Books : Chess for Kids

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by: Michael Basman

: Chess for Kids

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 794.1
EAN: 9780756618070
ISBN: 075661807X
Label: DK CHILDREN
Manufacturer: DK CHILDREN
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 48
Publication Date: January 23, 2006
Publisher: DK CHILDREN
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Sales Rank: 94069
Studio: DK CHILDREN



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Product Description:
International Master Michael Basman puts 20 years of experience teaching children how to play chess into this systematic, succinct, and thorough book.



Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Awakening the mind's power in "friendly rivalry"
My nearly-teenaged son's embarrassed by the title when I've carried it in public to study, but he and I have managed to learn (some of) the basics with ease thanks to the clear illustrations, concise explanations, and large format. As with any Dorling Kindersley book, it's attractively designed. Like Daniel King's "Chess" primer (reviewed by me recently here), the graphics can be seen from a distance, which assists you when you follow the moves on a board. It can be laid open for study, and unlike small paperbound introductions, this advantage-- while it may mean less detailed information given the oversized layout can be transmitted to the eye-- invites the hesitant or impatient beginner to try out the strategies.

Basman's prose favors terseness, but he teaches you with memorable metaphors that follow the military inspiration of the game. "The power of the mind-- the avenue to success in business and study-- is awakened, developed, and strengthened by chess." (8) Castling "moves your king to safety, almost as though he is in a real castle." (22) Pawns, knights, and bishops enter early as a "light brigade;" rooks move like two tanks with the queen as a "rocket launcher."

He gives five easy rules for openings, diagrams to understand capturing and value, recapturing, safe and safe-enough moves, and a mental checklist to use before moves. Pins and forks with a simple diagram and a paragraph become comprehensible by the colored squares the photos add to show moves. These are readable and concise. Not only endgames and defensive moves and counterattacks but notably draws earn attention.

There's minimal space devoted to the history and lore; this focuses more on the tactics. Each piece receives a page that shows how it moves and also how it captures. Simple exercises invite you to practice what's been shown. I do find that notation tends in beginner's guides to be taught quickly, and while the basics upon reflection do prove obvious, Basman's book encourages the reader to continue writing the notation and following sample games with a board to supplement the book's directions.

DK's style may emphasize the pictorial over the textual, but for chess, this stress does match the necessity for one to begin as soon as possible to visualize the action. This directness may, however, be a weakness for rapid learners, who I reckon will outgrow much of this book quickly. As I mentioned earlier, the pace moves fast here, and King's text may please learners at a slightly more advanced level. Basman's book's suited for a casual first-timer, and certainly a long shelf of intermediate books can follow once the learner's grasped the basics here.

The text also adds a short glossary, a few websites, and addresses for chess federations that eager players may want to visit to expand their competence. While's there's not as much depth given to the context and culture of chess, the diagrams do draw your eye to the conflicts diagrammed and this visual concentration does match the large-format DK design well. It's probably also more widely distributed in bookstores than more specialized (if probably more profound) texts, available for quick purchase for not only kids but grown-ups wishing (like me) to learn, whatever one's age, this bracing and imaginative pursuit.


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Chess For Kids
This book is good as an overview. It dedicates only a few pages for openings, tactics, & endames & each page has large pictures on it with brief explanations of play. It is only 44 pages. It is well illustrated. I already knew what the pieces & pawns looked like & how they moved. It was helpful in that it explained algebraic notation so that I could go on to more detailed books. I would say that it would be a pretty good book for children to wet their feet on.


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Chess for Kids
My 7 year old son was thrilled to receive this book. He studied it for 1 day then challenged me to a game. He kept the book open while we were playing and referred to it often. He played much better offense and defense understanding how the pieces move and how to plan ahead more than one move. It made a huge difference! He even asked me to find him a link online so he could play on his own.


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - Not the Greatest Book to Begin with
CHESS FOR KIDS will get you started with the the very basic rules and will teach you some starting strategies and tactics.

Good Things about this book:
1) It covers the rules you need to know as a non-tournament player.
2) It covers just enough strategy and ideas to get you started.
3) Lots of Colour - makes it look attractive.
Not Good Things about this book:
1) It is written so that young kids cannot understand the level of reading level (should come with a notice: Batteries Required, Opps! I mean older reader required to help young readers),
2) The order of things is out of wack sometimes. This can make the learning confusing.

There are better books written for the beginner or children. For a teen or older Learn Chess by Alexander and Beach is much better organized and has a lot more depth. There are a couple chess books for the junior beginner that have a lower reading level.


Rating: 2 out of 5 stars - Somewhat Confusing Methodology and Order of Progression
No doubt about it - the graphics and picutures in CHESS FOR KIDS are excellent. This is what I consider to be the good points of the book, now on to the weaknesses,

The weaknesses are:

The order in which the material is given needs some improving. This is not the exact order that a kid (or an adult) should be taught. This creates a degree of confusion.

The level of reading is not well suited for young kids to learn from, and

Some of the ways that things are explained, such as in the rules and certain aspects of strategies could use some improvement.





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