As already said Heisman's books are excellent. Probably the best to teach you good habits starting out.
Amateur's Mind -- Too Complex?
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mateologist wrote:
355over113 wrote:
mateologist wrote:
Silman is a great teacher but you should already be rock solid on the basic chess principals for sound play, The book assumes you are at that level and proceeds to build on the fundementals of analyzing the elements contained in the position to arrive at the appropiate PLAN. of course use a board to study the material as others have stated, but visualization is CHESS may i suggest that the problems presented at the end of the book, you should try to arrive at the proper plan and sequence of moves without use of a board as if you were playing OTB. SILMAN IS SUPERB that is my opinion despite of what has been said in these forums. GOOD-LUCK lol
What would you recommend prior to The Amateur's Mind? I'm just starting playing again after not playing for years. I've done a lot of tactics problems and definitely feel like my fundamentals are improving immensely. Thanks to everyone.
For novice players i will recommend to you what worked for me, CHESS FOR DUMMIES (original version) do not let the title fool you many from my generation consider it the BIBLE for novice players ! you will NOT need to set-up a board the book is about 3 inches thick with diagrams taking you from how the pieces move to WHY and HOW to develope and fight for the center. WHY moves are played in some of the most popular openings are clearly examined diagram by diagram. The book is the pathway to fundementally sound chess. TAKE-CARE !!
Is this the one you're referring to?
355over113 wrote:
mateologist wrote:
355over113 wrote:
mateologist wrote:
Silman is a great teacher but you should already be rock solid on the basic chess principals for sound play, The book assumes you are at that level and proceeds to build on the fundementals of analyzing the elements contained in the position to arrive at the appropiate PLAN. of course use a board to study the material as others have stated, but visualization is CHESS may i suggest that the problems presented at the end of the book, you should try to arrive at the proper plan and sequence of moves without use of a board as if you were playing OTB. SILMAN IS SUPERB that is my opinion despite of what has been said in these forums. GOOD-LUCK lol
What would you recommend prior to The Amateur's Mind? I'm just starting playing again after not playing for years. I've done a lot of tactics problems and definitely feel like my fundamentals are improving immensely. Thanks to everyone.
For novice players i will recommend to you what worked for me, CHESS FOR DUMMIES (original version) do not let the title fool you many from my generation consider it the BIBLE for novice players ! you will NOT need to set-up a board the book is about 3 inches thick with diagrams taking you from how the pieces move to WHY and HOW to develope and fight for the center. WHY moves are played in some of the most popular openings are clearly examined diagram by diagram. The book is the pathway to fundementally sound chess. TAKE-CARE !!
Is this the one you're referring to?
http://www.amazon.com/Chess-Dummies-James-Eade/dp/B0031569S8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323614045&sr=8-1
That is the book there are many updated versions, but for the price and the way the material is presented seems well worth the effort.The original was by far and away an unexpected best-seller the day it hit the market. 
lol
To be honest, I don't think "Chess for Dummies" is even a moderately useful book for anyone - neither for beginners, nor intermediates who want to improve on their game.
The biggest issue I have with it, is that "Chess for Dummies" does not use chess notation until almost the end when the author (James Eade) presents the "10 most famous chess games". Before that, Eade uses diagrams with lots of arrows. While this is supposed to help those who are taken aback by notation, in reality, it comes across as extremely strange and even confusing.
Having no use for chess notation, Eade's book is very talky about the dos and don'ts of the various parts of a chess game (or even a chess tournament!), but the recommendations are never presented or elucidated within the context of what feels like a real game. But it gets worse: While, during the course of his book, Eade tells you about virtually everything - from pawn forcs and bishop sacs over pawn formations and the Sicilian Dragon to knight&bishop endgames - there are absolutely no exercises/tests in the whole book! So if at all, the reader gets something like "knowledge by description" of all things chess.
Sorry, but IMHO this is not at all apt to improve anyone's game.
Bubatz wrote:
People shouldn't have to learn German before they can improve on their chess, should they?
Sorry I just assumed the poster was German because he was posting from Germany...
The Idiot's Guide to Chess by GM Patrick Wolff is very well thought of. I have it and like it alot too.
Bubatz wrote:
To be honest, I don't think "Chess for Dummies" is even a moderately useful book for anyone - neither for beginners, nor intermediates who want to improve on their game.
The biggest issue I have with it, is that "Chess for Dummies" does not use chess notation until almost the end when the author (James Eade) presents the "10 most famous chess games". Before that, Eade uses diagrams with lots of arrows. While this is supposed to help those who are taken aback by notation, in reality, it comes across as extremely strange and even confusing.
Having no use for chess notation, Eade's book is very talky about the dos and don'ts of the various parts of a chess game (or even a chess tournament!), but the recommendations are never presented or elucidated within the context of what feels like a real game. But it gets worse: While, during the course of his book, Eade tells you about virtually everything - from pawn forcs and bishop sacs over pawn formations and the Sicilian Dragon to knight&bishop endgames - there are absolutely no exercises/tests in the whole book! So if at all, the reader gets something like "knowledge by description" of all things chess.
Sorry, but IMHO this is not at all apt to improve anyone's game.
ABSURD !! Any book that was an original best-seller and has been revised for 40 years speaks for itself. But then again some people think that everything Silman writes is Garbage , I consider myself a pretty formitable player both online and OTB and the book (original) certainly helped me. lol
ABSURD !! Any book that was an original best-seller and has been revised for 40 years speaks for itself. But then again some people think that everything Silman writes is Garbage , I consider myself a pretty formitable player both online and OTB and the book (original) certainly helped me. lol
Sorry, I didn't mean to offend. I think the first edition of "Chess for Dummies" came out in the Mid-Nineties - at least that's when I read it. When I restarted playing chess a few years ago, as a "primer" I bought the second edition from 2005 - this is the one I based my comments on. I personally was very disappointed, but everyone has to decide for himself of course. I see a third edition is out since October this year and it seems Eade there has moved the chapter on notation from #17 to #6. This could well be a sign that he may have reworked the book considerably.
chessoholicalien wrote:
Bubatz wrote:
People shouldn't have to learn German before they can improve on their chess, should they?
Sorry I just assumed the poster was German because he was posting from Germany...
You're right, I apologize. Actually, a lot of books from English publishers (like Everyman Chess, Gambit etc.) get translated into German lately because the German chess literature tends to be a bit on the boring side. "Schach Zug um Zug" by Pfleger et al originally have been three books ("Bauerndiplom", "Turmdiplom", "Königsdiplom"), all released in the mid-80ies. They then basically were combined for the 2004 edition, but not really revised - as you can see from remarks about the "current world champion Anatoli Karpov". The books were very good in their time, but IMO did not age quite that well.
Bubatz wrote:
ABSURD !! Any book that was an original best-seller and has been revised for 40 years speaks for itself. But then again some people think that everything Silman writes is Garbage , I consider myself a pretty formitable player both online and OTB and the book (original) certainly helped me. lol
Sorry, I didn't mean to offend. I think the first edition of "Chess for Dummies" came out in the Mid-Nineties - at least that's when I read it. When I restarted playing chess a few years ago, as a "primer" I bought the second edition from 2005 - this is the one I based my comments on. I personally was very dissapointed, but everyone has to decide for himself of course. I see a third edition is out since October this year and it seems Eade there has moved the chapter on notation from #17 to #6. This could well be a sign that he may have reworked the book considerably.
The 1996 version was the 2nd edition the original came out in the late 70's or early 80's and was one i kept for many years loaning it to people who were interested in learning about chess, unfortunately it did not get returned but everybody loved the book ! I RESPECT your opinion but remember when we were novices EVERYTHING including the rules seemed complex !! The book simplified everything using tons of illustrations , arrows , so you could not help but understand the concepts they wanted to convey. But i am sure some of the other books you mentioned are SUPERB so players nowadays should be able to come out of the starting blocks fundementally sound and ready to kick -ass !! LOL
Seirawan's books are good for beginners and you should definitely get some chess software like http://scid.sourceforge.net/ if you don't already have it. It makes setting up the positions and playing over the moves and variations much easier.