Why not go for :
Patrick Wolff - The Complete idiot's guide© to chess, 2nd edition - 0028641828.
Publisher : Pearson Education
If you don't get annoyed by the title, and maybe change the word "idiot" with "amateur" in your head, this is a good startup book for anybody. Since he is 11 he would have no problem reading it. It is very good written, and quite "pedagogical". Super for kids.
The "ring with C inside" © should actually be a R. Didn't find it on my keyboard. Good luck!
Get some opening books at first teach him open and semi open games- I used GM Ivkov book he says first open, tactical plays should be learnt and then closed positional. And then I would recommend Keres-Art of middlegame and Sokolsky Basics of Opening and Middlegame (The last one is the best, it explains how the center is important, attacking stranded king etc)
right after dad (santa) gave me the book
50 Openings for Beginners
i went to my first Tournament and won 2.5 out of a possible 5
(i could have won that drawn game cuz i was up a queen.... but i didn't know all of the rules and i thought it was a draw)
and i was 11 yrs old that time
And it stil bothers you, lol. Typical chess player...
I gave my 9 year old daughter Bobby Fischer teaches chess and she enjoys it. I also gave her a book with lots of fairly easy problems by Fred Wilson and Bruce Albertson.
She also uses Chessmaster for her Nintendo DS and has a beginner Fritz program (Chesster) made by ChessBase--she enjoys both of these more than the book.
Your son is NOT ready for the Sokolsky or the opening book mentioned above
Don't buy opening books. That's like giving a dictionary to a kid to get him to read. Utterly useless for him.
There are beginner's books that have a little bit of everything. I haven't read the Complete Idiot's Guide that was mentioned earlier, but it's got very good reviews on Amazon.
Or Chernev's Logical Chess: Move by Move? Clear, attacking games with every move explained. Not bad to read that as your first book.
I don't know if either book is fun enough for an 11-year old, though.
Idiot's Guide to Chess is the best 1st book
Yeah, as before; Play Winning Chess & Logical Chess Move by Move are what I wish I started with.
Concerning software, interactive lessons in Chessmaster 11 (or 10) are fantastic.
Ditto for ChessMaster... it is the best for beginners and it does have a alot of exercises, puzzles, and lessons
You might also consider some of the benefits of membership to this site... lots to learn here. The Chess Mentor section is certainly worth the price of admission
I personally started with Chessmaster 11, lots of great resources. Having a membership to this site would also help tons. There are many great beginner exercises in Tactics Trainer and Chess Mentor.
Logical Chess Move by Move is a great book as well. Literally every move has an explanation of why it was made (He comes up with a new way to say why 1. e4 is a good move for every king pawn game). When I got this book I made the mistake of trying to just read it rather than play through the games and really understand each move. I would only recommend this book if you think your son will sit at the chess board with the book and play through the games.
I would choice the Step-method, it is the officially method of the Netherlands, but it is a great way to learn the game better following this method.
There is more information at the following site:
http://www.scholastichess.com/stapplan.htm
I only know danish beginner books. Bent Larsens lærebog i skak is the best danish.
Jon Edward's book in the 'Teach Yourself Visually' series is excellent. It's easy to use, easy to read, has graphics that are second to none, and covers the gamut from setting up the board, moving the pieces, strategy, an introduction to opening principles and some popular openings, various checkmates, tactics, and a nice section on strategy. Good stuff.
And don't forget "How to Beat Your Dad at Chess" by Murray Chandler. Very kid-friendly. Covers all the basic checkmates, including a few sneaky ones. It's a classic!
dad i'm 12
i do beat him
I'd go for Chernev's Logical Chess Moves or Yasser Seirawan's Play Winning Chess - both are well written, clear and cover the basics. (Though I'm told that the idiot's guide is very good for basics too.)
I agree with the whole "don't start with a book of openings" school of thought. Start with basic theory, like the Chernev book, and go from there...
Hi, my 11-year-ols son has just picked up chess. A month now. He has piked it up beautifully and is mighty obsessed. Can someone reccommed a good book for beginners. Or, is some of the chess software good enough to learn. Can someone recoommend a software then. Look forward to a reponse. Will appreciate.