The Chess Kid's Book of Tactics (McKay Chess Library for Kids)

Rating:
Summary: From a teacher's point of view
Review: I purchased several Random House Chess Books for review, this one, this author's Endgame book, and Chess For Juniors by Snyder.
Whereas, I found this book to be better than MacEnulty's King and Pawn book for kids, this book has some serious shortcomings as well.
First of all, I found that there weren't enough example positions in the book. Instead of oversized diagrams and very large print more material should have been provided to enhance covering the important tactical themes being covered. The author states in his introduction the importance of going over tactical themes, over and over again, but doesn't provide sufficient material in his own book!
Second of all, I agree with some of the other reviewers who noticed that there was very little analysis of the example games and that in most cases it wasn't shown where the blunders were made. A very serious shortfall.
Third of all, there are indeed some mistakes made in the book that detract from the quality of the book.
Why two stars instead of one? This is because the good point of this book is that most of the example positions are good and the book is somewhat useful for a teacher. However, there are better books on tactics for kids out there.

Rating:
Summary: Incomplete
Review: I purchased this book along with the author's King and Pawn book. This book is a little better. It has a fair number of simple problems for students to work on and sample games to go along with it. I agree with the other reviers who claim that a big miss with this book is that in the sample games the author fails to point out in many cases where the errors where make. This lack of important information drags the book down considerably. There are also numerous errors in the book.

Rating:
Summary: From a Chess Teacher
Review: I teach chess in the public schools in California and purchased this and several other books to provide problems and lesson plans.
The Chess Kid's Book of Tactics contains some good problems for students. It is lacking in quantity and contains numerous mistakes.
It's weakest point is that it provides some sames without showing in many cases where the errors were made. For a strong player using the book as a teaching tool this isn't a serious problem. However, for a student reading the book his or herself this is a major flaw.
Overall the book isn't so bad. However, there are several better books available on tactics for students and chess teachers out there.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of tactics, and not as bad as most reviewers say.
Review: Most of the reviews that I saw about this book were incorrect. Yes, I know that MacEnulty did not explain perfectly about each tactical idea, but he did explain what each tactic was, and how to find it. But for a book that just gives you frames to work by yourself after some explained examples, there's just not enough.

I suggest that advanced players should get Josh Waitzkin's Attacking Chess if they want to have each tactic and idea explained clearly to them.

I give the book 4 stars, because I enjoyed reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't explain things like it should
Review: The book has far too many mistakes. I found better moves. I am sure because my friend put my solutions on his computer and, well, not all but more often that not the moves I suggested were agreed to by the computer as the better moves. I have a real problem dealing with this book. I am a member of the United States Chess Federation I looked up the authors ranking. He is not ranked much more than an average player and this explains why a lot of mistakes are made. He should have also explained why mistakes were made when moves were given in some of the tactics that were given with the entire game. This book simply does not explain things and the writer does not seem to know his stuff. LOOK ELSWHERE FOR A TACTICS BOOK.

Rating:
Summary: Looking it over and using it
Review: Wow! The other reviews have dumped on this book. I can see some of their points. Maybe this book doesn't match Seirawan's Tactics book or some of the other books in the McKay Chess Library for kids, but it is fairly good.
The author provides a wide range of good examples of tactical problems for young kids to work on. They are provided in a simple format that is not difficult to go over. Whereas, I read complaints on the "oversized" diagrams and lack of use of space, I might consider this a plus for small children who simply do not want a "cramped book". I think the fellow did a fine job and this book is worthy of consideration. Also consider getting the other book in the McKay Series, "Chess For Juniors" which would be a fine companion to this book.