games and ideas as played by Fischer or his opponents. If you are only going to own just 1 chess book, then own this one. Pity it is no longer in print. Get hold of the Faber version if you can. Its the original one.

Though the annotations and variations are detailed and full of chess insights, in the end it is the chatty tone and charming frankness of Mikhail Tal that sets this book apart. Yes, you can read it and learn chess, or you can just enjoy the story.
Some of the games are themselves spectacular and suggest fun opening lines that are not always seen. For example, game 1 in the "solid" French features Black sacrificing his kingside pawns to a rampaging queen in return for an opposite side attack. These Qg4 lines you will at least commonly see in books on the French, but Tal's ideas against the equally solid Caro (Ne2, Nf4 and sacrifice on e6) are not as well remembered and lead to some wild, wide-open play that is easily emulated by amateurs.

One of the great World championship matches. Just a great book for any chess player of average or above playing strength.

This has to be the most approachable WC book i've ever read. The annotations are very approachable, even for a weaker player such as myself. Variations are kept within reason. The real nice thing about the book is it gives you this feeling of being there, with Tal setting the scene both in words and with some very nice photographs throughout the book. Highly recommended.

As most other reviewers state over and over this is a great chess book. Tal provides insight on why he chose almost every move in his championship games against Botvinik in 1960.

I am a strong expert player. After reading this book, I drew with two IMs in the next tournament I played in, and in both those games I had winning positions when the draw was agreed.

I am not saying that this book will have the same effect on any reader. However, weak squares, strong vs. weak bishops, pawn breaks and a lot of other tactical and positional concepts will implicitely become a part of your chess awareness if you read this book.

Chess enjoyment and implicit teaching are provided by this book. I highly recommend it.

Indeed this is a great book and Tal's comments allows a reader to get the feel for what was going on during 1960 Championship Match. You'll get 21 thoroughly annotated games.

I want to warn potential buyers who plan to get a new book directly from Amazon. The new 2003 edition does NOT have the last section "Additional Games" and contains only 212 pages. If you preview Amazon pages, the Table of Contents refers to the 2000 edition and contains that last section. So, buyers beware. I tried Amazon customer service but they have no control over what edition gets picked. In fact, it seems that 2000 edition is no longer available from Amazon.

Rarely have I found a book reviewing pawn structures as they relate to actual tournament experience. Alexander Baburin has written, what has clearly been recognized already, as a classic! The ideas are developed around the typical pawn structures arising from many opening leading to the isolated queen pawn (IQP) and it's derivatives (pawn couples, hanging pawns, etc.) which occur in most openings like the Queens Gambit, Caro Kann, etc.. He develops his concepts and teaches ideas and plans with examples from very well annotated full length games from actual competition. Reading this book, is almost as good as having a private coach!

Definitely a 5 star rating for this book!!!

The quality of Baburin's work is off the charts. This book opened my eyes to the Isolated Queen's Pawn structure, which I try to get in as many games as I possibly can because this book showed me how to demolish people with it (at my level, Class "A," and even somewhat above my level).

One could call this a "specialized" middlegame text, but because the presence of the IQP is so ubiquitous in chess, this is just an extremely important work, and one that I feel doesn't get as much attention as it deserves.

The whole book is fantastic, but Part 1 (basically, Attacking with the IQP) is absolutely exceptional. THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR BEGINNERS, and you MUST know "basic" kingside attacking motifs to get optimal value out of it. But tournament players who go through it will have their eyes opened for sure. This book trains you to play IQP positions with calculation and general principles together! Baburin shows you the plans (even multiple plans in the same opening system) and when faced with such positions you will know almost exactly what to do.

If you like to learn how to handle chess positions with the isolated Queen's Pawn ("Isolani") this is the book! Baburin explains the methods to play the isolated pawn positions clearly. This book would be very beneficial for players between USCF 1700-2000. While learning about the isolated pawn positions your middle game technique will improve in general as well.

Please be careful with this book. Its basically a very advanced text on Isolated Pawn structures, in fact its the most advanced text on this subject in the English language. I really do not think that you would be able to read it cover to cover unless you are at least ELO 2000. Its a brilliant piece of work and I hope the author continues the series to cover passed pawns,doubled pawns etc. The only way i would advise anyone below ELO 2000 to buy this book is to use it as a game reference with your opening book. You would need to play one of the following openings Caro Kan, Queens Gambit, the Nimzo Indian defense or the French defense. It makes you realise that the Isolated pawn is a great source of strength or a fundamental weakness and occurs a lot in certain types of openings. As an advanced player you need to know how to play each side of this equation as it will often be the central issue that will decide the game.

Yes, this is a great book on the IQP. How can I add anything to the splendid reviews by Hashimm4 and A.J.Goldsby I? I can't, except to say, the book's title, "Winning Pawn Structures," is suspiciously misleading. How about something like "The Isolated Queen's Pawn: Winning Strategies"? Surely the title is a crass attempt by the publisher to increase his market of chess readers.

But my REAL complaint (with a segue back to Baburin's work) is with A.J.Goldsby's misrepresentation of Nimzowitsch's "My System", which happens too often for me to let this one go by (especially by a top 1000 reviewer who presents himself as a chess authority -- which he probably is). To quote Goldsby's review:

"This book was a major revelation to me. Having grown up under the influence of Nimzovich, I had mostly assumed that the positions containing an Isolated Queen's-Pawn, like any isolated pawn; was weak and should be avoided at all costs. (I almost never allowed myself to be saddled with an IQP, mostly as a result of what I had learned from Nimzowitsch's "My System.") This is a fallacy."

I am yet again amazed by a chess critic's misinformation regarding "My System" (while, admittedly, the later "Chess Praxis" tends to tarnish the IQP's reputation). It's as if they've never even read this classic!

In "My System," Nimzowitsch has a chapter entitled: "The isolated d-pawn and its descendants." In it he addresses both the potential weaknesses of the IQP and the inherent strengths. He refers to the IQP as "permeated with dynamic strength." He COMMANDS that the student experience "how dangerous an enemy isolani may be." He says the IQP's strength "lies in its lust to expand (advance)," and that it "protects and indeed creates the White outpost stations at e5 and c5 [noting the enemy has only one outpost, and that White's at e5 "would have a sharper effect than is ever possible to an opposing Knight on d5."]. He shows how to take advantage of the extra open file that comes with the IQP. And he even has a section entitled, "4. The isolani as a weapon of attack in the middlegame." While, yes, he fully explains how the IQP can be weak, especially in the endgame (suggesting as a countermeasure that you make a timely use of the IQP's attacking possibilities in the middlegame), the fact is that Nimzowitsch gives a FULL understanding of the IQP's advantages... as well as weaknesses.

Which brings us back to "Winning Pawn Structures." Just like Nimzowitsch, Baburin discusses both the advantages and disadvantages of the IQP. How to attack WITH it and AGAINST it. Nimzowitsch covers this topic (and that of isolated pawn couples and hanging pawns!) in about 10 pages. Very effectively, I might add.

Thus, if you already have a good grasp of positional chess, then read Baburin's great book. Otherwise, pick up a more general book on positional chess that includes, but does not dote on, the IQP....

How about this little gem: "My System"

In Nunn's Learn Chess Tactics the exercises are organized by theme. Each section has an introduction where the theme is explained, a few examples are given, and then a series of tactical puzzles organized in order of increasing difficulty is provided.
Most sections, and certainly the most relevant ones (like the ones on pins and forks), provide a wide array of puzzles that ranges from beginner level to challenging (for me at least - a class C player). The solutions are clear and as far as I could see with no omission of major lines. The last section is a very good collection of puzzles of every theme, excellent for training your tactical vision.
The breadth of the themes that are presented not only strengthened my overall tactical vision (and my rating), but helped me pinpoint my blind-spots (for example, troubles spotting possibilities of trapping pieces, or tactical moves that are defensive in nature) and work on them.
I recommend this book without hesitation.

John Nunn's style is one of those we can name moralizing and lecturing. It's helpful in the way that it makes a man think of his / her every move. There's a plan of the game, tactics, strategy, and your personal goal as to the game. The book provides you with lots of information about the opening, middle game and endspiel routine, but the most important is how YOU would like to move in this or that position. You and the book become a union, which then helps you to escape the possible blunders.

This book give numerous tactical themes and plenty of exercises. Very highly recommended.

My young chess player says this book gives a great overview of each chess tactic. It begins the lessons with easy tactics and advances to harder and more difficult lessons rather quickly. A person who has been playing for about a year would find this book helpful. This book is not really for more experienced players. It will help the beginner become a better chess player (if you manage to work through all the exercises). And peeking at the answers without working through the problems won't do the trick.

I have quite a few books on tactics and if I had to start all over again I would start by this book. Not that this book presents a huge collection of problems, which it does not, but because it explains the concepts behind tactic motifs very well.
Each chapter starts with a clear explanation of what the tactic motif is. Quoting: "Like the fork, the discovered attack is a way of creating 2 threats at the same time. Unlike the fork, the discovered attack involves 2 attacking pieces".
After the explanation there are a series of real life examples, mostly taken from GM games, all of them very instructive. Diagrams start very simple with chessbase-style threat arrows, clearly showing the combination principles, and then going into harder and harder to find combinations in diagrams without arrows. Solutions are given with nice verbose explanations, leaving nothing behind if you didn't find the complete solution at the diagram.
The chapter introduction is followed by 50 exercises about the tactical motif. Again, diagrams start VERY simple (I would say beginners level) and slowly migrate toward VERY difficult positions (I would say over ELO 1800). Each problem was picked from real life and has an interesting call (example taken from a Fork exercise: Should Black regain the sacrificed piece with 11...f6 or 11...h6?). Unlike most tactic books, sometimes the combination goal in the harder exercises is only a positional plus or a pawn and I found this particularly interesting. The solution to each exercise is also very instructive for instead a short line Nunn takes time to explain what should white or black have played (sine lines included when the solutions allows it) and the what happened in the tragedy of real life (pretty funny sometimes... just like my ICC games).
Finally, a scramble chapter (66 diagrams with side to move) where you are in the dark and have to found the correct tactical motif(s) and/or combination of them in the correct order.
The book itself is of high quality, as all other GAMBIT books around. So far I could not find a typo or analysis error, the diagrams are of excellent quality and the book biding lets it open easily without leaving pages on the floor. Not the cheapest book around but the book material worths the price.
I give 5 stars for the didactics and quality of the contents. 5 stars for the book itself. 4 stars for the problem collection (as all greedy chess readers, I would love to have a bigger problem collection, specially so well explained as the ones already presented).

If you never studied tactics, pick this book first, then go elsewhere find other problem collections.

One of the better chess books that I've read and I've read alot of them. Well, I've bought a lot, haven't gotten around to reading them all :). Probably not much use to Master level players. I'm a "B" player and learned a lot from this book, particularly in organizing my thoughts during a game. The biography of Purdy in the first part of the book isn't terribly compelling. A nice addition to any collection of chess books, especially for players below 2000.

this book is a classic just like " MY SYSTEM " by NIMZOVICH. EVERY SERIOUS PLAYER OF CHESS MUST READ IT

AUTHOR (1906-79) was an international master,first correspondence world chess champion ,many times australian national chess champion and editor/writer in chess magazines(mostly australian chess magazines).this book of about 300 pages has three parts .his detailed biography (about 25 pages),his excellent chess articles(about 39 in number consisting of 184 pages)and annotation or commentry to his 50 games(about 83 pages).main strength of this book is his excellently written chess articles.in my humble opinion there are few chess teachers/authors of his strength.this book is not for beginners but for intermediate strength chess players (uscf rating 1300 and above )with at least a couple years of chess playind experience

If this book were Juliet, I'd be it's Romeo. There aren't enough superlatives I could lavish on Purdy's writing. There were so many "AHA!" moments when reading that my wife thought I was having an epileptic fit! Purdy's prose is superior yet completely comprehensible. The reader immediately sees his point. Beg, borrow or steal this book, it IS that good. The only negative (and it is a very small one) is the publisher's annoying advertisements spread throughout the book.

This is for me the first book on chess I have encountered that really puts first things first and explains a systematic method for thinking about any chess position. Even though the author makes very interesting remarks about strategical points he never forgets to remind you about the tactical problems on the board and a systematic way of taking care of these. For me definetely the most helpful book on chess that I ever read.

I am surprised that no one has mentioned that the very first move in the very first game in this book, which was made by no less than a young Siegbert Tarrasch himself as white (vs a Herr Mendelsohn) is...a3!

I have to disagree with another reviewer who praised the high qualify of this Hays Publishing edition. The printing and diagrams are nice -- not those old, faded ones you see from Dover -- but the binding is glued, and the Walbrodt match pages have fallen out in my copy.

Substance wise, this is very good. The annotations aren't move-by-move for beginners, but are precise and word-oriented. The openings are often dated, but a club player can still play them, and it's really the middle and end games that count. Not all of the games are memorable, of course, which is nice, because you get a taste of all kinds of games the way chess is actually played.

Out of my 500+ chess books, I would say I use this one the most. Tarrasch's annotations are great, succinct, and to the point, they are designed to teach and not confuse, and also shows you the development of his early career. You see many games against sub-GM opposition, and I always feel such games are invaluable to the developing player. (I also love, for this point, the two Euwe books, Chess Master Meets... etc.). Another main reason I consult this book often is that Tarrasch played such good, common sense openings. This book has tons of French Defences, from both sides, Queen's Gambits, Ruy Lopezes, and other things you don't see very often, like the Scotch Four Knights, The Goring Gambit, etc. The book has a nice opening index. It is an incredible book. My only complaint is that my book is getting used soc much that the binding is separating near the front. So, the binding could have been better made. Essential.

The English Language Edition of this book does not cost 120.00. It costs 19.95 and is available from ChessCentral. I mention this only because it's easy to assume Amazon has some sort of sophisticated computer database offering accurate price reports on merchandise. It doesn't.

First of all, about the quality of the work itself enough has been said already. It is simply outstanding. This review is merely intended to warn potential buyers of the English edition that they are going to miss something compared to the German original. Up to now I can only judge from the excerpts available at Amazon.com, but these sadly show the autobiographical sections being heavily truncated which is all the more disturbing as they are the passages which show Tarrasch's great, often self-ironic style at its best.
My recommendation for all English-speaking readers: if you have any knowledge of German, go for the original edition! By the way, the same applies for Nimzovich's My System. This is, if you are interested in the prose sections at all. If you want this book merely for the games and annotations, the English edition will do, but don't say I didn't warn you!

There are simpler intros to chess. The Bill Robertie series is modern, easy to follow, and very effective, and eminently suited to the casual beginner. But nothing comes close to Fine's one-volume opus in terms of completeness, utility, and yes, depth.

This is *not* a book for the casual beginner or the dabbler. It is for someone who, from the outset, is going to be serious about chess, perhaps someone who has played a few games with serious players in informal settings and now wants to learn "real" chess.

The book is not easy. Information is densely packed and requires care and attention in study. There are some drawbacks; the age of the original edition (now approaching 65 years) means that the opening lines are very dated (though the principles are not), and the book uses descriptive notation (I don't see this as a problem, but the beginning reader will have to learn algebraic at some point from a different source).

Still, the presentation of ideas is in a class not to be found elsewhere. Fine gives 10 rules for the opening, mid-game, and ending; and practicing and following these rules, and the rest of the material in the book, if done diligently will over time probably lead the reader to the 1700 or better play class. That's pretty darn good for a single 185 page book which assumes no prior knowledge.

As expected from Fine, the endgame chapter is superb.

One especially useful feature is the presence of numerous practical problems to test mastery of the material.

The reader must take this book seriously and study diligently to benefit. This is no "royal road" to chess. It is a pathway to success paved with quality stepping stones composed of old-fashioned hard work. Not so amazingly, that method continues to pay off better than any other!

It is fortunate that this book is easily and inexpensively available on the used market, and you can have a copy delivered to your door for well under $10. It's a fantastic investment.

Four stars instead of five simply because, as mentioned above, the age of the book makes the opening lines very dated.

I don't know what happened to my copy of this book but it disappeared many years ago. I've been waiting years in the hopes that it would be re-printed. Now I'm hoping that Amazon can find me another copy. It is unquestionably the best book for beginners and intermediate chess players. Mr. Fine presents the material in a simple, easy to understand method.

I consider this book my bible of chess.It includes ten rules for the opening game, ten rules for the middle game and ten for the end game.My copy of this bible is worn out. I urge a reprinting so that all levels of chess players will benefit. Remember chess is "the game of kings and the king of games."

I have been coaching chess at the high school and middle school level for 13 years. The teams I have coached have between them 6 state championships and 2 runners up. Chess the Easy Way is THE book that I use as an outline for teaching my players how to play good chess. There is no book that is better! Ten essential rules are given for the opening, middle game and end game. These rules are illustrated and expanded with examples. Fine's logical treatment of all of the basic endings is superior! There are class A (1800-2000) players that could benefit from the information in the endings section. As far as strategy goes, Fine offers all of the essential plans for each kind of positional advantage. For example, "If the [opponent's] pawns are absolutely weak, head straight for the endgame." Or, "If the opponent's king is not safe, the plan will be to attack him." There are others, of course. These rules of strategy are simple enough, but to the typical player under 1400 or so they are essential guidelines and prevent the aimless wandering in hopes of finding the right course in a game. It was a revelation for me to read these ideas so many years ago and give logic and order to my games! Thank you to the late GM Fine. If you find a copy of this book and you are a beginner to an intermediate player (under 1600) buy this book and feel your confidence grow as does your understanding!

Fine's Chess the Easy Way is somewhat mis-named. Although the text starts from the rudiments and could be used for self-instruction by an individual who has never played the game before, the tone and point of view are no-nonsense and tell the reader immediately the book is intended for someone with much more than a casual interest in the game. I first was given this book when I was a child. It would probably be more appropriate for a serious high school player. Beginners should be warned that Fine's text takes no shortcuts. He starts at the beginning level but then educates the reader to the level of a confident club player. This presumes that the reader invests the time needed to play through all of Fine's examples. Sometimes it's hard going: Although Fine's writing is clear he does not spoon-feed the reader. Anyone willing to spend the time will be vastly rewarded. I agree with other reviews I have read in this space stating that his examples of openings and some of the illustrative games he chooses are badly out-dated. This is accurate but immaterial: The fundamental principles Fine communicates are timeless. A good re-printing of his book would of course have to change to modern chess notation and would benefit from larger diagrams. Otherwise I think the book could be re-issued unchanged. Those who especially need information about chess openings can seek it in other texts. This is a gem and deserves wider readership.

Certainly one of the best chess books of our time. With his imaginative style, shirov shows the reader how magic can be worked successfully on the chess board, in a way that even the world's top grandmasters can't always counter. Advanced players will enjoy this book as well as benefit from Shirov's detailed explanations. Aided by Shirov's apparent need to criticize even himself and write about the better ideas even he had missed. Beginners however, will not find much use for this book, as the basic positional ideas are taken for granted and not explained, in order to emphasize the greatness of Shirov's great ideas and tactical play.

Please read the other reviews carefully. Like the man said, this book is NOT for beginners. Its NOT an instructional book. (Maybe an advanced manual for GM Tactics?) It is a book for the very discriminating connoisseur of the Royal Game. And you should be a fairly good chess-player with an above average grasp of chess tactics to "really get" whats in this book!

I found a few errors in this book. I also found one instance of the same line being analyzed twice with a different conclusion in each case! (Transposition.)

But for the most part this is an incredible chess book, crafted with great loving care by the authors. While it is probably over the head of the average chess player, the earnest student of the game will find much pure Gold here to mine!! Another warning: if you are the lazy type of chess player, you probably won't get much out of this book. Buy it ONLY if you are looking for a real challenge!!!(Understand: I am a Master, and many times the variations left me just scratching my head!!) This is the one chess book that, "Is looking for a few Good..." (To borrow a phrase.)

Shirov is one of the strongest grandmasters in the world today, and this is his magnum opus. It's right up there with the collections of Tal, Fischer, Keres, and Larsen. Don't even think about passing it up!

Don't believe those reviews that describe this book as suitable for advanced players only. I could enjoy this book without a board and pieces. The prose is somewhat limited.

All players deserve to be encouraged to look at his games.

Fantastic games and a good chess writer. I learned (and am learning) a lot about sacrifices and tactics from this book.

A man is poisoned during a chess match, and Wolfe gets called by the daughter of the arrested suspect to clear her dad and find the real killer. Naturally, Wolfe must do this while staying firmly ensconsed in his Manhatten brownstone, while Archie Goodwin does his legwork. The story quickly develops a natural suspect after an initial series of interviews of all the people surrounding the death. But it also takes an interesting twist when another dead body is found. I enjoyed that just enough clues were left in the story to allow me to figure out who the killer was just before Wolfe announced it. Here's a hint ... the method of murder was a little different than you may originally think it is. Enjoy!

For some reason the Amazon listings don't include the audio CD version of this outstanding book.

Michael Prichard's reading style is ideally suited to this great story about chess players and the "perfect murder." The variations in personalities at the Gambit Club prefigure the chess stars of the 70s.

From a view of character study, this one is really, really good (and great to listen to also).

My 5th Nero Wolfe book, and I loved it. I caution new readers that the Nero Wolfe books are an acquired taste. For women the Wolfe character is edgy. But, this puzzle of who poisoned what, etc. really grabbed my attention, and I dreamed about it for days (a good sign for me). I can tell that I'm finally getting into these books because I envy Wolfe's life. He's a recluse, and that's my big goal in life -- a recluse with lots of help to do my chores. It'll never happen, and that's why reading these books is satisfying a longing in me.

For anyone unfamiliar with Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mysteries I'd highly recommend this novel. While it is not my favorite of Stout's Nero Wolfe stories, it is a nice introduction to to Nero Wolfe and his confidential assistant Archie Goodwin. Wolfe is a 285 pound orchid collecting genius of a detective who almost never leaves his office for work. he can be cranky and avoids work whenever possible. Archie is a sarcastic ladies-man who's job is to do the leg work for Wolfe as well as keep him focused.

The opening sections of the book illustrate the quirks of the main characters and as I said make a good introduction for new readers.

The mystery itself is interesting and full of the twists and turns that I have come to expect from a Nero Wolfe novel. It is written in Stout's signiature sytle and kept me guessing for much of the book. In the end, Stout does a good job of tying everything up and showing the logic behind the solution and how Wolfe and Archie got from point A to Point B to the solution.

A Review by Alex

Jerin is playing the usual twelve players with messengers running in a room with Jerin alone telling the layouts of each board. A man had come in with some hot chocolate for Jerin. The man's name was Blount. Later that night, Jerin dies and Blount is thrown in jail because they all think he did it. Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin have to solve the mystery and see to it that Blount is innocent. The only way they can solve it is the use of his daughter, Sally.

I really love and enjoy the fact that this book makes me think and makes it so I use my brain a little. It is a mystery, so therefore I have to be smarter than Archie. I was always trying to figure out if it is someone or not and when I read to find out it's not one person I try to guess who it could be. This book also gave me suspense, I got so excited when they were about to do questioning with someone like Sally or the mother. I always find out something new and clues of the killer. This book was also a perfect read when it came to pages, only 137 pages and the text was a bit on the small side but still made it a perfect size. Not too quick and not too long. This book always gave me a surprise.

This is a great mystery for those who love to use their brain figuring things out. Gambit is a really exciting book to discover new suspects and an unexpected murderer. You will dive into the book and not want to put in down caused by the eagerness to read about who did it and why.

As someone who took up chess late, I faced the challenge of trying to find out a bit on different openings and what would be best suited to me. There are huge resources in any specialised opening but this overall guide to the types of openings has a clear help. Instead of trying to guess 2-3 moves of a reply, you get a clear explanation of white or blacks plan to move into the middle game. I've met Sam Collins at tournaments and duely said "Thank you !" on behalf of the adult learner.
Without doubt in my mind, this book has helped provide a straight forward, uncomplicated structured approach to finding your way out of the beginners to a competent club player...and even beyond.

There is always work to be done in improving but this is an excellent book to put you smack in the centre of making the best informed choice of what opening or reply you can take on.

Excellent work Sam, Get to the Cork congres soon so we can get you autgraphing books !

This book should have been entitled "Learning the Major Chess Openings". It organizes the main opening lines and many sub-lines well, and it's a good reference if you want to learn the difference between say, a Scheveningen Sicilian and a Najdorf Sicilian, but it does little to help you "understand" these openings.

As is typical with most worthwhile chess books, the text contains a lot of strings (and stub-strings [and sub-sub strings] of moves, and it can get confusing. My objection is not to that, but rather to the fact that the explanations as to why one move is correct and another is incorrect are often so perfunctory as to be completely unhelpful. Over and over again, I found myself asking "why?" Clearly, this book wasn't helping me "understand."

As an alternative I'd suggest John Nunn's "Understanding Chess Move by Move." His book takes the approach of examining specific games to explore various themes in chess, not just the opening, but it will give you much better insight into the "why" of the opening moves than Collins's book. My one quibble with Nunn's book is that the Table of Contents does not specify the opening for each game (I've taken to handwriting them in myself).

So, alas, I guess we'll have to wait a little longer for the definitive replacement for Reuben Fine's classic, "Ideas Behind the Chess Opening," still arguably the best book on opening theory but now a little out of date.

Well-covered by other reviewers, I feel compelled to add my vote for this rare, well-written chess book. I've played chess for years but just recently started getting serious about getting a decent rating. While Reuben Fine's book is often referenced as great for understanding openings, I found it to be impenetrable. Meanwhile Sam Collin's book has become my first go-to book for getting a basic understanding of what an opening is all about. His writing is crystal clear, and he gets you straight to what the opening is trying to accomplish. Other books, like Modern Chess Openings or Standard Chess Openings, can then be used to examine alternative variations, but speaking for myself, I really need to start from Collins to get the strategy behind the opening first. I find this book to be an essential reference for a beginning or intermediate player.

There are many different openings books which focus on different aspects of opening play. This book is like a survey of the territory and covers the most likely openings to come up and the many variations of each. What I most like about it is that it is logically organized, well-written and easy to follow. It includes commentary, but the commentary is not comprehensive. This good or bad depending upon what you are looking for in a book on openings. In short, the text gets to the point with respect to the major tactical advantages and disadvantages of particular openings. However, it doesn't cover any of them in great depth.

I like this book because it doesn't repeat a lot of the ground covered in other books. It is a small volume at less than 225 pages of many different openings and the MOST important points about each. This makes it a great reference book to get one started with a particular opening. However, you need something with more depth to go along with it.

I am sometimes "turned off" by chess books which are 1,000 pages with very little text or diagrams. This is a bias that I have and learning anything sometimes seems overwhelming. This book strikes a nice balance between text, diagrams and presenting a series of moves. It makes the content more digestible and because of how its organized, easy to learn.

As far as I am concerned, this is a MUST own book for a serious chess player and particulary for someone transitioning from the beginner to advanced beginner or early stages of intermediate play. It uses modern notation and it is extremely well thought out with respect to layout. Both the author and the editor did an excellent job!

This book WILL help you to improve your opening play. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to any player and if you are turned off by poorly organized or cumbersome large volumes, you will like it even more.

This book is very well organized. I am very pleased with it. By playing several of the openings in the book I have found myself (finally) able to defeat the computer at chess at levels where I couldn't do so before. I have also learned which openings are to be avoided as well, that way I don't have to spend time memorizing all of them. But it is still important to understand why some openings aren't good.