Review: Introduction to Chess Moves and Tactics Simply Explained (Barden, Dover)

The copy I received was used, but this book stems from the era where Dover books were really built to last. Durability aside, I very much enjoyed this book despite it being clearly outdated and containing a few questionable inclusions. The author, Leonard Barden, is a former British Chess Co-Champion and was IM-strength at his peak.

The philosophy of the book seems to be "make the game fun for beginners". It opens up with a section on "Why you should play chess," and the book contains some scattered quips, such as "the pawn... has one characteristic any army commander would heartily approve of: it can only move forwards, never backwards". Chapters 2-3 are based around the rules of the game, with some other terminology mixed in. It's notable that the author makes good use of space by drawing multiple diagrams within a single board split into quadrants. If you can sort through the chaos, it conveys quite a bit of information.

The fourth chapter is humorous, as it lays out an intuitive (if such a thing is possible) way to understand descriptive notation, as well as providing an example "nonsense game" where each player makes ridiculous moves in order to demonstrate most of the possible notations as example. Algebraic notation is nowhere to be found, which does disqualify this book as an effective modern starter manual.

Chapter 5 is about elementary endgames, including basic checkmates, pawn promotion, opposition, etc. The decision to put endgames first is one I approve of; how does one master the complex opening and middlegame if simple endings with just a couple pieces are mysterious? Next is an entire section detailing the relative value of the pieces, first by introducing the points concept, and then another 3 pages listing out exceptions before tossing them out with "the novice should not try to remember all the generalisations".

Chapter 7 and 8 are dedicated to the opening, though there is considerable middlegame advice about exchanges and positioning as well. There follows some opening development principles, and strangely, an entire table detailing where the White and Black Bishops generally go in various opening structures, before again tossing them out with "don't memorize these". After the opening principles, Barden provides a very basic opening repertoire consisting of the Hungarian Defense, Queen's Gambit, and defense against unorthodox openings with Purdy's All-Purpose System; these are provided through example games taking us through the middlegame. I must add that I find the seldom-played but solid Hungarian is so boring it has become interesting again to me.
Chapter 8 is literally just a list of opening traps. I generally think this chapter shouldn't be in the book, due to the false impression beginners may get that winning through trappy play is equivalent to improvement. However, Barden's goal is to make chess fun (translate: win by cheap tricks) which is fair enough.

Chapter 9 is about tactics, middlegame strategy, and positional play. Overall fair in quality, especially the insight that all tactics revolve around either double attacks or insufficiently protected pieces.
Chapter 10 is a "pieces in the ending" chapter, which I'm not sure needed to be separated from the previous endgame chapter by 5.
Chapter 11 is a complete game analyzed, though there are plenty of analytical errors which my big brain can spot instantly (with aid from my chess engine). Chapter 11 is a "what do now?" with a ton of irrelevant or outdated information about British chess clubs and correspondence chess. Obviously this 1964 book says nothing about computer chess, which has been revolutionary and really demands a new book.

Conclusion: Barden's book isn't for anyone in particular these days. It's too outdated to fully introduce a beginner, but too simple for a returning player. There are some nuggets of advice which an intermediate player such as I had never heard before, and the idiosyncrasies of British humor almost make up for the idiosyncrasies of the content and formatting of the book. I personally enjoyed this book for the literary value, but if you want a full introduction to chess look elsewhere. C+ for you, but in my heart it's a B.