Board Games Books

Charushin wrote this book to give examples of, and to analyze, the double-bishop sacrifice which he names Lasker's Combination after this motif's most famous game. IN THIS CONTEXT the book is excellent: he examines "Canonical" Combinations (1.Bxh7+! Kxh7 2.Qh5+ Kg8 3.Bxg7!!, etc.). "Shortened" Combinations (1.Bxh7+! Kxh7 2.Bxg7!!, etc.), "Lengthened" Combinations (1.Bxh7+! Kxh7 2._____ 3._____ 4.Bxg7!!), etc. I think you get the idea.

Clearly, this is not a book for a beginner (I am a Class "A" player). Also, this certainly should not be your one-volume attacking guide! It is a specialized work, and examines a combination that admittedly does not appear very often.

Especially if you play systems such as the Colle-Zukertort with White (with one bishop on the a1-h8 diagonal, and the other on the b1-h7 diagonal) or similar set-ups as Black, this may be quite a good purchase. I recommend it anyway because it adds one more arrow to your attacking quiver.

I have studied all five of Charushin's Tactician's Handbooks and this one is my favorite. In the introduction, there's a quote from Saviely Tartakower that alludes to the concept of, "What you've learned is safe is, in fact, not safe, so you still have to keep your guard up" (my words). This book does a wonderful job of teaching Lasker's Combination and you should also look at it as Lasker's Principle. You do have to practice it through actual play over the board. I've noticed that more experienced players tend to fianchetto when they see the King's Bishop getting posted, but you have to remember this is a strong attack being set up. I have won a few games using this tactic (of which you do have to know cold the certain nuances) and have enjoyed watching the expression of my opponent go from consternation to great concern as he tries to buckle down and plan a winning counter. To be honest, I have also lost quite a few games in attempting this tactic; you must practice it. However, losses notwithstanding, the training you undergo as you proceed through this book really gets you to think in such a different way even if your opponent becomes successful in making you do someting else. Lasker's Combination is an attack that, in most cases, has to be set up specifically, but there are very jaw-dropping alternatives that come from seeing Lasker's Principle (my words).

I also just love how Charushin shares with the reader his own story of chess in his life at the beginning of the book. This book has the most "over-the-shoulder" training from Charushin compared to his other books. It is a veritable eye-opener that makes you think outside the box.

I am a pre-school teacher of three year olds.I ordered this book for my class and the absolutely love it! Even the girls.They ask me to read it everyday.Definitely recommend it.

This little hard back book may be small but it is big fun for little ones. My 4 year enjoys the TV show and now he can take Bob the Builder along with him. The inside is not only a peek a boo but a pop-up as well which holds their attention and adds more fun to this cute well written book. My son just love it and I am ordering more for birthday gifts. I would recommend it to you and your small ones.

This was a great book, we have used it on 2 long trips so far and love it. There are tongue twisters, jokes, and lots of activities for everyone to participate in. A great buy!!

I've seen those ads for minivans with little monitors for passengers in the back seats to watch movies. Frankly, the idea of appals me! Don't our children also need a vacation from TV & movies? How much real life are they missing? How dull will our children's brains become, being force-fed with endless artificial stories?

"Are we there yet?" is a question rarely asked when you bring MILES OF SMILES along on your journeys. It is a good book for travellers, chock-a-block with things to do with eyes & brains. Thinking on the move, exercising the brain cells, learning to wrap the tongue around strange words, thinking inside the head, rather than passively, staring into space as someone else's ideas reel into the mind.

In my childhood, the only way we went on vacations was by family car. My mother was the driver, with my father navigating. To retain his sanity, he invented all sorts of brain teasing games. So, I was thrilled when I came upon Carole Terwilliger Meyers' handy little book MILES OF SMILES. It's perfect for a glove compartment or a seat pocket. I have, however, played many of these games with my kids on busses, trains, even 'planes.

MILES OF SMILES is a book that will let you think, use your brain, get to know your family. It has a whole slew of new games to play, which can be adapted to any age passengers. In the Introduction, Carole Terwilliger Meyers even gives parents a clue as to how to entice teenagers into the games.

Pick up a couple of copies of MILES OF SMILES - just in case you lose the first!

The book is broken into four distinct parts: a very important introduction by his surviving daughter, a 61 page narrative of the life of Najdorf, a series of well-annotated games by a very strong Russian Grandmaster and finally some selected endings and moves from his Najdorf's games.

The introduction by his daughter showed a certain viewpoint not seen anywhere else in the book. Much like an introduction to any biography from a loved one. They simply see the man like no one else. The roughly sixty page mini-biography was by far the weakest part of the book and was the main reason for the reduction from five to four stars. An additional minor reason was the shortage of diagrams with many games requiring the use of a chess board to play through the game (some only one diagram for a 25 move game, many two diagrams for a 40+ move game). For the most part, the biography lacked any real consistencies and objectivity. The author was trying to paint a picture of a likable guy but from all accounts, he was much more of a "character" than anything else. This is quite okay, but the inconsistencies about his connection to his wife and daughter (still in Poland) during the war really should have been addressed by the editor.

If you are a queen pawn player, this book is a must read. 90 percent of the games are with white (for Najdorf) and he very instructively shows how to beat weaker opponents with dazzling attacks and combinations born from responses to queen pawn like QGD, Nimzo, Queen's Indian etc.. The only rub is that the opposition in general is considerably weaker due to his location of Argentina. Very few games against the world's best and even fewer with the black pieces. Still, his use of pieces to create attacks and combinations is extremely instructive (to me). The final section on endgames positions is an almost "throw in" and really doesn't add much to the book. The over 100 annotated games by mostly the authors (and occasionally other chess players from the day) is the true gem of this book.

In the end, this is one of the much better "Life and Games" kind of collections and definitely worth the time.

After reading Najdorf Selected Games by Alexander Beliavsky one cannot avoid the feeling of nostalgia.

Imagine a tournemant where you get crushed by former World Champion Euwe after a thrilling fight. Then you take on mark Taimanov one of the new soviet stars and trounce him in a Kings Indian game that will live foirever. Thereafter you thash Tigran Petrosian but thereafter get punished by Efim Geller for treating one of his friends like that. That was Zürich 1953 and those were the days...

Najdorf competed there with a decent although not brilliant result. His mastery in tactics and discoveries in the opening (Najdorf variation and different bransches of the Kings Indian for example) took him to heights only a handful of hard-teaining Soviet could match. Unfortunately he didn't get his chance to fight for the WC 1948 which poosibly was his best chance.

Therefore we remember Najdorf as one of those outstanding players next to WC-level and Najdorfs other life, aside from chess, was probably no less interesting.

That is something of what you will find in Najdorf Selected Games. I would be a fool not to recommend this book. Enjoy!

What an excellent calendar! There's a nice variety of puzzles so I never get bored. But watch out - some of these are real stumpers! This calendar challenges me, and I play Scrabble almost daily. Definitely stay away if you've only a passing interest in the game.

The Offical Scrabble Calender is great to hhave if you like to play Scrabble. I love Scrabble and I love this calender! If you like Scrabble, get this calender!

I was a fan of miffy when I was kid, and now that I'm older I still love that little miffy. It's a great book for little kids and when I have them I'll read them my favorite book to them.

My toddler loves playing peek-a-boo w/Miffy, Miffy's Mom, Dad, and dog. The illustrations are large, simple and colorful. Most importantly the pages are very easy to turn for my daughter who received this book when she was about 11 months old. Each time she turns the page she's rewarded w/a peek-a-boo surprise. I recommend this book for young children and babies who enjoy playing peek-a-boo. (Older children will probably be bored with the simplicity of this book.)

This is the first in a new series of little puzzle books written by 7-dan player Yang YiLun. Yang is a well known teacher of the game who has worked in the United States for the past 10 years. A skilled competitor, he has a knack for devising teaching puzzles that are both entertaining and enlightening.

Justifiably respected for a challenging two volume series entitled 'Ingenious Life and Death Puzzles,' Yang has this time focused on puzzles of a less weighty nature. This small volume contains 80 puzzles, half on rescue and half on capture, which are intended to be worked out in spare moments, rather than in deep study at the game board.

Whether in backpack or back pocket, these puzzles are most accessible, neither too hard nor overly simple. As such they are useful to a vary wide range of players in the sub 1 dan class. Which is most of the players in the world. I don't think beginners should be frightened off either. The printing is simple, but adequate, and the explanations are sufficient. The second volume in this series, 'Tricks in Joseki' is in print, and should be available shortly.

This book is probably best suited for low kyu players that want to breakthrough to shodan level, but anyone with a firm understanding of the theory of Go will get something out of it. It's a book of problems dealing with the title- Rescue & Capture. Through abstract and devious problems, the author forces you think in ways you never dreamed of, and by the end of the book, you should be a few stones stronger. This is a must for anyone serious about the game of Go!

This book is divided into two parts: the first contains problems covering the opening (11 positions), middlegame (12 positions), and endgame (18 positions) and the second consists of 16 self-test games (similar to ýHow Good is Your Chessý or ýSolitaire Chessý from Chess Life).

The problems are very difficult, maybe too difficult for most players. For comparison, I have an over-the-board USCF rating thatýs varied between 1750-1850 (which is at least 80th percentile) and I found most of the problems frustrating. However, Pedersenýs solutions and annotations are convincing: his effort shows and I did feel I learned something.

The ýHow Good Is Your Chess?ý section with its sixteen games is slightly easier going but not to be rushed through. If youýve sped through Chess Lifeýs ýSolitaire Chessý with good results, youýll be surprised at how difficult these games are. The games deserve close to tournament length amounts of time to solve, so much so that I almost felt that I had been the player.

If youýre sure youýre a strong player or highly motivated, than this book might be for you. If youýre relatively lower-rated, or looking for more casual combination books, I think youýd be disappointed here.

This book consists of two parts. The first part comprises brief tests on the Opening, Middlegame, and Endgame. These tests are puzzles positions, usually with some accompanying text to set up a more specific question. The reader is expected not merely to find the best move, but also find the applicable lines of analysis that support the move selection. Credit is also sometimes given for identifying critical features of a more descriptive nature. Detailed and thorough solutions are provided at the end of each test. The second part of the book is a collection of 16 complete games, to be treated in the guess-the-move manner. Points are given for the quality and depth of the solutions, including important sub-variations. At the end of each test and game there is a table for assessing the score.

As a training resource, this book incorporates two proven approaches - deep analysis of critical positions, and interactive study of master games. Readers at the appropriate level (see below) wishing to get both things in a single volume need not hesitate. The problems are interesting and challenging, as are the games. I found the solutions to be thorough, detailed, and illuminating.

Although the score assessments speak to players from casual level all the way to Grandmaster, I believe that this test is best suited for very strong players, perhaps USCF expert and above. I say this because even a player rated 2000 is not expected to score better than 50% of the possible points. If you cannot reasonably get at least half of the credit, then perhaps the test material is too advanced - isn't this more or less true of any subject?

The test are rather brief, especially the ones on the Opening and Middlegame. This limits the value of the scores, which are based on too small a sample. A bigger concern is that the choice of topics is unbalanced and limited. For example, 5 out of the 11 exercises in the Openings section deal with "advantage in development." It would have been preferable to see 11 or more problems each devoted to a different sub-topic. Therefore it is not likely that the tests will help you determine what areas of chess require your further attention.

A much better resource from the diagnostic point of view is Igor Khmelnitsky's Chess Exam and Training Guide. In CETG there are 100 problems spanning a fairly complete range of chess issues, and there is a range of difficulty level to make the test experience meaningful to average players and above. Even more important, the test scores broken into in various categories (tactics, endings, calculation, strategy, etc.) are rigorously correlated against Elo ratings, based a large sample of previously submitted scores. Readers especially interested in the diagnostic aspect of a chess test should turn to that book instead.

I found this a good introductory work to joseki. It did well in that it addressed the principles behind what was going on. As so many others, I would warn earlier beginners (20kyu or less) to wait before studying joseki. Then, when they do, they must STUDY joseki, not just memorize.
I would suppose my only two complaints are that the authors gave not enough attention to what one may do if the opponent steps away from best play. Also, like many strong players, there was no thought given to showing why a final position was balanced or may be good for black or for white. Still, a good book overall.

Well written introduction to opening moves in the corners for players who have progresed beyond the earliest beginner stage. If you are beginning to have a little feeling for the game instead of feeling totally confused, this is a book for you. These opening sequences give an even result locally. The authors (a Japanese and an American professional) discuss how each opening sequence interacts with other areas of the board.

My son loves this book! He got it around 1 yr, and at 2 still loves it! The car pieces fit into matching puzzle areas in the book. And the story teaches opposites, up..down, full...empty, ect. When the pieces are in place it makes a full picture and shows for example a construction site with the approprite truck pieces emptying and filling, going up and coming down a street, ect. My son also loves to just play with the cardboard truck pieces, pretending to drive them across the table, or other places. The yellow cardboard behind the pieces in the front cover slides in and out for storage. It's quite a snug pull tab though, my son is 2 and still can't pull it out himself...so he brings the book to me to get the trucks out. So you might need to help 'em a little bit. It's a very sturdy book also, my son has put it to the test the book and pieces are very thick cardboard.

We loved this book to entertain our kids during church. It's been really nice to help them stay quiet. We also use the animal farm book that fisher price published.