Here are some reading possibilities that I often mention:
Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Simple-Attacking-Plans-77p3731.htm
Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev (1957)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf
The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev (1965)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/
Winning Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld (1948)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093415/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review919.pdf
Back to Basics: Tactics by Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708233537/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review585.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-back-to-basics-tactics
Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014)
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/
https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf
Chess Endgames for Kids by Karsten Müller (2015)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/chess-endgames-for-kids/
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/Chess_Endgames_for_Kids.pdf
A Guide to Chess Improvement by Dan Heisman (2010)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708105628/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review781.pdf
Studying Chess Made Easy by Andrew Soltis (2009)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090448/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review750.pdf
Seirawan stuff:
http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/bo_beginner/ev_winning_chess.asp?KATID=BO&ID=BO-Beginner
http://www.nystar.com/tamarkin/review1.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-winning-chess-endings
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092617/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review560.pdf
Chess books for 10yo w/ autism
Maybe try: Winning Chess Strategy for Kids by Coakley
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094112/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review332.pdf
Wonderful! I will start looking at all of these and see which is the best to order for his first book.
Maybe try: Winning Chess Strategy for Kids by Coakley
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094112/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review332.pdf
I also vote for Winning Chess Strategy for Kids, as well as the other titles by Coakley.
- Winning Chess Puzzles for Kids
- Winning Chess Puzzles for Kids, Volume 2
- Winning Chess Exercises for Kids
Your child can actually tackle two books at once, Winning Chess Strategy for Kids as mentioned above, plus one book from list, preferably in the order I listed them.
A book of checkmates? Could that possibly have been Fred Reinfeld's '1001 Brilliant Ways to Check Mate', also known as '1001 Checkmate Combinations'? There's hardly any text in that one. However, there's another one, not with checkmates but with combinations, written by Irving Chernev called 'Combinations - the Heart of Chess', which I think would be very nice for your son. Each position is presented with a short snippet of text, four or five lines, and then the moves are explained briefly as well. It's similar to 'Winning Chess' by Chernev and Reinfeld, but with shorter text chunks, so perhaps a little bit more suitable as a first book.
BonTheCat, neither of those sound familiar. However it sounds like it's a similar idea. This one only had intro text (how to use this book, pretty much), and then the chapters were divided into difficulty based on number of moves required to get the checkmate. All it had was a diagram of a board (you were expected to set it up and play it out yourself), and "White (or Black) mates in X moves."
Helping him find efficient checkmates would be very helpful as he tends to get focused on capturing just about everything. Granted there's not a lot you can do when you've no pieces left but he could have gone for the win much faster.
The Jeff Coakley books would be a good choice. Also "How to Beat Your Dad at Chess" by Murray Chandler might be a good choice.
LOL! Great title. He already knows how to do that though! Poor Dad.
If so, I definitely think the '1001 ...' should do the trick. Just finding the mate interspersed with chapter introductions.
... "How to Beat Your Dad at Chess" by Murray Chandler ...
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093813/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/beatdad.pdf
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/How_to_Beat_Your_Dad_at_Chess.pdf
... Fred Reinfeld's '1001 Brilliant Ways to Check Mate', ...
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5856bd64ff7c50433c3803db/t/5895fafeebbd1a929c6c941e/1486224127049/excerpt1001brilliant.pdf
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/1001-Brilliant-Ways-to-Checkmate-77p3860.htm
Good points, verylate!
Learn tactics first. Simple tactics and calculation are the basis of chess.
Learn to ice skate before you try playing ice hockey. Ice skating is the basis of ice hockey.
The above should be so obvious that almost no instructional books on chess or hockey will even mention it, however, it's extraordinary how most people that have been playing chess for many years are nearly completely ignorant of basic tactics and can hardly perform any calculations at all without physically moving pieces on the board.
I would strongly recommend a few books and other things.
1. How to Beat your Dad at Chess by Murray Chandler
A short book on basic opening and middlegame checkmates and common sacrificial combinations,
2. The Art of Checkmate by Georges Renaud and Victor Kahn
The classic book on basic opening and middlegame checkmates.
3. Chess Tactics for Champions by Susan Polgar and Paul Truong
There have been many books on basic chess tactics. I like this one best because not only does it explain all of the tactical basics very well, but it also offers very well chosen examples of some of the most famous combinations in the history of chess, showing how basic tactics are utilized and combined into lengthier beautiful combinations.
4. A computer tactics course consisting of tactical positions to solve in ascending order of difficulty. Chess Tactics Art (version whatever is the latest) is what is generally recommended. I'm not overly impressed with it primarily because of the numerous errors that it contained, and which no one ever seems to mention, leading me to suspect that nearly no who recommends it has ever gone all the way through it. I much prefer the now out-of-print but still obtainable series by George Renko, starting with Intensive Course Tactics, and continuing with Intensive Course Tactics 2, Killer Moves, and Deadly Threats. They contain many fewer errors and only positions from actual master games and studies that they identify, unlike Chess Tactics Art.
Fred Reinfeld's books of "1001 Brilliant ..." are well known because for many decades they were the only collections of tactical combinations to solve available in the English speaking world. I cannot recommend them because they contain many errors. Starting about 1980 and increasingly since about 1995 there have been many more better tactical problems to solve books published in English.
... Chess Tactics for Champions by Susan Polgar and Paul Truong ...
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708234237/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review548.pdf
... The Art of Checkmate by Georges Renaud and Victor Kahn ...
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Art-of-Checkmate-The-77p3892.htm
How to Beat Your Dad at Chess by Murray Chandler
http://www.gambitbooks.com/books/How_to_Beat_Your_Dad_at_Chess.html
https://www.amazon.com/How-Beat-Your-Chess-Gambit/dp/1901983056
Hello everyone,
My autistic son is rapidly outpacing what I can teach him in chess. He's been playing less than a year, but he loves chess and is gaining skill quickly. He wipes the floor with his brother, Dad, and Paw Paw and is rapidly closing in on me. We also go to a local chess club once a week when feasible and he is able to beat some of the adults.
I have trouble getting him to want to read (it's common for autistic kids to struggle with reading comprehension) but he said he wanted me to buy him a chess book. This is HUGE and I want to capitalize on it.
However, he will likely get lost in books that are walls of text. Small bits are fine, but more demonstration and doing will likely help him retain the information better since it appeals to multiple senses.
I had a book of checkmates (White mates in X moves) 20-odd years ago and I don't remember what it was called, but I think something like that would help his endgame as he often has trouble finding efficient checkmates.
Any recommendations? I think he is at the point where he can start learning about openings and defenses, as well as general tactical play. Pretty much all I can tell him is control the center, develop your pieces, and don't bring out your queen too early.