Patrick Wolff - The Complete Idiots Guide to Chess

Youve never played chess, but it seems fascinating, and youd like to learn the rules. Or maybe you know how to play, but youve never understood how to tell whether a move was good or bad. Or maybe youve even picked up a few pointers somewhere, but youd really like to be able to play a decent game. (Maybe theres even someone youd like to beat!) In any case, you want some way to find out more about chess: How to find an opponent, how to read the chess column in your newspaper, where to get chess books and other chess materials, what organizations to join and how to contact them (maybe not just for you but also for your son or daughter), how computers play chess (and maybe how to beat your own computer!), and who are the chess superstars.

This is the book for you.

Ive been playing in national and international chess competitions for almost 20 years. In that time, Ive become one of the best chess players in the country and the world, including being the U.S. Champion twice, in 1992 and 1995. So I have the expertise to explain it all to you.

But more important, I have years of experience teaching people of all levels how to play chess. I know lots of people think chess is for high-brows, but I also know thats nonsense. Chess is an incredibly fun game. It offers a lifetime of excitement, beauty, and challenge to anyone who takes it up. Sure chess exercises your brain: Thats what makes it so great! But its absolutely not just for intellectuals. Anyone can learn chess and learn to play it well, and just about everyone who does so loves it forever after. I bet youll love chess, too.

I wrote the first edition of this book over four years ago to provide people with a guide to learning and playing chess. Since then, Ive been gratified by the wonderful feedback I received. I wanted to write this second edition to see whether I could take the best suggestions I received during that time and make this book even better. I hope youll find it a fun and helpful introduction to the best game in the world.

Ive divided this book into four parts. Each part is self-contained, so you can jump around at your convenience. However, I think youll get more out of Parts 13 if you read them from beginning to end in order. Part 4 is more for reference and amusement, so you can skip around there as much as you like.

Part 1, Lets Play Chess, gets you started. Chapter 1 gives you some background, and its mostly for fun, while Chapters 2 and 3 teach you the rules, and how to read and write chess moves. If youve never played chess before, start here! Even if you have played chess, you might want to check these chapters out to make sure youve got everything straight. In particular, the rest of the book uses chess notation, so if youre not sure how to read and write chess moves, make sure you read Chapters 2 and 3! Chapter 4 teaches you how to checkmate a lone king with just a queen or a rook and a king. Not only is it good to know how to do this just for itself, learning how to do this is an excellent way to learn other things, such as the power of the queen and the rook, and how to make plans in chess. Even if you have some experience playing chess, I strongly advise you to read through Chapter 4.