Rating: 
Summary: Not even worth one star.
Review: This book is even worse than the first one! I can't believe they published a second book. Fireside Chess Library will publish anything! If you want to improve at the game of chess then you want to avoid this book and seriously question any book published by Fireside Chess Library. Did anyone with a high school diploma even read this before it was printed? Writing a book does not make you a good author...writing 100 books makes you no better....Bruce needs to give it up and just stick with writing solitaire chess games for Chess Life. Do you want to know who CAN write? Silman, Soltis, Chernev, Nomzovich, Baburin, Evans....and many more Use extreme caution when you see names like Eric Schiller, Horowitz, Pandolfini, Reinfeld...and others. (Reinfeld did hit one home run with "The Complete Chessplayer")
Rating: 
Summary: Not Pandolfini's Best
Review: This book is one of my least favorites by far.All this teaches is tricks like Pin,Skewer,Fork,Windmill,and Double Attack.If you want some GOOD CHESS ABILITIES,buy The Complete Book Of Chess Strategy,by Mr.Silman.
Rating: 
Summary: Before you learn to play an opening, learn how NOT to!
Review: This is for beginners, rated below 1300 USCF. Most of the traps are fairly obvious (though some have snagged Grandmasters) but the point is to be aware of them before they occur, so that they do not occur! In that sense, a book on traps is important before you prepare an opening repertoire. I would look at this book first, then the one by Chernev, and finally the one by Graham Burgess, the last of which is from high-level play. Only then does it make sense to spend any time thinking about the theoretically BEST moves. Chess is about tactics far more than it is about memorization. Just play SAFE moves, and study tactics. Personally, I use this book for drilling simple tactics into my head. I do not go over the opening lines. I just look for the best refutation of what is shown in each diagram. Already, I have improved dramatically in Internet blitz games, because I make fewer blunders and take advantage of my adversaries'. The coverage of this book is White-king-pawn two-step (1.e4) followed by something other than Black-king-pawn two-step (e5). Pandolfini's first Traps and Zaps book covers the dual king-pawn openings, and the zaps are a bit less obvious in that book. Unfortunately, neither covers queen-pawn openings. I recommend Chernev's Winning Chess Traps for broader coverage (and for deeper, less blunderous traps in general). (Addendum: There are d4, c4, and other openings in the undiagrammed "Related Zaps" at the bottom of each page, useful if you're willing to take the time to walk through the moves.) The more Pandolfini books I try, the more I like them! Oh. Only 4 stars because of errata. Annoying, but always easy to find and fix.
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