Puzzles Books

I found this to be the best book to improve bridge for an intermediate player. I've read it four times and learned from each chapter each time. Since one plays defense on half the hands, it provides the best time investment to improve one's bridge play. It is also an entertianing read. I have recommended it to the bridge players I mentor.

Kantar is exceptionally readable, with a sense of humor which makes a difficult subject enjoyable. He goes through much material, but quite thoroughly and clearly. It's a book that needs to be studied - not merely read - but a good student will gain enormously from Kantar's work.

Kantar today is more noted as a bridge instructor than a bridge player. But one must remember that he is both and his latest book demonstrated both the instructional and practical sides. It is (as usual) clear, concise and ro the point. I like Kantar's prose, his ease of explanation and the way he sets just the right tone. Of course, he discusses the bid, the opponent and, most important, keeping track of the play while counting the cards (the one thing that separates the professional from the amateur). Good book with tons of examples.

This is a great book on defense, because Kantar covers almost every intermediate situation comprehensively and give you black and white rules for every situation. He doesn't in this book consider varied leading/signalling conventions but just gives one way to play, but that's fine as he explains his method clearly and shows why he recommends everything he does. I'd recommend it to every player.

The book focuses on leads, signals (Attitude, Count, Suit Preference), and how to card (what card to play in 2nd or 3rd spot), rather than general defensive principles.

The content is excellent, well presented (humorous!!), and best of all, has lots of quizzes. None of this skimming a section and figuring you know it, the quiz will let you find out for certain.

2 warnings:

1) make sure your partner is using the same techniques, otherwise you may get worse results. Its not that the ideas in the book are radical, they are mainstream. But if pard doesn't understand your signal, they may do something weird and you will be worse off.

2) The book is a bit technical (5 situations where this is a suit preference signal. If Dummy wins with a Q then signal count, otherwise ... If you can see the X in dummy then pard will know to do this, else that, etc.
You will need to reread it several times, and probably make notes.

VALUABLE STUFF, but ONLY as part of a partnership that understands each other.

Uncage Faces of Sigil is my Personal fav of the 3 Sigil Books but for a DM running Sigil this is the must have book. I really like the art work and the way the book is written. Gives the DM every thing you need to run a good Campain in the city of doors.

Its an excelent book for players and DMs, there are complete and interesant descriptions of every faction in sigil, and it makes every player to understand the ideology of his faction, i recomend to read the interviews with the factols they are excelent.

This is one of the golden books of Planescape. The descriptions of the factions, the factols and their activities are great. Much cheaper than the other Planescape books (being 160 pages). It's filled with full-color art by DiTerlizzi and has everything you need for the low-down on the Factions. I don't think I'll keep talking about this book, just get it. You won't be dissappointed.

This book expands upon the factions so much from the box set. Besides DM stuff like stats for the factols and other important factioneers, it gives tips for roleplaying and excellent detail on the philosphies. Because the factions are central to the entire Planescape feel, it is extremely important to know them well. Even if your campaign has already been through Faction War (as mine has) I would definitely suggest buying this. It is perfect for bringing up past events and seeing what the future holds for these philosophers with clubs.

I just started reading this book yesterday and it is the best planescape accessory out there. Ever wondered just who the Factols are and what they act like? Is one of your characters having trouble playing a dustman? Want to visit the shattered temple but don't know whats there? Ever wondered where the Sighners came from anyway? Just how should those bleaker NPCs act? How do I join the anarchists? Or maybe you just want expanded faction abilities or want to know the personal plans of one of the factions. All these things and more are included in the Factols Manifesto. Along with a huge collection of great art that you won't find anywhere else including maps of each faction headquarters and a portrait of each factol! Bottom line this is a must buy. If you're a DM and don't have this book yet shame on you!

My 2 year old daughter enjoys this book. She often ask for her I-spy book(s) again and again and sits and looks through the book by herself. It keeps her occupied and sitting still for several minutes and that says alot.

My son is always picking this book these days. He loves to find everything and does pretty well at 2 1/2.

Good starter I spy book for the younger spier in your house. I would say 3 or 4 would be the oldest.

This is a really cute book and would be perfect for a I spy beginner and a younger reader. My child is 3 1/2 years old and she loves I spy books and this is not for her. I gave it five stars because if I had purchased this last year when we were at a different level it would be fine. I will keep it and bring it out when my son is a bit older.

I bought this for my two year old and he loves it. He knows where all the pictures are ( he did before we left the store) an he still sits there with it in front of him for long peroids of time. I am trying to get the whole set. I don't know how many are in the set though and I was hoping that there would be some place where you could buy them in a complete set.

Looking for things to do with my Mother who is in the realms of Alzheimer's Trying to tickle the mind with fun things. These books are great. I enjoy too.

I spy books are always fun and this book is great. I used it as an example for a photography class that I teach at our middle school. The students loved it

I saw the book "I Spy" in a house where I was visiting and had to have it for one of my grandchildren. I found the items they asked you to find, sometimes hard if not impossible for me to find. But I figured that my 10 year old grandson could handle it and find them.
I would recommend it to anyone.

I agree totally with the review from the reader saying " this is a MUST have for the home library ". Our home library has every I Spy book. We love these books. I Spy: a Book of Picture Riddles is a great one to start your collection. As my children 10, 8, and 5 started very young with this book. These books encourage your child to think, to learn, and to explore while they do this with fun and enjoyment. I cannot rave about these books enough because each time you open one up you have a new experience. You will enjoy the many hours of entertainment and time spent with your child as well.

My 2.5 year old son loves this. We make up our own stuff to spy and don't really use the riddles(yet). This is kind of similar to his earlier favorite book(My first word book) which I also recommend. They both have taught him many new words.

Igor Stohl, though not a strong grandmaster, but he had the genius ih annotation of games. All the games chosen are ihstrcutive with deep analysis. one fine point, the lay of the moves are very clear and also
with at two diagrams per page. I strongly recommend those chess players
who have passed the " tactic " and wnat to improve his openigs or positional strength.
I also recommend to book Igor Stoghl ' two volumes of Kasparov greatest Games.

Gambit publisher and the team of Nunn and Burgess (since the Mammoth Book of Greatest Chess Games) have created the standard for all chess-books. Each game has a short introduction, then the game itself with deep and broad variations, many diagrams and ended with a short summary.
The author uses the games that feature in his Czech magazine column, "Game of the Month." In the magazine, due to the space and time limitations, the games are brief and dense. To write this book, he picked many of those old games and a few new ones. The games are from the period 1993-2000. Every year, there are hundreds of GM and master games. To pick the good ones to include and analyze in a book is not an easy task. The selection depends of the author's taste. GM games are almost always good. It's just how the author presents them and adds his/her analysis and comments. That's where the book sells. Here, Stohl uses some of his old analyses, runs more through chess programs, adds more comments. He also uses other commentators' analyses, and surprisingly his chess column readers. This reminds me some chess opening books mention that many opening move novelties have been discovered by chess amateurs. While on this opening subject, I just have one small question. After the author (not only on this book but in general) has picked a game to annotate, if the opening or defense is not in his specialty, how would s/he explain the fine points?
Anyway, the author presents the games professionally, met the Gambit standard. There are deep and many variations. They are way over my level. I could only follow the main line and short variations with lots of explanations. That means the book is still useful to me for many years to come.

The main drawback is that Stohl gives loads of theoretical variations and explains few of them. For example, he'll give the game's move and then show you 2 paragraphs of side-variations that are inferior......but seldom explains why one side is better (you have to be able to figure that out and then know whether you're reasons are correct).

Another drawback: he doesn't explain why a game is a masterpiece. Sure, all the theory and variations he gives are instructive, but what makes these games "masterpieces"? Do they possess some specific quality that warrants the title of Masterpiece? Hard to know, because he doesn't say. (But let's forgive Stohl if the book's title was chosen by the publisher and not by him.)

The book's strong point is the depth and breath of technical analysis. If you want to improve by following a game, analyzing moves, and checking your analysis, this is a terrific book. But be prepared to really apply yourself, because this is strong GM calculating. Be willing to work hard, or you could be wasting money getting this book.

This book is best-suited for players over 2000. Players rated 1600-2000 can use Stohl's book but will understand less of it and won't benefit as much. These players would get more out of books like The World's Greatest Chess Games by Nunn, Emms, and Burgess...much is explained descriptively, making it more fun to read and learn from, but you also get plenty of variations.

I give it 4 stars because it does a very good job and it's a well-written book for it's best audience (Expert and up). Myself, I play at 1700-1800.

I first studied this book with a student of mine just after it was published. He purchased it, we would go over a game or two every lesson or so. Then last November, (2003); I purchased my own copy of this book. I can safely say that I have had this book long enough, and also spent enough time studying it - to do a reasonably intelligent review. (I have also chatted with many friends and students who have purchased this book, as well as having received about 10-20 e-mails as concerning this volume.)

First of all, the book is from "Gambit" Books ... suffice it to say that they have many fine chess books in their line and know exactly how to do a good job publishing a chess book. (Paper, binding, editing, etc.)

Secondly, this comes from a reasonably strong GM ... who is also a chess teacher and an author.

Thirdly, we have the collection. 50 games of recent vintage - no dinosaurs in here. The games are extremely well annotated; sometimes there is a comment after every move during the key part of a game. The emphasis here is on the opening and on tactics, but no phase of the game is neglected. The work here is VERY detailed, as a USCF Master, I found it both entertaining and challenging.

I gladly give this book five stars, even though I had said in the past I would not do this anymore.

There are some slight drawbacks to the book. I would not call them flaws, but I feel it my responsibility to point out a few possible stumbling blocks to a potential buyer.
1. The book is best tackled by someone who is at least 1400-to-1500 in rating. I am quite sure a rank beginner would find this book much too complex and difficult to grasp. (The author could still learn a turn or two from the great Irving Chernev!)
2. I found a few tactical flaws, but to be honest, it took hours and hours to find them using Fritz 8.0. I doubt that even a good 1800 player would notice these if they were not using a very strong chess program.
3. I personally found a few of the variants hard to follow. I also had difficulty assessing a few of the positions. I am sure that the average player would feel the same way, perhaps even a little lost. This could have been resolved by ending each variation with a symbol that stands for which side stands better - and perhaps a brief note explaining why.

And while this might be a very tough and seemingly dense book, I would issue the following challenge. Buy this book, go over all the games and study it in depth. (Take at least a month.) Then every time you go up about 100 points review this book. I am willing to bet this is a book that you would continue to benefit from until your rating has surpassed the authors. (I looked up GM Igor Stohl's rating - ID # 14900025 on the FIDE website ... he is currently rated 2561.)

Stohl deeply annotates 50 games between the world's best players. I was inspired almost as much by Stohl's analysis as I was by the games themselves. There isn't a one-sided massacre in the book. Not one game where a Super-GM plays like God and a garden-variety GM or IM sleepwalks all the way. Even the games that look like they're going to be blow-outs have nice comebacks by the eventual losers. Usually the outcome is in doubt until very near the end.

I don't think this book would be very interesting to anyone rated below about USCF 1700-1800; it's that deep. I've been close to 2200 and I wish I could play as well as the LOSERS played in this book.

Another reviewer thought Stohl let Fritz do all the analysis for him. I'm afraid not. Stohl misses too many things! He even overlooks some winning lines that Fritz and Shredder find instantly and gives inconsequential lines instead. I'm not sure to what extent he used computer assistance; definitely not as much as I do when I annotate a game.

I AM STUCK IN THE TUNNEL AND I CAN'T GET THE THREE FIRES TO MEET. AND ALSO I CAN'T GET THE TWO ANIMALS TO MOVE AWAY FROM THE DOOR.

Hi! I'm in the budah temple, and i can't find the book to give to the green budah. I reallllllyyy need help i'm begging. LOL Thanks

Where is the knife in the aztec world ? please. brwnsele40@hotmail.com

I have looked everywhere for this book and I have not seen it anywhere. can you please tell me where and how I can buy it?

No review I would like to know where to find this book

I found the guide very helpful. It was well written and not at all confusing as many are. My grandchildren like to play the games and try to figure out where all of the items are but when they get stuck we need the book. This is a well put together aid.

This is a great game my son has enjoyed it alot. Highly recommend for children who like video games and legos.

Has a lot of good info as far as it goes. Leaves a lot to be desired but like I said, it's a lot of bang 4 your buck.

This book contains the location of all the items in the game and is overall very straight foward.

This guide is great. It got me through all the hard puzzles and showed me all the hidden treasures. If you get stuck in any level, get this book.

"Mah Jong: From Shanghai to Miami Beach" is a wonderful little book about the history of Mah Jong. The author gives a history of the game and how it evolved into a popular game in the U.S., especially amongst Jewish women of all ages. It gave me a new appreciation of the game and made me want to get out my inherited mah jong set and call all my friends together to play. I highly recommend it to anyone who has ever played the game or who had a mother or grandmother who played or who has a daughter who wants to play. The book makes a wonderful gift for the game lover.

This book is a delight to read and exposes the reader to a lot of snippets of information about the game, its origins, the different ways it is played etc. It is easy to read and I thought the recipes were a great idea. Any newbie or a long time player would enjoy this book. It lists many resources, does explain the American version well and is just a little jewel of a book.

I have never played Mah-jongg, although I'd like to learn one day; however, I found this book beautiful and thoroughly enjoyable. There's a little something for everyone.

I love this game, been playing for three years now and am hooked. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants a fun read that gives you not only a glimpse of the basic concepts, but more of a history of the game and its place in society. Excellent gift for that Mag-Jongg fanatic in your family or group of friends.

Like Mah Jongg tiles themselves, this book is a visual and tactile joy. Nice case binding, heavy weight paper, tons of great photos. Content is excellent too with lots of history, trivia, and succinct instructions for play. This would be wonderful gift book. My only criticism is that dates in the photo captions are sometimes clearly wrong. I think the authors decided, "when in doubt, label it ca. 1923"

I am a party consultant by trade with several large accounts, and this book has provided some fantastic new activities. It is difficult to think of new games and concepts when you have been in the business for a while, so it helps to have an outsider's ideas. The psychic and seance activities are unbelievably innovative! We have modified some of the activities to tone them down for corporate accounts, but the concepts are still very strong and easily adaptable. Considering my hourly charges, this book was a bargain.

I got tired of bikini contests, but it's really difficult to constantly think of new and fun things to do with people. So I did some homework and --tadah!-- I found this crazy book! In the past 4 months, I have worked non-stop and have enjoyed quite a success, due in part to inspiration and general kooky behavior described in this book! I now own TWO copies of "Make Some Noise", one which I carry with me to all gigs, and one that I leave at the club, and they're both well loved and dog eared. This book has been a source of ideas for mayhem and merriness for me, and I would like to keep on keeping on! I am anxiously awaiting the sequel... HIGHLY recommend this fun book to anyone in the entertainment business, whether you're a DJ, band, bar manager, or party planner. You won't be disappointed!

I have read this book, cover to cover, and continually use it as a reference guide to help me increase my club business in West Chester, PA. I would recommend this book to anyone, who wants to be successful in the club business.

I picked up this book a few months ago for some party game ideas to use at my DJ events. I have to tell you I've had things spilled on it, the pages are ratty, the cover is now torn, but I make sure I've always got it with me because I've used this book countless times. Some of these contests are hilarious. I've generated many referral sales and picked up a few nights at a local nightclub as a result of the chaos that the things in this book have caused! Make Some Noise is an invaluable resource for DJs and bars. Also recommend How To Be A DJ by same author - even more awesome marketing tips!

Forget about bikini contests, banana eating contests and all that silly stuff everyone else has been doing the past 10 years. It's no wonder the club business is suffering - it's been incredibly BORING! "Make Some Noise" finally brings some new and sometimes pretty wild contests and promotions to light. I run a mid-sized bar in the Philadelphia suburbs, and this book has been a big part of helping build some really fun nights. We're about to try "Midget Wrestling", and my advance ticket sales have been better than any band I've had here in years. "Barbie Girl" was a total scream! And the local police got involved with "The Sobriety Olympics", which they thought was a great idea to teach people how too much alcohol can impair your judgment. We've even had people go out to their cars, remove their spare tires for a prize! Most of these ideas are sooo out of the box that they're just perfect for this industry. I can't say enough good things about the insight provided by Make Some Noise. Definitely recommended reading for anyone looking for fun stuff to do. Two thumbs up; three if I had another!

I agree with the assesments of the other reviewers. For understanding the concepts and general plan of the French, this book can't be beaten. For more recent coverage and a detailed line by line analysis, use John Watson's book. I couldn't imagine needing any more information than what is contained in these two books. It would probably serve you for your entire chess career.

Everytime I go to the various websites and I read reviews online and on print of "Mastering the French" I read a good review. People say how wonderful it is and how great it is, but common: it uses the illustrative game method of teaching and it goes a little too far with it. If you're starting off playing the French by reading this book, OK its good, but if you have a little experience with it or chess, forget it. The problem is too much exemplary games. I don't completely agree with International Master John Watson, but generally the illustrative method is severely limited. Basically the author presents a game that is meant to illustrate typical themes and in the notes gives a little analysis. I think this book needs a little more analysis. For starters the chapter on the exchange variation is lacking in depth. Its lacking because he never gets around to explaining why Kasparov played the variation the way he did. Exclamation after exclamation mark appears in the game, but it looks to me that white is losing. The whole point of the book is to explain something like that. After all, the pawn structure parts are basically for inexperienced players, so why not explain the game? He also leaves out how to crucially "imbalance" the position to possibly favor black. Watson's book deals with this(its a little harder to win in the boring exchange) .
Ditto for the Wade Advance which he describes as basically bad for black after about four or five moves without explaining the positional features. Its like there's no analysis because its a beginner book, but no explanation of the position either. Seirawan's experimentation in the classical boils down to results (he beat two grandmasters and drew a third) but there's no explanation as to why the first two couldn't handle a6 before 0-0 in the Classical French. I found myself asking lots of questions.

What's a French Fanatic you say? How about someone that owns "Winning with the French", "Tactics in the French", "French Defense 2: New and Forgotten Ideas", "The French Tarrasch", "The French Advance", "French Defense, Classical System", a Monograph on the French Winawer, and last my not least, "MASTERING THE FRENCH WITH THE READ AND PLAY METHOD", the book that puts all the nuts and bolts together. How is one to master a defense if they don't understand the strengths and weaknesses that both players have in the resulting pawn structures and placement of the pieces, and understand the whole concept of what Black's trying to do? All French players should get this book (and the other 7 I mentioned too, but this one, and maybe Uhlmann's "Winning with the French", should definitely come first!!!).

The French defense is on of those openings that you either love with passion or hate it. One of the problems for the black side is figuring out why are certain moves made and what are the plans for black in the different variations. That's all fair but why not categorize the opening by the resulting pawn structures? After all, the pawn squeleton determines how to proceed and how to place most optimaly your pieces.

This is precisely what GM N. McDonald does: He categorizes the resulting pawn structures and proceeds to explain the typical themes that apply in each configuration of pawn structures. His aim to arm you with practical knowledge is superbly accomplished.

However, you have got to have some previous knowledge of the French defense to get the most out of this book. This is unavoidable in my opinion and your repertoire in the French has to be fine tuned before tackling GM McDonald's book [ That is, you must know what to do against a Tarrasch variation, how to handle the advance variation, etc. ]

GM McDonald is very candid in explaining what his aim is and clears up that his book is not about variations of the French defense but general plans for black (and white by default...) That is the reason why I gave him 5 stars. After all, cramping the book with variations and subvariations defeats the purpose of GM McDonald's book and if that is what you are looking for, IM Watson's book "Play the French" is a much better choice [ I use both books for my preparation ]

This review is very long, but it comes from someone with 1,500+ games' experience with the French Defense (live and on the internet). If not for this book, my chess career may have been over before it ever really got started.

Let me begin by telling you a bit about my chess career before I started playing the French to provide a context. I don't think this is a digression; possibly, you will find parallels in it to your own chess development, see why playing the French may (or may not) be a good choice for you, and how this book can literally change your chess tournament life--the way it did for me.

I learned how to play chess at 8, but did not study chess until I was 11 or play in a tournament until I was 12 1/2 in March 1996. So, I felt I had to play "catch up" with other kids in tournaments who had been playing for years. Now these kids mostly played 1...e5 or 1...c5 in response to 1.e4. These two replies were how I began defending against 1.e4, because I thought that this is the way I was "supposed to" play.

I played the resulting King Pawn and Sicilian positions very badly and pretty much got creamed. I was new to chess, and these defenses are what newcomers (kids, and adults as well) are taught to begin with. They naturally had more experience than I did.

I realized quickly that I would a)have to intensely study KPs or Sicilians to have any hope, or b)change to something different. You're probably expecting me to now say I changed to the French...

But I changed to the Pirc! (1...d6 after 1.e4), and found that I did not understand the positions at all (in all honestly, I don't understand them very well NOW, and now I am USCF 1800+). Kids (and adults, as I played in tournaments at the Manhattan Chess Club), had fairly well-defined approaches to dealing with this kind of stuff. After losing a game as a 1000 player in a tournament one day, I decided it was time to change. I played the 2...Nf6 Scandinavian for a time (which wasn't so bad for me, results-wise) before making a breakthrough.

It was at this point (at the end of 1997) that I saw MASTERING THE FRENCH WITH THE READ AND PLAY METHOD in a Barnes and Noble. It was unlike any opening book I had ever seen...and it looked like I would be able to understand it! The book was divided by pawn structures, and each chapter had much introductory material explaining the typical plans for each side! I got the book and read it. And I began playing the French in tournaments.

I am not going to tell you that playing the French Defense gained me tons or rating points or anything like that. I will simply say that when playing I ACTUALLY HAD A CLUE! Just as importantly, my opponents often had (and still have to this day) an often superficial understanding of what THEY should be doing as White. The play in 1.e4 e5 openings is mostly straightforward; this is also true in the Sicilian, if a little less so. With the French, there is usually no glaring target to aim at, and this is where White players get flustered: they understand some basics, but seem to have no concept of the nuances that French players do. In exchange for some activity, you get PLENTY of chances to outright outplay your opponents. If you're a strong Grandmaster life may not be so easy, but even then, it's a tough nut to crack...

I have been playing the French as my main defense (both in tournaments and in casual play, the latter of which I find myself doing more and more on the internet than playing in tournaments Over The Board) since the day I purchased MASTERING THE FRENCH nine years ago. I would add that (in my experience) this opening, more than any other, frustrates opponents to no end. I agree 1000% with the reviewer who said that people either love the French or they hate it. This is absolutely true! Bobby Fischer's poor results with White against the defense are well-documented (the reclusive World Champion later switched to a "side line," attacking the French with the King's Indian Attack--but even here methods of Defense have been refined and there are some underrated lines you can play).

In closing, I feel that the French is ideal for a person who wishes to maintain more control of the game and not wage a wide-open battle, even if this means ceding some initiative. Generally you will win games over the longer haul (but, believe me, you can score some quick KOs with it if your opponents make bad positional errors--and they do A LOT). A lot of people think the French is passive, and that they can do anything they want against it, but that line of thinking is their undoing. If you enjoy giving your "mad hacking" opponents the sense that they are banging their heads against a brick wall, there is no better defense to 1.e4!

This book should be read before any other book you may read on the French. It seems this book is now out of print; I don't care what lengths you need to go to in order to get this book: get it! Don't overly book this opening; instead, understand the ideas and let your opponents' mistakes--er, your own brilliance--do the rest. If you excel at Counterattacking, the French Defense is nothing short of lethal.

Good luck!