The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Chess, Third Edition
- ISBN13: 9781592573165
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Don’t make a move without it. Written by a U.S. Chess Champion, International Chess Grandmaster, and longtime instructor, this book includes information for both novice and expert, including over 400 illustrated chessboards and photos; over 20 pages of detailed answer key notes; a completely new chapter on new evidence about chess and its impact on brain power; a guide to the art of chess collectibles; and more.• Foreword by Larry Evans, former… More >>
November 18th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
First of all, Life Master A. J. Goldsby does NOT include this text in his BEST BOOKS recommendations. So if you don’t trust me, trust him. He has the credentials.
At any rate, this is the THIRD edition. An earlier edition, (first?) published in 1997, identifies CHRISTOPHER CHABRIS as the co-author. Christopher Chabris is the author of “American Chess Journal” in 4 volumes, as well as other books. There is no mention of a co-author in either the second or the third edition. I wonder why?
Siegbert Tarrasch never “co-authored” a chess book. He wrote his own book. Aaron Nimzovitch never “co-authored” a chess book. He wrote his own book. Why can’t Partick Wolff write his own chess book?
Had the book been titled something like: “Beginning Chess,” it would be fair to judge the book only on its merits; but it isn’t. It uses a marketing gimmick in the title. It implies that there are no good “beginner” chess books in print. Of course there are. A couple of the best are nearly a hundred years old.
If one must think of himself/herself as an “idiot” in the first place, what’s the point in starting out learning a game where one must think for himself and face constant assaults upon the ego, self-esteem, and personal confidence? The pattern of negative reinforcement and negative self-talk destroys most beginners after a short experiment in the game of chess anyway. To think that you can plant negative seeds in the subconscious, and MAGICALLY make them return to you positive, is a bit like playing God. I know I am not that all-powerful.
Modern cultural influences make it “cute” or “coy” to refer to ourselves as an “idiot”; but Patrick Wolff is not William Shakespeare, and this is a different kind of tomfoolery. Of course, what would you call someone that hands over his money to someone that refers to him as an “idiot”? It’s like:
AUTHOR: “Hey, bud, yer an IDIOT!!!”
BOOK BUYER: “Gee, thanks man. Here’s Twenty Dollars.”
Many fine beginning chess books have been published, and to ignore them, or worse, discredit them is a major disservice. The word “ignore” is, after all, the root of the word, “ignorance”. The general connotation in most minds when the word “ignorance” appears, is that it has something to do with a “lack-of-knowledge”; but “ignorance” is when you can see something, but deny it in your conscious mind. It is a kind of lie. That is the case here, as seen in many 5 star reviews, which treat this book as though it were the first and only chess book ever written. It is simply not the truth.
***** What is the first thing you know about a person who does not even respect himself? ______He does not respect others, either. Or….another way of putting this, is to suggest that the guy who insists on calling himself an IDIOT, is also a hair’s breadth away from calling you one also. *******
In Westminster, Colorado this week, a 14 year old girl was attacked by an adult man. She was able to knock him to the ground with a single punch, and get safely away, because she had studied karate. Apparently, she hadn’t learned to think of herself as “The Complete IDIOT” in her Karate school. She never read, “Karate for the Complete IDIOT,” fortunately. She was dealing with REALITY, and all chess players should deal with REALITY when studying chess. I do not believe that the local KARATE DOJO has a teacher who refers to his students as IDIOTS, either. What does it tell you about a teacher, who presumes that the people he teaches are IDIOTS? [Is it that the teacher himself is not quite good enough to attract ordinary beginners?]
“The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Chess” holds an appeal for such persons as are very intimidated by CHESS as a game, and by the tens of thousands of chess titles in print. They never heard of TARRASCH or NIMZOVITCH. Why not just starting out learning chess by turning off entirely that destructive negative self-talk pattern? The entire idea of referring to other people or self as an “idiot” is vicious, negative, and beyond the pale of acceptable conduct.
***** A LIVED CONTRADICTION ****
There is a thing that phlosophers call a …………….”LIVED CONTRADICTION”. In plain language, its when you talk one way, but live another. Imagine someone constantly referring to himself as an IDIOT, but when other people start calling him an IDIOT, the guy gets angry. That’s a clear case of talking one way, and living another.
A QUESTION FOR YOU: I know about the publisher, and for many books, it might be okay to do an “Idiot’s” book; but why have so many chess writers AVOIDED this publishing house for all of these years? Do the math.
Anyway, induced to feel that they can identify with the author, who also is an IDIOT, a “bonding” occurs….or does it?
Someone would have to show me the part of the book where the author claims to be an IDIOT, because….something is really missing here. This is not, “Chess for US Idiot’s.” It’s “Chess for THE Complete Idiot,” implying that the only IDIOT here is the buyer. So, is that inequity supposed to be cute? Why is it that this author isn’t quite good enough to teach ordinary chess beginners? (another math problem!)
ANOTHER QUESTION FOR YOU: Are chess books for BEGINNERS so complicated that the ordinary “Homer” can’t understand them? Most authors of BEGINNING chess books do a pretty good job. They want to help you. They teach you one step at a time. It’s not that complicated. After all, chess has been around for over one thousand five hundred years. I think that the world has played a cruel trick on you if you accept negativisms about yourself, because every human being is deserving of being treated with simple dignity. …and I do mean EVERYONE.
**** THE TWO POPULAR EXTREMES or, THE COMMON MISCONCEPTION ABOUT FALSE HUMILITY ****
It is an error to think that people who RUN-THEMSELVES-DOWN are showing “humility” toward others. Huh-uh; that is a common misconception. It is NOT “humility,” because they are not LETTING-GO of themselves. This is reaffirming ego. It is a case of EGO-CENTRISM, a form of arrogance. A person with genuine “humility” is not thinking of himself at all. He is thinking of others. Affirming that you are an “IDIOT” is not even allowing other people to pay you a simple compliment, like:
“You sure are smart!”
In a deeper sense, referring to one’s self as an IDIOT is reserving a special CAVEAT EMPTOR (unaccountability) for one’s self. With this attitude in place, it is like saying to the world;
“If you screw up, it’s your fault. If I screw up, I am not ACCOUNTABLE! Why? Well….I already told you I was an IDIOT, so…..What did you expect?”
*** The Two Extremes of Self-Esteem ***
I believe that people generally can be thought of as having two common delusions at the extremes of self-esteem:
(1) I am an IDIOT (2) I am a GENIUS
In fact, chess will shatter both delusions. It will show you to be, “just you,” neither IDIOT nor GENIUS, and hopefully, something more profound than either extreme. Chess can show you something about yourself that is deeply abstract, possessed of both POSITIVE & NEGATIVE, but far better in your human capacity to balance yourself at the point of absolute neutrality.
***** WHAT IS CHESS, ANYWAY? ****
What is chess anyway? As I see it, chess is a game with elements of reality. It is neither entirely reality nor entirely game. Chess, if we become absorbed into it, permits us to experience the UNIVERSAL TRANSCENDENT.
Perhaps this indicates why we love chess. Somewhere in the midst of a game, for a moment, we find ourselves at the point of perfect balance, at the core of the most magnetic light, beyond all delusions of self. The BEAUTY of chess, is in the elimination of all extremes. I believe it is a mistake to think that, after learning chess, people will think of you as a KNOW-IT-ALL.
There is just no such thing as “half-measures” where chess is concerned. One must totally commit, and self-esteem is part of the game. Losing, in and of itself, is not necessarily a negative experience, nor destructive to our sense of self-worth, if you give your best. Thinking of yourself as an IDIOT, however, is inherently self-destructive. It exemplifies one of the worst kind of negative statements one can make about one’s self in all the universe.
As a teacher of chess beginners, I introduce every new student to 2 rules:
RULE #1 NEVER, EVER, BEAT YOURSELF UP!
RULE #2 LOVE YOURSELF A LOT!
That’s the FIRST LESSON in the FIRST CLASS; but then, I’m training beginning players to win and to respect themselves in much the same way that the KARATE student is taught to respect himself and others. Therefore, perhaps you will understand my point here, that an essential part of playing chess, is not about turning IDIOTS into GENIUSES, which the author and publishing house infer.
My father (may he rest in peace) used to have a funny expression, never more than half way expressed, and it has always seemed one of those peculiar and deep generalizations about LIFE that sticks with a person like an eternal truth. He used to say to me:
“You’ve got to have a certain respect…..”
Some chess players may think the Royal Game becomes an excuse to throw all reason, all courtesy, and all common respect out the window, but I believe it best that when we take up the game, we become more sensible than the Southbound side of a Northbound Billygoat.
I cannot give here, specific recommendations for a better chess book, because that is called “shilling.” It means I’m using the review function of one book to promote another, and I won’t do that; but there are better chess books.
A convenient “benchmark” for determining the value of a book is to locate a copy on the USED BOOK market and see what its value there is. “THE COMPLETE IDIOT’s GUIDE TO CHESS” is selling on eBay for 99 cents to $5.00. There are books written way over 50 years ago but still published, that still have a higher sale value. But you be the judge of what you want.
Rating: 1 / 5
November 18th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
I bought this book couple of weeks ago and I am done with this book!! It is very interesting book; it is like a mini encyclopedia. This book is big, but for someone who knows basics about chess need not to read the first 120 pages. I finished the first 120 pages in less than 2 hr. This book well explains the principle, strategy and tactics of the game. Worth reading it, it will never make you an idiot as some of the reviewer’s told here.
Rating: 5 / 5
November 18th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
I learned a lot in this and there were a lot of diagrams for visual learners.
Rating: 4 / 5
November 18th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Some of the time the instruction and material was just fine. But then something was introduced that seemed out of place or not well explained. Some rewording and some reorganizing is needed in “The complete Idiot’s Guild to Chess”. There is no problem with it having a lot in it, it is just how it is presented and explained. After looking around I ended up with a complete beginner’s guild to chess that was directed at my age, easy to understand and had lots of material.
Rating: 2 / 5
November 18th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
The last line of the first chapter states, “Anyone can easily learn how to play chess, and this book teaches you how.”
The Idiot’s Guide to Chess is designed to take anyone from zero to competitive in easy steps.
On reaching 40, I realized that I could no longer compete in physically exerting sports and started looking for other interests, especially something I could share with my young son. Chess took my fascination. And so started my search for a book that can go beyond explaining the rules to demystifying the first and most important elements of tactics and strategy.
If someone was looking for a book that could take any ordinary Joe off the street and prepare them for competition, this would be the book I recommend. Or at least, it would be a good place to start. For probably no one book could take you there. Chess is so profound that to properly understand it, you need the input and advice of several people and much thought and practice.
The strengths of this book are:
* It’s thoroughness. With over 400 pages, it will eventually hit on every question a beginner through to an up and coming or intermediate player would ever ask. It also contains interesting anecdotes, history, and asides.
* Well organized. 21 chapters covering the range of subjects such as rules, history, tactical motives, weak squares, computers, etc. It is a good reference book. You can skip certain sections if desired, such as the rules if you already know them, and look into your areas of interest.
* User friendly. Plenty of diagrams; plenty of chess puzzles to test you and stretch your understanding; a language that is patient and easy to follow without talking down to you.
In other words, it is everything that the legendary Capablanca’s `Fundamentals’ is not. So if you are already chess minded, Capa’s book is more compact and might get you there quicker. But it is dry and hard work to plough through. The Idiot’s guide is the book I’d recommend for mere mortals.
Some weaknesses of the book:
* More effort could have been put into putting diagrams and their explanations to which they refer on the same page.
* There are no complete games to work through.
* Some chapters might leave you wanting more (this might not be such a bad thing). I found the chapter on openings useful but not satisfying. This may be why I see that the Idiot’s Guide series has come up with a book specifically for chess openings.
Rating: 5 / 5