National Scholastic Chess Foundation Chess Book Recommendations

www.nscfchess.org

INTERMEDIATE PLAYERS

General Instruction

Best Lessons of a Chess Coach by Weeramantry and Eusebi
Winning Chess Strategy for Kids by Jeff Coakley

Tactics and Drills

Winning Chess Tactics by Yasser Seirawan.
The King in Jeopardy by Lev Alburt.
The Chess Training Pocket Book by Lev Alburt.

Endgames

Winning Chess Endings by Yasser Seirawan.

Openings and Game Collections

The Mammoth Book of Chess by Graham Burgess
The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games by Graham Burgess.

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Best Lessons of a Chess Coach
by Sunil Weeramantry and Ed Eusebi

An innovative book on game-winning strategy for players at the intermediate level. Every truth about chess must be coached in context, and the book's interactive teacher-student dialogue does just that. The master player and nationally recognized teacher Sunil Weeramantry brings the fundamentals of strategy and tactics to life and teaches players at all levels how to think like a master during a chess game.

Note: These are actual classroom lectures that were given by NSCF Executive Director Sunil Weeramantry.

From the introduction by Bruce Pandolfini:
"Best Lessons of a Chess Coach welcomes you to the heart of the master. Sunil Weeramantry is a strong player, but more important, he's a gifted teacher -- one of the most successful the U.S. has ever had.... His inexorable logic should clear away misconceptions and start chess players looking at the game from a fresh perspective." From the reviews: Well written and easy to follow. I recently read "Best Lessons of a Chess Coach" and I can say that it was a complete joy. The format of the book lends itself to the reader for easier studying. The ideas he discusses are easy to observe using the Question and Answer method ... Read this book and study it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Very instructive and very entertaining. This book uses an original approach, unique in my experience with chess books. It is a collection of 10 lessons presented by a chess coach to his students. Each lesson is a complete game with questions and answers, plus analysis and commentary, after almost every move or related small group of moves ... Treatment of alternative moves choices is very good. This is a great book that will leave you wishing the author would write a sequel - or three. Are you under 1600? Are you trying to get better? Do you teach chess at your school or club? Then the decision to buy this book is a NO-BRAINER. Get it. Read it. Study it. Watch your rating go up. One of the best intermediate level books around!I own a chess library of close to 100 titles. If I was only allowed to keep 10, this book would be one of them! This book is extremely easy to read and follow: there are no typos and the socratic teaching style is fun and entertaining. It covers the subjects of strategic planning and methods of conducting the attack. The method is to carefully disect a number of master games and examine the motives behind the moves... As a result, the reader will actually feel as though they can start understanding how a master formulates a plan during an actual game. GREAT Book ...filled with gems. The method expounded by the book is great! Helps planning, and middlegame play tremendously. ... not only a good learning book, but also a great read. With each game almost every move is gone over as to why that move was the best, and what he(or the player) was trying to accomplish. Weeramantry does a good job of bringing he game to life, as well as making the reader feel part of the game. Outstanding tool for really learning how to plan and execute I'm a casual player who's only read about half a dozen books on chess, but this was by far the most helpful in learning how to develop a plan and how to carry it out. The "Socratic" format was entertaining, unpretentious, and markedly improved my chess thinking. Fantastic beginner- or intermediate- book. As a C player I own several chess books but this is the only one I return to over and over again. Weeramantry is such a delight to gain wisdom from - he takes no questions for granted and explains virtually every move he makes, and then explains why he didn't make several possible alternate moves! The format of the book is outstanding, the diagrams are flawless and plenty, and the supplementary games are very interesting and relevant. What a pleasure. I only wish there were about ten sequels! ... the easiest reading chess book I have yet come across. Filled with useful tidbits about all aspects of play, Best Lessons of a Chess Coach reminds me of nothing so much as a conversation between a chess master and a student. It read just like a series of professional chess lessons.

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Winning Chess Exercises for Kids by Jeff Coakley
Winning Chess Strategy for Kids is a fun and comprehensive chess course written for children 7 to 13 years old. Full of original material and entertaining artwork, it's a perfect guide for learning the royal game. Parents and teachers are sure to like it too. The book begins on square one: covering the rules, basic mates, and elementary tactics.

It then leads the student through a whole range of advanced strategies, including piece development, pawn structure, and attacking the castled king. Opening principles, middlegame plans, and endgames techniques are all explained in clear and simple language. Separate sections throughout the book are devoted to combinations and terminology. Whether kids are learning chess for recreation or are interested in playing competitively, Winning Chess Strategy for Kids will help them understand the game better and enjoy it more.

From the Reviews Not Just For Kids! If you are a dad who wants to teach his child serious chess, here's your book. If you are a chess coach for an elementary or middle school, you've found a mine of information. Coakley clearly explains the tactics, strategy, and terminology of chess in simple language graced by lots of illustrations and exercises. While concentrating on middlegame skills, he also covers essential endgame information as well as opening guidelines. This book assumes you already know how the pieces move (although an appendix explains the basics). It is designed to take a beginner to the intermediate level. By working through it, adults as well as kids will acquire the tools of winning chess. Coakley has put a sophisticated survey of chess principles in a breezy format. But don't be fooled. If you master the information in this book, you will have become a formidable opponent. This is a valuable book.

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Winning Chess Tactics by Yasser Seirawan

A fascinating and enlightening introduction to chess tactics, from the USA's #1-ranked chess player. As compelling, instructive, and fun for aspiring chess players as it is for more advanced players. Lively instruction and scores of revealing examples on crucial tactical maneuvers, plus more than 200 diagrammed positions, analysis of the plays of the game's greatest tacticians, and more. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Review -Cincinnati Chess Federation
"Seirawan unlocks a treasure chest of time-tested strategies...colorful commentary and personal anecdotes enliven the author's coverage of landmark chess matches and his experience on the international chess circuit." From the reviews: Unsurpassed! There is simply no better tool for learning/teaching tactics than this outstanding book. "Winning Chess Tactics" begins with an excellent introduction, is incredibly readable, and the educational quality is unsurpassed for this level. Not only does GM Seirawan offer sufficient problems to be solved for each tactic, but stuffs lots of written instruction in there as well. After several chapters covering all of the basic tactics, the book then highlights a few of history's greatest tacticians including their legendary games annotated by Seirawan himself in his easy-to-read and highly instructive language. A must for self-learners and teachers alike! ... Among the tactics books I have read, this is certainly among the best. The book is extremely readable, with a lot of text to explain concepts. I was already familiar with the basic tactical themes of the "double check", "x-ray", "fork", "pin", etc., but it was still very useful for me to brush up. I have found that my tactical vision has improved a great deal after reading this book ... I couldn't put the book down! I can't say that about any other chess book I have read. Tactics are fun! You can't just have one chess book and expect to learn everything you need too, however you definitely need this one in your collection. Great travell-companion, This book not only explains the basics of tactics, it also provides opportunities to test your knowledge. This book has kept me company on many a busride since i don't require a board to work on the test section. Great First Book on Tactics If you have never read any book on Tactics before,you should read this one.This book will surely help you improve if your USCF rating is below 1400.Read this complete book and you will see the change in your game.It doesn't take more than a week to read it. Great Tactics Book This book was probably the single most important purchase for my chess game that really taught me the basics when I was a beginner.

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The King in Jeopardy: The Best Techniques for Attack and Defense by Lev Alburt

This chess classic has been praised by players and teachers alike. Lev Alburt, Grandmaster of Chess and three-time US chess champion, presents and analyzes the attack and defense of the king, with hundreds of game illustrations, dozens of problems and exercises, and instructive explanations and solutions. These practical exercises take the reader from beginner to tournament-strength chess player.

Grandmaster Max Dlugy: Grandmasters Alburt and Palatnik boldly pledged to give the best techniques for attack and defense of the king. They have managed to live up completely to their promise. A truly great book! From the reviews: ... I cannot recommend a better book than this for improving your play once you have already mastered elementary tactical techniques. There are 45 game examples clearly explained with words and sentences, not just symbols, and this makes the book very readable... There are also 36 test problems to solve. This book is the best of the Lev Alburt series.

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The Chess Training Pocket Book: 300 Most Important Positions and Ideas by Lev Alburt Lev Alburt, Grandmaster of Chess and renowned three-time US chess champion, presents and analyzes the 300 most important game positions an average player should understand and remember to become a chess expert. These most crucial and instructive positions taken from games over the last 100 years are arranged as challenges, with instructive explanations and solutions on facing pages. Besides giving students this essential knowledge, this book also helps them to train their chess abilities and improve their skills steadily and efficiently. These practical exercises, easy to read and to understand, take the reader from beginner to tournament-strength chess player.

From the reviews: ... as one tackles the positions (four per two-page spread), one senses that Alburt has read one's mind: he knows how far one has calculated; he knows when one should have reversed the move order; he knows when one should have double-checked the variation... For the player whose rating is between 1200 and 1600 (USCF), this is a valuable little book. I think it's easily Alburt's best. covers alot of area in a short time. Very impressive for a short book. Gives the reader a wide range of problems and knowledge quickly. A good book to review to get the rust off your game. ... taught me very important ideas that have dramatically improved my game. ... I found an almost immediate improvement in my game. I went from a 50-50 win-lose to a 75-25 among the people I play with. ...

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Winning Chess Endings by Yasser Seirawan

WINNING CHESS ENDINGS is a gripping introduction to the moves, strategies, and philosophy of chess endings from one of the world's top-rated players, American grandmaster Yasser Seirawan. Blessed with peerless storytelling skills and the technical knowledge to describe exactly when winning positions occurred in famous matches, he is the perfect guide for readers of all levels who want to identify winning game positions and actively participate in the book. With his convivial writing style and expert teaching methods, he helps readers develop a solid understanding of endgame principles they can apply to every game they play.

From the author - Yasser Seirawan An enjoyable romp throught the mysteries of chess endings. Winning Chess Endings represents the sixth and final book in the Microsoft Winning Chess book series. This work took me three years to write as it is on the most difficult aspect of chess -- the endings. I wanted the book to be both instructional and entertaining. A difficult task considering the subject at hand. Much like Winning Chess Openings, my approach was to teach the endings in exactly the same way that I learned them. The examples were chosen with a great deal of care and feature many of my own critical chess endings. This book was written with much affection and awe of those players who have played such fascinating and wonderful endings. This work was intended as a highly unusual approach to chess endings -- a book to enjoy. From the reviews: Quite simply, the absolutely best endgame book on the market today. ALL my students love it. I used to teach primarily out of "Pandolfini's Endgame Course." (This is an excellent book, and actually has much more overall material than the Seirawan book.) But this book is better. There is a lot more verbiage and explanations. GM Seirawan takes great pains to explain the moves and the GENERAL IDEAS of the ending you are trying to learn. Its almost as good as if you walked up to the GM, sat down by his knee and said, "Master, teach me everything I need to know to play the endings competently and well." I am sure if you buy this book and study it diligently, your understanding of the end phase of the game will increase 1000%! An extremely instructive book teaching how to serve mate in the endgame. I found it very helpful as now I know how to steer the endgame.

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The Mammoth Book of Chess by Graham Burgess

Written by a formidable chess professional and containing hundreds of illustrated game plays, this Mammoth guide will bring even the novice to good club level or better. A comprehensive handbook on all aspects of chess at a mammoth value. Illustrated with more than 1,000 diagrams.

Editorial review: This comprehensive, up-to-date, all-purpose guide to chess is guaranteed to improve the game of the novice and to enable players of even limited experience to advance to good club level or better. Not only does this invaluable volume illuminate the elegance and mysteries of the classic chess game, it has also been revised to bring readers up to the minute about the myriad possibilities of chess on the Internet. Among the outstanding features of this user-friendly mammoth book are a complete guide to the main chess openings, hundreds of test positions for players of all standards, courses in tactics and attacking strategy, practical advice for further study, and an exceptionally helpful glossary as well as information about international chess events. In addition to providing a history of some of the greatest games ever played, it forecasts the exciting future for chess around the world and on the Internet. From the reviews: Rapidly improves skill. ...this book explains the concepts behind standard openings, combinations, etc., allowing the reader to quickly take the knowledge from the book to the chessboard. It is the best basic guide there is. Big fat general purpose book. This is truly a chess book that all levels can enjoy. It teaches the basics. It has chess lore, some mate in two puzzles, some devilishly hard combination puzzles. Compact and comprehensive. _One_ great book about chess. Comprehensive. If you've never done much chess reading before and you don't want to spend tons of $$$ on chess books or you only have time to read one chess book this is the one. No other low cost paperback I've seen is as comprehensive. Openings, tatics, mates, endgame, clocks, online play, biographies, computer chess, great games, chess terminology, et cetera. If there was a class, Chess 101, this would be the text. Many great books in one. "The Mammoth Book of Chess" contains all aspects of modern chess playing. Chess Openings sections explain the main chess openings... Solid sections on endgames provide the key endgame principles definitely enough to understand (not memorize)... For the middle games, the book explains about mating, tactics, combinations, and attack & defence. ... I own more than 50 chess books and have read about 50 more. But if I were to own only one chess book, this one would be it.

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The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games by Graham Burgess

One hundred of the finest chess games ever played, from 1834 to 1997.

From the reviews: For my part, I will say this is an unbelievable book. It is a modern masterpiece... Every chess player will find something here to benefit from. A bright collection of some of the best games in chess history. ...This book is a must have. Best Annotations! I am very impressed by the quality of the annotations throughout. ... Well done! Bravo! Well done. The best all purpose game collection available. ... This is an original effort (although all these classics have been annotated several other places). In "The World's Greatest Chess Games" they entertain, inform and teach! I was especially impressed with the biographies; I learned something new about each and every player. I love this book and all I can say is WHEN IS VOLUME 2 DUE???? A great cross-section (1834-1997) of the finest games ever. This is the "games collection" that I have been waiting years to find! It is a book of 100 chronologically-ordered, heavily annotated chess games, which the three authors decided upon ... .. I liked this book best ... because it covers such a wide range of players, games, and eras.


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