good book on openings for beginners? by pandolfini?

Im starting over after forty years. Does anyone have a suggestion regarding a good relatively short book on openings for beginners or near beginners?

I am a beginner and I have been enjoying Traps and Zaps by Pandolfini. It has 202 short games ( openings). There's lots of good little short lessons and advice on not getting blown out of the water in the beginning. I've found it very helpful.

Thanks guys! Feedback on my posts for the last two months is one reasons this my favorite chess website. I hope one day I will progress to a level where I am able to humbly help others in the way I have been helped in a relatively short time

I think I've found the answer to my question -51 chess openings for Beginners by by Bruce Albertson. It's very readable- it's in algebraic notation, every move is diagrammed, every diagram has a commentary, etc. The diagrams are large enough so there's no squinting involved. The prose is conversational. I recommend it for readers 12 and up and players rated from 500-800/900.

Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014)

http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html

Others have recommended that book too. I'll consider I after I see if Albertson's book helps me improve my play in online competition or against computer programs. Thanks so much for responding to my query

as an older player why not try something in descriptive notation.....im reading the ideas behind the chess openings by reuben fine in beautiful descriptive. I found mike basman's "chess openings" by crowood press to be good too

Traps & Zaps?? Possibly the worst chess book ever written. Bizarre openings which no one plays, zero practical value. 

Don't take my word for it, read the reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/Chess-Openings-Traps-Fireside-Library/dp/0671656902/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

Actually, I don't think Traps and Zaps is all that bad for a beginner, it's more about solving tactics problems, but the problems illustrate some of the basic blunders to avoid in the double king pawn openings.  There is a bit of prose after each problem that discusses the features of the position.

Hi again everyone.God bless you for your continued suggestions and support. Be advised I'm reluctant to buy Traps and Zaps bc of the harsh reviews on Amazon.But I have Beginning Chess and Weapons of Chess by Pandolfini and love them. I'll reconsider Traps and Zaps. Btw I bought a Premium membership on this site bc of the tactics trainer. Re: Silman- I know everyone raves about him.I've read excerpts of Reassess n TAMind. The are for now above my cognition. Plus, more relevant is the fact that I'm not ready yet for the big jump from playing tactically to thinking strategically.

I've found Daniel Rensch's stuff here about Opening Principles to be just wonderful! Also I like Logical Chess by Chernev so I suspect I'll like the late Mr. Fine's stuff too. And Tamburro is an option too..Thanks again for your help and I wish that all of you will prosper both on and off of the chessboard :-)

pando's abc's of chess is a good place to start. teaches principles of the opening phase. I would be much stronger if I hadn't wasted so much of my study time on opening theory and instead , working through books of puzzles . memorizing opening lines will take you to the next level AFTER you have already become a relatively strong player. memorizing lines without knowing tactical motifs is a good way to lose every game in 30 moves or less. but on the other hand I would bet there are superstrong players who don't know much theory at all beyond move 8(and that's only because they've been down that particular road so many times).

Pandolfini seems to be a delightful personality, but I must say that I do not recommend his books at all. They seem to be written for 9 year olds (No intended disrespect to nine year old intended). The only person that writes worse books is Eric Schiller who should be banned. GM Yasser Seirawan writes great books, especially his end game book. There are plenty of beginner books around, but Pandolfini's don't really help.

Seirawan has a great series of books called Winning Chess. 7 books that can easily help you rocket your skill from beginner off into the club levels. You can youtube some of his lectures too- great guy, excellent lecturer, I highly suggest you look into that book series of his.

http://www.chesshouse.com/Winning_Chess_Series_Titles_p/z100.htm

The primary purpose of the 2006 book, Discovering Chess Openings, was to discuss basic opening principles, but, along the way, author, GM John Emms, did give some information about various specific openings. At one point, he wrote, "If you find an opening here that appeals to you and you wish to find out more about it, the next step would be to obtain an introductory text devoted entirely to that subject."

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf

"Throughout the book Emms uses excellently chosen examples to expand the readers understanding of both openings and chess in general. Thus equipped the student can carry this knowledge forward to study individual openings and build an opening repertoire. ... For beginning players, this book will offer an opportunity to start out on the right foot and really get a feel for what is happening on the board." - FM Carsten Hansen

"... a good opening book can open up new vistas that you would probably not discover for yourself. ... I feel that the main reasons to buy an opening book are to give a good overview of the opening, and to explain general plans and ideas. ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)

Last night I read a sizeable sample of Tamburro's book and liked it so much I bought it! Once again I offer my thanks to all for the feedback and i am grateful especially for the effort and maturiity manifested therein. Please continue put your two cents or more in and I'll continue to keep you updated

I do not know if this is the method that DavidDeMar used, but I believe that it is possible to see a fair portion of the beginning of Tamburro's book by going to the Mongoose Press site.

Actually Amazon Kindle sent me a free sample bc I was reading the Amazon reviews after the poz stuff about the book in this forum-topic. I wd also like to say that I continued to 51 Openings on the subway tonight and I think I still like that too. It's helped convince me I should start with the main line of the French as Black for now. Hell I'm just impressed w myself that I actually wrote that sentence and I know what it means. One year ago that wasn't possible.that's a great thing about having a growth mentality. It's very rewarding to recognize it when you feel yourself blossoming and certainly not as traumatic as adolescence....

I'm trying to create a thread along these lines so I guess I'll post here.

Does anyone have say 4 or 5 standard openings that all beginner players should familiarise themselves with?

As white start with Ruy Lopez and Giuoco Piano and as black as I recently wrote I'm comfortable with the French. As someone how is only back in this game for 1 year I don't think I have a right to advise you more than that.but I can tell you that if you are really a beginner i.e. you are still learning tactical techniques, etc. I STRONGLY recommend that you start with building a foundation in core opening principles. It's advice that's repeated here over and over again. 1 year ago I didn't understand why that was such good counsel. I was certainly age mature but not chess mature. I really apprehended a great deal from Daniel Rensch's article on this

Also stick to e4 openings for now but you might want pick a d4 one for fun/variety