Advice for Newbies

I'm always surprised when people do not check the rating of the person asking the question and assume they are at their level and go on about Kasparov this Fischer that. We were all newbies and in my case the key was to stop being mated in a few moves. I learned things likes forks, pins and other tactical devices and simple openings.

Although I gave my books away I had some books that were good at the time from Bill Hartson and other authors I can't remember. I may well buy a few of such books and give them to people eager to learn chess. The other key was playing humans at my level. Some I could beat but most were too tough. However going through some of my losses and watching their games I came to bash them in turn.

Can anyone recommend chess books for newbies written in the last five or so years?

I'd recommend chessmaster 10's tutorials.

I don't know of any books but you might want to check out the following two web site for some free handouts, lesson plans etc. that are aimed at beginners. Some of them are actual lesson plans used by coaches.

http://www.professorchess.com
Chess training material for intermediate and below can be obtained from this site. Some free material. Worth a look especially if you are trying to teach someone to play chess.

http://www.okschess.org/training/index.htm
Oklahoma Scholastic Chess site offers some excellent training material.

Originally posted by diskamyl
I'd recommend chessmaster 10's tutorials.

Seconded. It helped me through the first stages of complete confusion, and there's still a lot to learn from it when you have come a bit further. Much easier to use than a book in my opinion.

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PDJoseph/chesstacticsforamateurs.htm
This looks pretty good. I just skimmed through it a bit and it seems to explain the tactical motifs fairly well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_tactics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_strategy
These articles are OK as well.

There are probably other sites like this. So, I would also do a google search or ask other members of your chess club. I would recommend www.chessmagnetschool.com. They let you try out their subscription for free for a month without credit card information. They have drills and interactive training.

But if you cant devote a lot of time in the month to check out the online site and get a good feel for it on a one month trial basis. Than I would take Diskamyl's suggestion about getting Chess master 10th edition depending on were you get it would be about $15 to $20 and they give you a rebate when you upgrade.

I am gathering Bruce Pandolfini's books arent bad for a beginner. I think one book ideal for a total beginner in regards to tactics would be Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess. This book has no notation that you have to read. It has pictures and arrows. But if a person has to go further they need to learn notation. Chessmaster 10 edition teaches notation as well as Chessmagnetschool.com.

I think Susan Polgars book World Championship Guide to chess and World Championship guide to tactics would be good for beginners. Easy to read and the problems are not that hard.

This is just my view and I am not say it fits every beginner.

Parag

Thanks! I am studying tactics, combinations: forks, squewers,pins; traps and gambits. I learned algebraic and script notation last year. smoetimes the reading is tedious, but it helps in the long run.

Originally posted by diskamyl
I'd recommend chessmaster 10's tutorials.

I second that. Some of the concepts CM10 teaches are even a good refresher for an (ahem) experienced player such as myself.

John Nunn's books are excellent for us newbies 🙂

Originally posted by Nordlys
Seconded. It helped me through the first stages of complete confusion, and there's still a lot to learn from it when you have come a bit further. Much easier to use than a book in my opinion.

Agreed. Newbies should start with that. Beautifull tutorials, especially in Josh Waitzkin Academy. You will learn healthy fundamentals and avoid a lot of confussion. I pass again that tutorial every 3 months as a refresher of tactical devices, strategical plans, opening principles...

And some of examples there are unbelievable. You move your knight on the corner of your kingside and you collapse your opponent position on the opposite site of the board. It is my dream to be able to spot that butterfly-hurricane effect in my games.

Most important, in that course you feed yourself with important knowledge while feeling hunger and will to learn even more, and more.

Very nice for beginners. But not only for them. Lot of players tells that cmx tutorials are for beginners only. But I would like to see even 1900 player who wouldn't benefit from Endgame course, or series of annotated master games.

As for books, after passing the tutorials, maybe Logical Chess move by move. Because it is explained move by move in easy and charming way. 😛

Originally posted by wakchessdragon
Agreed. Newbies should start with that. Beautifull tutorials, especially in Josh Waitzkin Academy. You will learn healthy fundamentals and avoid a lot of confussion. I pass again that tutorial every 3 months as a refresher of tactical devices, strategical plans, opening principles...

And some of examples there are unbelievable. You move your knight ...[text shortened]... Logical Chess move by move. Because it is explained move by move in easy and charming way. 😛

I loved his annotation of the Waitzkin vs. Blatny game. He just kept the pressure mounting and mounting until black's defenses crumbled down around him. Truly amazing.

Capablanca famous quote "I only think one move ahead. The right one." is misleading because he plays deep combinations. For example in the following position he played Rxh6 against Frank Marshall



Newbies also need to see more than one move ahead and try and realise what the opponent is doing.

Hi guys,

In my opinion, you simply can't beat the Seirawan Series starting with "Play Winning Chess", then "Winning Chess Tactics", "....Strategies", "....Endings" etc.. Six or seven in all. I have the first three and they are clear, engaging and really suited to take you from beginner to 1500 or so. Awesome books.🙂

Originally posted by crustysalmon
Hi guys,

In my opinion, you simply can't beat the Seirawan Series starting with "Play Winning Chess", then "Winning Chess Tactics", "....Strategies", "....Endings" etc.. Six or seven in all. I have the first three and they are clear, engaging and really suited to take you from beginner to 1500 or so. Awesome books.🙂

Agreed. Seirawan's series is very easy to follow and has a lot of good info.
I'm also a big fan of Silman's "The Amateur's Mind" It's very telling, and I gained a lot from his mantra: Assess the position before considering moves. Build a plan to exploit imbalances and follow through with all your pieces.

Trying to keep this in mind before each move has vastly improved my game.

I second the recommendation of Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess. This has got to be one of my favorite chess books. Whenever I take a long hiatus from chess (which happens far too frequently, alas), that book always quickly helps me start getting back in to shape. And it is great for beginners.

In fact, I wish there were more books that used the BFTC approach to teaching chess. The book is structured so that the reader goes from easy to more difficult problems very gradually. In all too many books, the problems are organized by theme or haphazardly, without regard for difficulty, or they might have just a few levels of difficulty.

In BFTC the problem difficulty progresses so gradually that every subsequent problem is just slightly harder than the one you just solved, so you have to stretch just a little to get the satisfaction of solving the next problem, and the next, and the next. It's a fantastic way to learn.