We now look at three new chess books: two for intermediate or advanced players and the other for beginners.
Taming Wild Chess Openings (paperback version here reviewed)
It has the subtitle How to Deal with the Good, the Bad and the Ugly over the Chess Board. This chess book may be a great gift for an intermediate-level tournament player. Here is a listing of chapters in the first section of the Table of Contents:
- Halloween Gambit
- Grunfeld Defense: the Gibbon
- Grob Attack
- English Wing Gambit
- Orthoschnapp Gambit (French Defense)
- Benko Gambit, Mutkin variation
- Zilbermints – Benoni Gambit
- Boden-Kieseritzky Gambit
- Drunken Hippo Formation
- Kadas Opening
- Cochrane Gambit
- Nimzovich Defense: Wheeler Gambit
The above section of this chess book is called “Bad White Openings.” The following are all the sections, including the above:
- Bad White Openings
- Bad Black Openings
- Ugly White . . .
- Ugly Black . . .
- Good White Openings
- Good Black Openings
Taming Wild Chess Openings
Author: John Watson
Publisher: New In Chess,Csi (August 15, 2015)
304 pages — ISBN-13: 978-9056915704
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Beat That Kid in Chess (paperback)
The subtitle is for the early beginner to win games, meaning this chess book is for the beginner who knows the rules but not much beyond the rules. This could be a wonderful gift for such a novice. Here are the chapter titles:
- Checkmate
- Power Grabbing
- Defending the Fort
- Tactics in Battle
- Remember the Order
- The End Game
- The Middle Game
- The Opening
- Simple Exercises
- Advanced Exercises
Beat That Kid in Chess
Author: Jonathan Whitcomb
Createspace Publishing Platform: September 2, 2015
194 pages — ISBN-13: 978-1508856221
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Risk & Bluff in Chess (paperback)
The subtitle is The Art of Taking Calculated Risks. This chess book is not for the beginner. The following is from the first Amazon customer-review of this publication:
Tukmakov describes in a very entertaining prose different ways of unsettling the opponent, by playing outrageous moves. . . . The author insists on the psychological aspect of the game, tells many stories and try to interpretate the thought of both players, with open subjectivity and humour.
Risk and Bluff in Chess
Author: Vladimir Tukmakov
Publisher: New In Chess,Csi (October 7, 2015)
240 pages — ISBN-13: 978-9056915957
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New Titles: Chess Books on Amazon
- Smerdon’s Scandinavian (opening book)
- Beat That Kid in Chess (for the beginner)
- The Dragon, Volume One (opening variation of the Sicilian Defense)
One of the above could be considered as a gift chess book
Three Possible Gifts of a Chess Book
Two of these three publications could be a good gift for a beginner, especially the new book Beat That Kid in Chess.
The new paperback Beat That Kid in Chess may be the first publication to systematically use the teaching method called “nearly-identical positions” (PIN).
Chess Book for the Beginner who Knows the Rules
This book has been carefully crafted for the raw beginner who wants to win a chess game as soon as possible. It’s for the beginner who knows the rules but not much else. [The title is “Beat That Kid in Chess”]
[Rather than for the raw beginner] How to Beat Your Dad at Chess may be most useful for more advanced players, those rated class-D or better by the United States Chess Federation, or those with similar skills in chess. [It’s not nearly as good a book for beginners.]
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