Starting Out in Checkers

Rating:
Summary: Well Worth the Time and Money
Review: Don't let the title of the book fool you. This book is packed with all the key elements needed to become quite effecient at playing checkers with the best of them. It gets right to the point, and reveals the strategy of the game in a clear, consise
manner. There are lots of examples, and you know from the content, that the game has been covered in a logical manner.

Every player has learned, mostly through trial and error, which game postions cause them the most difficulty. Thanks to Richard Pask, the problems and solutions are presented in a format which is easy for you to comprehend and study. This has saved me many hours of trial and error when playing real games.

I would recommend this book to anyone trying to improve thier game. The insight gained was invaluable. Checkers is truly a game of challenge, and this book just opened the door for me to be sitting in the winning seat more often.

Rating:
Summary: Well Worth the Time and Money
Review: Don't let the title of the book fool you. This book is packed with all the key elements needed to become quite effecient at playing checkers with the best of them. It gets right to the point, and reveals the strategy of the game in a clear, consise
manner. There are lots of examples, and you know from the content, that the game has been covered in a logical manner.

Every player has learned, mostly through trial and error, which game postions cause them the most difficulty. Thanks to Richard Pask, the problems and solutions are presented in a format which is easy for you to comprehend and study. This has saved me many hours of trial and error when playing real games.

I would recommend this book to anyone trying to improve thier game. The insight gained was invaluable. Checkers is truly a game of challenge, and this book just opened the door for me to be sitting in the winning seat more often.

Rating:
Summary: "Starting Out In Checkers" - a great book
Review: I have completed a first reading of all the material in this book and I am now involved in studying it more deeply. Already I can say that this is a fantastic book, with everything you need to get started and to reach an advanced level if you are serious about wanting to get good at checkers.

Some sample pages that I previously saw on the web were extremely unrepresentative of the book and they put me off buying it - but then I saw it in a bookstore - and I changed my mind!

What I particularly like about the book is the way that all the major elements of the endgame, midgame and openings are dealt with in a very systematic, methodical and thorough way. Many more key situations are dealt with (and given memorable names) than I have seen in any other book or website.

The explanations and also very clear and the examples well chosen.

Study methods and the general approach to the game are also discussed as well as the technical details. Each chapter also has a useful summary.

For the sake of this review, I looked hard for something to criticise - sorry, I couldn't find anything! Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: "Starting Out In Checkers" - a great book
Review: I have completed a first reading of all the material in this book and I am now involved in studying it more deeply. Already I can say that this is a fantastic book, with everything you need to get started and to reach an advanced level if you are serious about wanting to get good at checkers.

Some sample pages that I previously saw on the web were extremely unrepresentative of the book and they put me off buying it - but then I saw it in a bookstore - and I changed my mind!

What I particularly like about the book is the way that all the major elements of the endgame, midgame and openings are dealt with in a very systematic, methodical and thorough way. Many more key situations are dealt with (and given memorable names) than I have seen in any other book or website.

The explanations and also very clear and the examples well chosen.

Study methods and the general approach to the game are also discussed as well as the technical details. Each chapter also has a useful summary.

For the sake of this review, I looked hard for something to criticise - sorry, I couldn't find anything! Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Mixed feelings
Review: There's no question that Richard Pask knows what he's talking about, but I am a beginner in checkers, and I found this book very daunting. After a quick introduction, the book begins to teach 9 basic strategies (2-for-1, 3-for-2, fork, rebound, breeches, etc.) along with presenting several examples of each. After that, the book then shows many miscellaneous illustrations of other moves that don't fit into the previous 9 strategies. By this time, the book is well into over 100 examples (!) with only terse commentary. I just don't find it very easy to read, and I lost interest before even getting to the later chapters.

I was much happier to find Millard Hopper's book "How to Win at Checkers" at my university library. I'm sure it is not as complete as Pask's book, but for me, it is actually enjoyable to read. I also get the feeling that the Hopper book builds on each example, introducing only one or two more logical steps between board configurations. This is something that Pask's book could have used: fewer examples, with better connections between them.

Sorry, I really want to like "Starting Out in Checkers". It seems there's a lot of good material there; it's just presented too quickly and without enough explanation.

Rating:
Summary: A Complete Course of Study of High Quality
Review: This book is the highest quality, best organized, and most thorough book on the market for beginner to intermediate study. It amounts to a complete course in checkers.

The book contains material about all facets of the game, presented in careful order, with good illustrations and other excellent learning devices (such as easy-to-remember names for various game themes). The book offers a very rare combination of accessibility for casual browsing when time is limited, and material for serious study over a more extended period. But obviously to benefit the most, a serious study of the complete book is in order. Mastering this book, in fact, should put you well ahead of the average club player, and in a good position for study of more advanced literature.

The book treats openings a bit lightly, keeping the rating from just quite reaching five stars. Four and a half stars would actually be a better call.

If your library includes this book, Reinfeld's book, and Pike's two puzzle books, you have a great checkers collection at a very modest cost.

Rating:
Summary: A Complete Course of Study of High Quality
Review: This book is the highest quality, best organized, and most thorough book on the market for beginner to intermediate study. It amounts to a complete course in checkers.

The book contains material about all facets of the game, presented in careful order, with good illustrations and other excellent learning devices (such as easy-to-remember names for various game themes). The book offers a very rare combination of accessibility for casual browsing when time is limited, and material for serious study over a more extended period. But obviously to benefit the most, a serious study of the complete book is in order. Mastering this book, in fact, should put you well ahead of the average club player, and in a good position for study of more advanced literature.

The book treats openings a bit lightly, keeping the rating from just quite reaching five stars. Four and a half stars would actually be a better call.

If your library includes this book, Reinfeld's book, and Pike's two puzzle books, you have a great checkers collection at a very modest cost.