Games Books

I purchased the Cute Book by the same authors and loved it, so I purchased this book as well. The dolls in this book are identical to the Cute Book, except they are larger and more three dimensional. There are only two new characters, penguins and a smaller sprite. If you don't already have the Cute Book, this is a great one to get. If you have the Cute Book, you may not want Cute Dolls. You would probably be better off enlarging the patterns like the Cute Book suggests in the begining, because that is what Cute Dolls ended up doing. If you want new designs, definately get Fun Dolls instead.

I have really enjoyed looking this book over, and have chosen more than one pattern to try. the patterns and directions are clear and concise.

I dont know how to use a sewing machine and the instructions in the book were super simple with great results.

In "The Cute Book", readers were treated to patterns for making small felt versions of many of the Aranzi Aronzo characters (if you aren't familiar with the Aranzi Aronzo characters, check out the Aronzo website, '[...] - they're sort of like the Sanrio/Hello Kitty characters, only with more personality). "Cute Dolls" is another book of patterns for making Aronzo character dolls (18 patterns in total), but this time, the patterns are for full sized (8 - 12 inch) dolls, most of which are made from jersey cloth (t-shirt fabric).

As with "The Cute Book", the patterns are very easy to follow. The instructions are fully illustrated, making it so that you don't even need to read the words in order to make these dolls. The book is beautifully presented, with colour photographs throughout and the captions on each of the pictures are hilarious (for example "Make us cute or we'll be angry!").

This is the second book in the Aranzi Aronzo "Let's Make Cute Stuff" series. People who enjoy this book should also consider purchasing the other books in this series: "The Cute Book", "Fun Dolls" and "Cute Stuff".

This book is AWESOME!!! I love it and I am definatly going to buy all of the other corasponding books. When I actually made the white bunny it was so easy and fun. All the fun directions really make you read everything before you start, so it is very informitive. SO SO SO HAPPY!!!

Toby Dillon only partially grew up. Yes, he's a lawyer. But he only does that part time. The other part of the time, he is the assistant tennis pro at the country club where he lives.

Toby has stumbled into the adoption business, helping couples navigate all the legal proceedings necessary to make their new child officially their own. It's a specialty he loves because it allows him to help people.

His latest clients are really special to him. They are Hollywood power couple Brogan Barlow and Rita MacGilroy. But to Toby, they are his best friends. The three grew up together in a tiny town in northern San Diego county. So, naturally, Toby is anxious to help them.

Things go well, and the news of the adoption leads off a whirlwind press tour that Toby becomes part of.

Then comes a phone call with a shocking revelation for Brogan and Rita. Naturally, they want to question the birth mother, but she has disappeared. What's really been going on?

Let's be clear, I loved this book. Between the humor and the twists, I couldn't put the book down.

The story starts a little slowly, with frequent pauses to give us some history on Toby. We do need to get to know him, but frequent flashbacks are a bit of a pet peeve. Still, that was the only flaw. Once the story gets going, I could not put the book down, staying up late a couple nights in a row to read just a little further. The plot twists and turns all over the place, yet I found every one of them logical and believable. And the characters were real. Toby, Brogan, and Rita felt like true friends by the end of the book. And as the book progresses, we are drawn into a darker and darker web.

Author Randall Hicks has created a new series that shows lots of promise. I can't wait to visit Toby and company again.

I love discovering new authors. He really writes mystery/suspense well, but his humor was what made me love the book. He is a 'hoot'. I do enjoy suspense, but if you can add humor - WOW! In my book, he's got it all. Oops, one more thing, he knows adoption, and that's the basis of this book, although this is fiction. What people and criminals will do for a baby! I'm waiting for his new book, Baby Crimes, which comes out in 2007.

Baby Game deserves a much higher placement among Amazon rankings! New author Hicks introduces a new kind of hero with Toby Dillon, a lawyer who's an adoption specialist. Toby brings an unusual background to his job: two years in the Peace Corps followed by law school courtesy of Uncle Charlie.

Toby's one of those tough athletic bachelor heroes with brains -- like Brady Coyne with a lot of rough edges. For a first outing, he helps his childhood friends adopt a much-loved child under bizarre but just plausible conditions.

Hicks cleverly introduces the hero and his past, although at times I had trouble keeping the dates straight. Law school - before or after Peace Corps? Must have been after. A few incidents were a little slapstick. Hicks has to remember that mystery readers tend to identify with upscale values. Robert Parker has this awareness dodwn to an art form in the Spenser series.

And I suspect we'll get gliimpses of the hero's Peace Corps life as the series goes on.

I don't usually like mysteries featuring characters who are supposed to be famous. And I find it hard to believe famous actors realy are so nice and humble and down to earth.

But I didn't feel at all tempted to stop reading or even look ahead, as I do with some authors who are far more established. I really wondered how all the pieces would come together. Hicks knows how to tell a story and I enjoyed getting an insider's view of adoption law along the way, even though I'll never adopt any creature that doesn't come equpped with fur, whiskers and paws.

Let's hope Hicks develops a following and gives us more adventures of his misguided hero.

Hicks has written a particularly engaging character in Toby. I also appreciated his making the celebrity couple real, grounded people. There was interesting legal information which didn't bog down the story, and some good twists along the way. But it was Toby's relationship with his grandfather was particularly touching. The book is a bit mystery light, but is an entertaining first book and a series I shall definitely follow.

The Baby Game is one of those rare books where the improbable works seamlessly. The serious parts make the hairs on the back of your neck tingle and the funny parts are laugh out loud hilarious. An ex Peace Corps, assistant tennis pro, home schooled California attorney, who drives a Ford falcon convertible with a wooden cigar store Indian permanently wedged in the passenger seat sounds like the loser of a Dumb and Dumber contest, but Toby Dillon turns out to be believable, lovable, and competent, in roughly that order. The plot is deliciously twisty and at the halfway point, I still had no idea who the bad guys were. Although there is real jeopardy, there is still some question at that point as to whether a crime had even been committed. Well, actually Toby was well along the way to the five felonies he commits in the course of the book, but otherwise...All is well that ends well and the ending of The Baby Game - "And then I kissed her." The best way to describe it, The Baby Game is similar to Lawrence Sanders' McNally series, only a whole lot better.

As a USCF 1790-rated player, i bought this book for a quick tactics refresher. I read the book, solving all the puzzles in a few days (while noting major errors on examples 2-70 [1...Kh3] and 2-120 [1.Ne4#]) The #1 greatest tactics primer is still the immensely enjoyable book, Winning Chess: How To See Three Moves Ahead. This book by Heisman not as enjoyable, but a bit easier and therefore perhaps an even better starting point than "Winning Chess". Also worthy is Chess Tactics (Batsford Chess Book).

Especially valuable for the improving player are Heisman's early sections on "counting" and piece safety, because proper evaluation of a tactic is impossible without accurately tallying the "body count" of a series of exchanges. (while being mindful of any "zwischenzug", of course!) The only other book that competently covers "counting" ideas is the VASTLY underrated Lasker's Manual of Chess, though Lasker labels the idea something else that escapes me at the moment.

Make no mistake, B2B:T is about how to win material. There were times when i would think twice about snagging a certain pawn because i imagined it would grant the opponent some sort of extra piece activity (counterplay), but on checking the answer i saw that Heisman's comment was only, "wins a pawn." That is probably well enough, as the book's intended audience is usually afraid of phantom threats when they ought to simply win the material, and usually in a game i'd probably end up taking the pawn anyway. There is a short section on checkmates, but it is insufficient in itself. You will NEED The Art of the Checkmate and (secondarily) How to Beat Your Dad at Chess (Gambit Chess) to complete your basic study of checkmates.

This book is full of practical pointers and wisdom, many of which go a long way toward instilling objectivity in a player rather than emotions like hope, fear, greed, overconfidence which invariably spell poor results at *any* level.

This is a solid & worthy 4-star book for its stated audience (under 1500). Higher-rated players can read it with very little time investment (while unfortunately paying the same purchase price), so the book can benefit a wide range of players.

I was familiar with Dan Heisman's articles on a popular website, but this is the first book of his that I've come across. Like his articles, it is intended for chess players from beginner to average club level. Also like his articles, it is characterized by clear and logical writing, with well chosen content reflecting his vast experience as a chess teacher. One of the things that separate this book from other tactical books is that it covers what Heisman calls the Counting tactic. This refers to positions where a piece is attacked and defended a number of times, and the player must count whether a sequence of captures leads to a net material gain. It also covers the possibility that the defense is inadequate due to defending pieces being more valuable than the capturing pieces. For a lot of the kids I coach, this is one of the main tactical issues they face in every game.

My rating is just above 1000 and this book has perfectly organized presentation on the common tactical techniques that I need to improve my mid-game. It may be too basic for 1500-rated players, but for me it is the best chess book I have ever read.

I am relatively new to chess study, and found most puzzle books just a little too hard to really deal with. I bought the Reinfeld books and just felt lost.

Then I saw a review of this book and decided to give it a go. MAN, has it helped me. Heisman gives a wonderful primer on each type of tactic complete with a section of puzzles just on that tactic. Then he goes into a section of checkmates, and a wonderful (and difficult) section on defensive tactics.

Finally he wraps it up with a long section of puzzles that cover all the various subjects in the book. This is a wonderful book for those who are new to chess tactics and feel a little overwhelmed by the various puzzle books. I know the book is working because while going through this book I would get one of my Reinfeld books and open to a random puzzle and more times than not be able to solve it! Before, I was just staring cluelessly at the Reinfeld puzzles.

This a great book written by someone who takes education very seriously! Highly recommended for those who need work on basic tactical understanding.

I'm around a 1200-1400 player trying to improve. Most chess books are unfortunately excruciating to read. With the exception of Logical Chess : Move by Move, most books are a chore to sit through. I've had a few other books on tactics, but just working through problem after problem with no explanation gets old fast. "Why is the move that I thought about a bad one?" "Doesn't this move win as well?" "What are the basic patterns of a certain mate or tactic?" These are all questions that most of the books don't answer, but Heisman's book does! There's text and even essays on certain themes and tactics, to make sure that you understand what they are and how to use them. This book includes Double threats vs double attacks, opening traps, checkmates, defensive tactics, how to avoid tactical self destruction, as well as the usual removal of the guard, forks, skewers, pins, discovered checks, and trapped pieces. It's all there with more than adequate explanations ,as well as helpful tips and mini articles scattered throughout. This is definitely easy to read and that makes a huge difference. It doesn't matter if a book has 10 million problems if it bores you to tears going through it because you'll never pick it up. I'll be lloking for some more Heisman books later on. Great work !

Although the information in this book is now a bit dated because technology and new internet things keep going so fast, it's still worth getting. The only really outdated thing is parts where he says to play two or three times what you buy in for. These days the rules for online casinos state a minimum wagering requirement and it's all done by computers so there's no need for cover betting like that. Anyways, back to my review... GREAT BOOK!!!! BUY IT!!!!! I am a college kid and I made a nice easy two thousand dollars in a couple months from online casinos thanks largely to teh helpful info in this book. I averaged a little over 30 bucks an hour with all teh extra play and time spent researching-- but still-- it sure beats other forms or working! I got to refresh my basic strategy and play blackjack and make money! It was great! You aren't gonna get rich quick or quit your job, but for some easy extra cash, this book more than pays for itself!!!

An indispensable guide to online gambling. Haywood does a good job of explaining the pitfalls online gamers take. He reviews the distinction between "dairy" and "beef" casinos, the various brands of software, gaming portals, ways to win money, and equally important, methods of wagering to avoid. He explains how you can make bonuses last for you and make money. My only complaint with the bookis that some of the casinos he lists at the end of the book as "dairy" casinos offer small or no bonuses. Nevertheless, I would highly recommend this to any prospective online gambler. Good job, Bill!

great info on how e-casinos work and how one can exploit their bonus offers. great for anyone who wants to invest and make some cash on the side. but if your lookin for a get rich quick book, this isnt for u.

Do not gamble at Internet casinos before reading this book!

Forget about all the other books about Ecasino gambling; Bill Haywood shows you how do it safely. Well researched and written by an experienced land-based casino and Internet gambler, Beatwebcasinos.com tells it like it is....

If you want to make the most of your Intenet gambling dollar and if you don't want to be ripped off this is the only Internet gambling book you need to own.

This is one of the most honest books I have ever read on a gambling subject. The author lays out what it takes to earn money off of casino sign-up bonuses. If you think that you can just sign up, play some hands of black jack and cash out the bonus, you would be well advised to read this book before continuing, it won't work. First you will need a credit card and the ability to pay the bill as soon as the Casino charges arrive, as the author so honestly puts it, playing for bonuses and paying cash advance and interest fees won't cut it. However, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject.

1) The author shows you what type of records you will keep to dispute payment claims.(A lot)
2) How to spot unsavory casinos.
3) What games to play to minimize the house edge (BlackJack, Video Poker) as well a very useful introduction to the games and strategies. Assume you will lose money on these games but your loses will be offset by bonus money.
4) A very clear explaination of variance and how to size your bets, best I've read anywhere. Worth the price of the book by itself.
5) How to handle disputes with on-line casino's to get results.
6) How to bet so you look like a gambler than a match-player.
7) A sample diary of couple of days of betting, so you see if this is really how you want to spend your time.
8) The potential pitfalls in earning referral bonuses.
9) Just about everything else you need to get started.

It's not easy money, but I believe the author gives you all the information you need to judge for yourself if this is a business you want to get into. Believe me, after reading this book you will see that it is indeed a business. Wish I could give this book a higher rating.

I recently received this book as a gift, after having raved for years about the quality of Mr. Smiths writing. Sports happens to be the world in which these stories are set, but he writes about what it is to be human. His compassion and understanding of his subject is so complete that I feel as if I know these people better than most of my friends. His ability to indicate the unspoken thoughts and feelings of his subjects leads the reader to a deeper understanding of humanity, triumphs and failures both.
My only disapointment, as pointed out by an earlier reviewer, is that the collection is not long enough.
I recently re-read a story he wrote for Sports Illustrated back in march of 2001, about a black man who became the basketball coach for a high school in a small Amish community and how he affected the entire town.
I challenge anyone to read this article without feeling uplifted.
A must read for anyone who enjoys great writing.

Gary Smith, a veteran of the sports writing game has brilliantly pieced together this collection of past articles that have made him the most popular sportswriter in the business. A gift to Sports Illustrated Magazine, Smith goes beyond the game to capture the truth in situations the reader never knew about sports legends as well as sports tragic failures. Smith writes about John Malangone a.k.a. the "Damned Yankee," who was foreseen to be the next Yogi Berra. Malangone's story shows Smith's ability to add emotion to his writing, especially in this first instalment to this collection. Muhammad Ali's story is a great one but in Smith's book, he looks at the lives up the people around the public life of Ali. The lives of Ali's entourage according to Smith had it's ups and downs through Ali's struggles and triumphant moments. Perhaps the most fascinating piece in Smith's book is his view of the young Mike Tyson growing up in Brooklyn. From Tyson's ill-temper, and petty theft to his encounter with the great Cus D'Amato, Smith shows the reader what made Tyson a raw and gritty character in the boxing world today. Smith's magnificent collection of sports writing takes the average sports fan to a new level as he truly takes the reader beyond the game.

Gary Smith is a great writer who happens to write about sports. My only complaint: I wish the collection was twice as long as it is. Whether or not you're a sports fan, you should read this book to get a feel for what a master prose stylist can accomplish. Terrific reading.

i'm thrilled to see gary smith's work in a nice collection like this one. in an age of writing catered to us as if we have attention deficit disorder, it's refreshing to have such illuminating work readily available. in college a few years back i was working on a very touchy feature about an athlete, so i called sports illustrated just hoping to consult with mr. smith to get a better understanding of entering intimate and personal boundaries. amazingly enough, he called me back the following day and we talked for about a half an hour. and for a young writer to speak with one of the greatest, i was deeply inspired. needless to say, the story ended up winning a feature award and i am very grateful to him. i hope he not only gets his writing out to more people now, but that he makes a nice buck off it too! the book is worth every cent!

Read the first paragraph of any article in any sports magazine or newspaper and you'll know if Gary Smith wrote it or not. His work is brilliant and unique. Fans of his Sports Illustrated writing who have been waiting for years for a compilation will not be disappointed.

I have reached a point now where I am continuously reading 100 to 200 pages of sci-fi/fantasy novels, then throwing them away and searching for the next Jack Vance work. I keep finding that he has already written entire, masterful books on random notions that I have had about what the next few decades will bring....and he wrote them decades ago. I've been tearing through his work at a steady clip, and haven't been disappointed yet.

For example, I just wrapped up Blue World, which is somewhat of a cross between Moby Dick and The Old Man and the Sea. It's a masterpiece, and more metaphorical and symbolic than most of Vance's works. On one hand it can be read as a straight-forward adventure story about the descendants of shipwrecked starfarers attempting to defeat an aquatic monster. However, it can simultaneously be read as an indictment of religion, orthodox thinking, and institutionalized bureaucracies as being stultifying narcotics that sap human free-will and advancement.

It is amazingly and deliciously subversive. A good read even for those who don't like science fiction or aren't familiar with Vance.

Jack Vance has some great books, but has also written quite a few not-so-great ones. I expected this book, which was originally a short story but later expanded to novel size, to be one of the not-so-good ones. I was pleasantly surprised. The action is fairly constant throughout the first 3/4 of the book. Things slow down towards the final chapters, and the ending is slightly disappointing. Still, all in all, this is a better-than-average story.

Jack Vance is one of my favorite authors although admittedly he has written a few duds. At his best, as in The Blue World, he has an uncanny knack of making his quirky and exotic societies and locations seem real and believable. While Blue World is technically Science Fiction it's really a story of human triumph and ingenuity. A shipload of people stranded on a world without land, who not only survive but flourish could just as easily have been a 16th century galleon stranding its crew on a desert island.

An entrenched quasi-religious priesthood built up over generations to worship a very large & vindictive sea creature (called a Kragen probably after the Kraken of Norse mythology) who demand orthodoxy and are willing to kill those who oppose their views or threaten to harm the monstrous Kragen is soundly based on human experience.

The interaction of those who want to rid themselves of the beast and those of orthodox view led by the "priests" who see the Kragen as a god-like entity to be worshiped and fawned over is at the heart of the story and rings so true it could be describing the U.S. Senate's conservative vs. liberal debates. The justification for war to rid the world of unorthodoxy is as old as time and shows a real understanding of human nature that Vance often uses to advantage.

Blue World is Sci-Fi at its best.

First, to all those who have never read Jack Vance: he is nothing like the vast multitudes of "space-opera" writers of today. And if you are expecting more of that kind of pulp you may not like his stories. If you are willing to let go of your notions of what scif-fi should be, then Vance is the writer for you! His writing style is detailed but very concise, and he rarely (basically never) wastes the reader's time with superfluous space-filler. This means his novels are usually quite short. His stories often have very strong themes (with a subtext of humor) and are generally very believable thought experiments; in the sense that all entities and characters act belivably within the context.

Blue World is a thought experiment. The setting revolves around a society situated on a planet with no land that must rely on a giant sea-plant for all of their needs. There is a strong conflict in the story between the the society (or members of it) and external factors (specifically a giant sea monster), but the real magic of this story is the interaction and conflict that goes on within the society (the sea monster is simply the catalyst, and the general theme of conflict is between religious conservatism and scientific progress). The individual characters in Blue World are generally static and proceed along specific trajectories from the outset. However, this is not a weakness since the interaction BETWEEN characters leads to dynamic and unpredictable results. It is almost as if the whole society of Blue World is Vance's character. It works very well.

A few further notes: the details in this story include a strange "religion" based sea-monster appeasment, comunication systems using towers and an interesting symbolic lights, and a whole slew of well thought out ways to use a sea-plant to build a civiliazation. Very imaginative!

My only complaint, the book is too short! But all great books are and this one leaves a lasting impression.

This was the first Vance novel I ever read- humans marooned on a world without solid land. The themes of human beings as the most alien creatures we'll ever meet, the exotic societies, the strange worlds we are cast down on all combined to a memberable book. Look for how the folks on this planet gather iron; it's an image that has stayed with me for over thirty years.

This was a gift for a boy. He loved it! Success! I love giving gifts
people love recieving. Amazon is my place to shop.
MLC

My son (age 4) after learning his letter sounds has found these books incredibly rewarding. He can read a whole book by himself! The Bob Book series is so smooth that he dosen't even realize that new concepts are being taught with each book/set. The steps are just enough for him to be challenged but still rewarding as he is able to complete each one at his own pace. We were introduced to these through his Montessori school and purchsed them for our home.

We have really enjoyed this series. My son, who just completed kindergarten, has used the series over the course of the year. The cartoons are funny, the text builds from set to set in a logical way. The box design gives kids a great feeling of accomplishment and let's them set goals -- we set up a card with stickers. My son gets one each time he reads a book in the set and when he's done with a box, he gets to go the bookstore to choose a book. The books build his confidence as a new reader and develop new skills in a more gradual and coherent way than other series I've seen, which claim they are for new readers but don't have a logical progression in the language they use. These books do.

My son was anxious to learn how to read, like his big sister! These books helped us to learn sight words, word patterns and actually read.
A great first step!

We love the Bob Books for teaching our kids to read. This one is a great extension of what we've covered so far. I'd love to have all the Bob Books for my kids.

must buy for the beginner reader!
My son is 5 and NOW can read all of the Bob books. He really loves them and we don't have to "make" him read them. I highly recommend the entire Bob Book collection.

The Bob Books series have been great for my homeschooled five year old. He has gone from just knowing his basic letter sounds to reading or attempting to read most everything he can get his hands on in about four months. These books were great for practice and building his confidence. I highly recommend the series.

I love the BOB books and so do my kids. It gives them great confidence. I now have all 5 sets and can use them over and over again with each child.

My son is learning to read- these books are a great way for him to gain the confidence to keep learning. The words and pictures are simple and easy to recognize.

We homeschool our boys, and we could never do it without the Bob Books. I love this one with the Long vowels, because the only Bob Books we had were for 3 letter words. Great addition to our collection.

While not a grandmaster himself, Elie Agur has obviously made a deep study of Bobby Fischer's games. In this fascinating and highly instructive book, he analyzes the elements of Fischer's style with reference to specific games. As Agur says, "Besides being a study on Fischer, it is a treatise on the middlegame at large". Over 300 diagram positions are taken apart, with a page or more sometimes devoted to a single move, its implications and alternatives.

Topics include pawn structure, piece placement, material, timing, strategy (e.g. plans, seizing the initiative, liquidation, and playing for space), clarity, straightforwardness, alertness, reducing the opponent's options, playing to win, practical chances, tactics, technical aspects and overall vision. Fischer's weaknesses are not allowed to pass unmentioned, either. Agur devotes whole chapters to superficiality, misplaying won positions, and typical blunders and oversights.

You can learn all sorts of fascinating details about the great man and his opponents. For instance, Fischer's decision to play Alekhine's Defence against Ciocaltea in the 1965 Capablance Memorial tournament amazed fans. Agur explains what really happened. Fischer was participating by cable, as the State Department denied him a visa to go to Fidel Castro's Cuba in the aftermath of the 1962 missile crisis. Ciocaltea's first move was received as 1. d4 and so played on the board, and Fischer replied 1...Nf6 as usual. Only when the second move, 2. e5 came through was the mistake discovered. Characteristically, Fischer refused to change his first move and achieved a hard-fought draw after a long struggle against an opponent he would often have expected to beat.

For my money, this is a superb book. If I had to choose between it and any other book on Fischer - even his own "60 Memorable Games" - I think I would have to pick this one. It strikes a perfect balance between quantity and quality. Reading it carefully should increase anyone's playing strength, and is sure to afford hours of pleasure. Just one warning - chess theory has made huge strides since Fischer was playing, so don't take any of the opening analysis on trust without checking in a modern reference book.

This book will change the way you approach chess regardless of your playing level. As noted by previous readers, Elie Agur has done a nice job of systematically analyzing Fischer's approach to chess into clear parts (e.g., pawn structures, traps, typical manuevores) clearly for the reader to grasp. The usefulness of this catagorization goes beyond having to fill up a content page. What has not been said is that reading this book actually helps you to integrate almost all the chess concepts you learnt (e.g., tactics, positional chess, etc.) but never know how to go about applying them.

For the more advanced player, I would recommend you taking a look at how Agur, given a chess position with a variety of candidate moves, manage to compare and contrast Fischer's style with other schools of playing chess (e.g., Karpov and Capablanca). This is interesting in itself as this is one clear evidence of chess style at work, and that no particular style is necessarily the best (although Fischer's style has been known to be the most accurate and straightforward in selection of candidate moves).

If you read and enjoyed "How Karpov Wins" by Mednis, you will fall madly in love with this book. Agur has written an incredibly fascinating book about the chess world's most enigmatic personality. What makes the book so outstanding is the breadth and depth to which Agur has analyzed Fischer's playing style. You can learn things here which you would not understand clearly even after reading Fischer's "Memorable Games". He breaks down Fischer's games according to topics like: Style, Defense, Technique, Clarity, etc. I know of no other book like this at this level of detail and depth. I'm not so sure it will improve your playing strength, but it will give you a perfect scheme for playing 'a la Fischer'
A must for any serious chess lover.

This book delivers as the title says. Discussed are Fischer's decisions across various motifs (pawn structure, piece placement, strategy,...) from a diagrammed position. Much of the book can be read without a board depending on your strength. I think this book is more for advanced players, you just need to know things to get the most out of this book. Really the book is about style -- the style of a genius, so no chess player should be without it.

This work is absolutely brilliant. Elie Agur observes much that had previously gone unnoticed in the play of this great genius. However, you will learn much more than simply how Fischer played. From the study of Fischer's "Approach to Chess," you will learn much about the nature of the middle game. This book contains many deep observations about the game of chess: If this same book had been written by a more famous player, it would already be a classic. Buy this book! I would also recommend Raymond Keene's Nimzowitch: A Reappraisal---the second, updated edition of Nimzowitch: Master of Planning.

Excellent book, especially for those who are preparing for a case interview, I would recommend it for everyone. Easy reading and superb explanation!

I've alredy been thru the typical i-banking and consulting interview rush and I only wish I had this book back then. Not only will it introduce you to the type of questions you may be asked, it will also get you to start thinking in a smarter way. I highly recommend this book.

hi! i just wanted to let everyone out there whos interviewing for any investment banks or other jobs that this book will definitly help you out. the author worked in the best investment banks on wall street and gives you common interview questions that will have you very prepared. also, the book is really interesting, and just really fun to read through.

The puzzles and brain teasers presented in this book have been enormously helpful for my recent interviews! i was astonished when top banks asked me the EXACT same puzzles that were illustrated in this book! i HIGHLY recommend this book to ANYBODY who is interviewing at any banks, it will help you tremendously!

I have been going through job recruiting for the past 3 months and I only wish this book had come out earlier. Not only has it helped me sharpen my skills but it contains a lot of the identical questions that I am being asked.