Rating: 
Summary: Excellent read....
Review: This book is an excellent guide for anyone wanting to start playing the Royal Game. It is informative, fun to read, and progresses rather nicely from the beginner's stage to the more advanced ones. I recommend it.However, anyone notice that on the chessboard on the cover, the White Queen is sitting on the wrong square??? HA! I certainly hope GM Wolff didn't set up those pieces!
Rating: 
Summary: A must have for ALL chess players
Review: This book is great for all skill levels, beginners to masters. It is very informant on how to improve your game. No matter how good you are there is always something to learn, and this book can show you how to do exactly that.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding.
Review: This book is MUCH better than the Chess for Dummies book. This one gets into tactics, strategy, analysis and is STILL easy to read and understand. Where the Dummies book teaches how the pieces are moved, this one suggests ways to play effectively. There are many excercises at the end of each chapter that really contribute to your understanding of the subject. It doesn't go too in depth on opening strategies, or endgames, or any specific part of the game, but it gives you adequate knowledge of everything. That sounds impossible, but then I read this book. Besides, they have whole other books on those subjects so they don't have to cut corners. If you want a book to teach you the absolute basics, buy the Dummies book. If you want not so much detail on how the pieces move, but more on how to move them, this is the one. This one's a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: A Complete Idiot's Review
Review: This book is wonderful for anyone, from the person who has never played chess to someone who knows how to play but wants to become serious. The authors spend a little time on the basic rules of the game and a description of how the pieces move. Most of their effort, however, is expended on the basic tactics and strategies involved in a more sophisticated game of chess. The book provides all the information necessary to become a good player. Most importantly, it accomplishes this goal with lots of illustrations showing how the board changes, move-by-move. As a result, the book is exceptionally easy to understand. You do not need to sit with a chess board or computer, plotting moves, to follow and understand the authors. If you are a relatively new player and want to by one book, this is it.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best introductions to the game
Review: This is a marvelous introduction to the game. I don't think I have ever found a book which does this job so well. Not only does he cover the basics thoroughly, but he takes the student one step further to a level of insight which is generally not found in beginners' books. For example, many introductory books discuss the pin and the skewer, but here we learn how the techniques are used in practice. We learn, for example, that a pin can hold an opponent's piece down while a second piece moves in to win the material. I have been through each of these techniques many times in other books, but in this one, the concepts suddenly become clear. The strongest parts of this book are the exercises at the end of each chapter. These are very well thought out, and are an integral element of the text. The author has constructed these problems very carefully, and they lead the reader through a process of discovery which is every bit as important as the lessons presented in the text itself. I would urge the reader to work through each of these exercises carefully, spending as much time as needed. There are exercises here which I will be returning to many times, even as I work through more advanced material. It is rare that one finds a beginners book with such enduring value.
Rating:
Summary: Well written, highly accessible
Review: This is a terrific book, especially for the money. It's organized very well, and written in crystal clear language (notwithstanding the odd typo). Wolff's style is far more entertaining than I ever would have expected from a grandmaster; his obvious teaching ability comes through strongly. I've had this book for a long time -- I read the more elementary stuff, then sat on the book for a while before I moved on to the more tactical/strategic sections. All of it is clear enough for a gradeschooler, and the exercises are very instructive (it helps to review them periodically). Considering the price, it's worth it even if you don't plan on going through the whole book. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Great supplement to the chess player's library!
Review: This is a very good piece. It starts off as basic as it can - almost annoyingly. Then, it gradually picks up as the exercises get more and more difficult. My game has improved dramatically! There's a little bit of everything here, including tips on how to beat your computer.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to the game.
Review: This is a wonderful book for the beginning chess player, one of the best out there. I'd recommend another book such as Bobbie Fischer Teaches Chess to go along with this book and give you more exercises and practice. This book will go a long way towards giving you the background needed to advance your play from novice to high beginner or with enough practice even intermediate level play. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Combines humor & wit with excellent teaching
Review: This is the first chess book I read, and I am glad that I did, 'cuz the author presents chess in a fun and instructive manner. I might not have continued with chess if I found it boring, but this is no boring book. I read half a dozen more chess books since, but none as engaging as this one.
Rating:
Summary: Best Teaching Book for players below 1600 USCF
Review: This is the first chess book that I read from cover to cover, and my play improved by several hundred points. Prior to reading this book, I didn't understand the basics required to study other more complicated books. This book taught me the background progress from 1200 to 1670 rating and now I have the background to understand more complex books. If you want to improve from novice to intermediate player this is the best book out there.
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