Product Description

International Master Michael Basman puts 20 years of experience teaching children how to play chess into this systematic, succinct, and thorough book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #471621 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 48 pages

From Booklist
Gr. 4-8. International Master Basman puts 20 years of experience teaching children how to play chess into this systematic, succinct, and thorough book. Dedicating each page to a different topic, he guides readers through the rudiments of the game, from explaining the pieces and setting up the board to special moves, essential techniques, and attack and defense strategies that players must know to win. Especially interesting for readers entirely new to the game are anecdotes in the "Check it out" section, which explain the origins of chess and how the game has figured in literature, language, and even history. A solid introduction for novices and good for skilled players wanting to develop their strategies and find out about chess clubs and tournaments. Roger Leslie
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Michael Basman became hooked on chess at the age of ten and has been playing ever since. Since becoming an International Master in 1981, he has dedicated his time to teaching school children how to play.

Customer Reviews

Awakening the mind's power in "friendly rivalry"
My nearly-teenaged son's embarrassed by the title when I've carried it in public to study, but he and I have managed to learn (some of) the basics with ease thanks to the clear illustrations, concise explanations, and large format. As with any Dorling Kindersley book, it's attractively designed. Like Daniel King's "Chess" primer (reviewed by me recently here), the graphics can be seen from a distance, which assists you when you follow the moves on a board. It can be laid open for study, and unlike small paperbound introductions, this advantage-- while it may mean less detailed information given the oversized layout can be transmitted to the eye-- invites the hesitant or impatient beginner to try out the strategies.

Basman's prose favors terseness, but he teaches you with memorable metaphors that follow the military inspiration of the game. "The power of the mind-- the avenue to success in business and study-- is awakened, developed, and strengthened by chess." (8) Castling "moves your king to safety, almost as though he is in a real castle." (22) Pawns, knights, and bishops enter early as a "light brigade;" rooks move like two tanks with the queen as a "rocket launcher."

He gives five easy rules for openings, diagrams to understand capturing and value, recapturing, safe and safe-enough moves, and a mental checklist to use before moves. Pins and forks with a simple diagram and a paragraph become comprehensible by the colored squares the photos add to show moves. These are readable and concise. Not only endgames and defensive moves and counterattacks but notably draws earn attention.

There's minimal space devoted to the history and lore; this focuses more on the tactics. Each piece receives a page that shows how it moves and also how it captures. Simple exercises invite you to practice what's been shown. I do find that notation tends in beginner's guides to be taught quickly, and while the basics upon reflection do prove obvious, Basman's book encourages the reader to continue writing the notation and following sample games with a board to supplement the book's directions.

DK's style may emphasize the pictorial over the textual, but for chess, this stress does match the necessity for one to begin as soon as possible to visualize the action. This directness may, however, be a weakness for rapid learners, who I reckon will outgrow much of this book quickly. As I mentioned earlier, the pace moves fast here, and King's text may please learners at a slightly more advanced level. Basman's book's suited for a casual first-timer, and certainly a long shelf of intermediate books can follow once the learner's grasped the basics here.

The text also adds a short glossary, a few websites, and addresses for chess federations that eager players may want to visit to expand their competence. While's there's not as much depth given to the context and culture of chess, the diagrams do draw your eye to the conflicts diagrammed and this visual concentration does match the large-format DK design well. It's probably also more widely distributed in bookstores than more specialized (if probably more profound) texts, available for quick purchase for not only kids but grown-ups wishing (like me) to learn, whatever one's age, this bracing and imaginative pursuit.

Chess For Kids
This book is good as an overview. It dedicates only a few pages for openings, tactics, & endames & each page has large pictures on it with brief explanations of play. It is only 44 pages. It is well illustrated. I already knew what the pieces & pawns looked like & how they moved. It was helpful in that it explained algebraic notation so that I could go on to more detailed books. I would say that it would be a pretty good book for children to wet their feet on.

Chess for Kids
My 7 year old son was thrilled to receive this book. He studied it for 1 day then challenged me to a game. He kept the book open while we were playing and referred to it often. He played much better offense and defense understanding how the pieces move and how to plan ahead more than one move. It made a huge difference! He even asked me to find him a link online so he could play on his own.