Chess Openings For Dummies

by James Eade

Improve your chess game the fast and easy way You never get a second chance to make a first impression?especially in the game of chess! Chess Openings For Dummies gives you tips and techniques for analyzing openings and strategies for winning chess games from the very first move you make!

This friendly, helpful guide provides you with easy-to-follow and step-by-step instructions on the top opening chess strategies and gives you the tools you need to develop your own line of attack from the very start.


Includes illustrations to help ensure victory Equips you with the tools and strategies to plan a winning strategy Also serves as a valuable resource for curriculums that use chess as a learning tool Whether you?re a veteran or novice chess player, Chess Openings For Dummies is the ultimate guide to getting a grip on the openings and variants that will ensure you have all the right moves to open and win any chess game.

Genres: Chess, Nonfiction, Reference

384 pages, Paperback

First published June 29, 2010

About the author

James Eade (1957) is an American chess master, chess administrator, chess tournament organizer, and chess book publisher. He holds the title of FIDE Master. He is best known for the books Chess for Dummies (1996) and The Chess Player's Bible (2004), both of which have been through several editions and been translated into 8 languages.
He lives in Menlo Park, California, where he continues to teach and write about chess.

Reviews

[Joseph Hirsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most interesting things in this very readable and informative volume is when the author points out that chess does two things: it forces those who are creative and perhaps a little flighty by disposition to become more cautious, and it forces those who are more analytic to engage their imaginative faculty.

I've never been a good chess player because I honestly didn't think I had the disposition. "Chess for Dummies" showed me that there were many other ways to see chess, however, and that my right-brain tendencies could actually shine even in something requiring the cold calculation needed to win in chess.

I've been studying the book for only three months, digesting it in small chunks, and in that time I've gone from losing every game I played with my brother and father to winning about half of the time.

Everything is covered here, from "reading" chess (it's called "algebraic notation" but don't let that scare those of you not really math-inclined) to the history of the sport. Most importantly it explains the importance of developing pieces in key formations so that even if you're nowhere near an expert, you have a fighting chance against serious players and don't come off looking like a "wood pusher," someone who has no business at the board and would be better served playing a game of checkers.

After reading "Chess for Dummies" you are probably not going to get invited to the Moscow Conservatory for a demonstration of your skills, nor will you be hustling marks in Greenwich Village parks. But you will be better than when you started, and you'll be entertained as well as enlightened along the way. Lots of helpful sidebars and diagrams included. Highest recommendation.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very accessible introduction to chess openings. I came to the book familiar with 7 openings. This book introduced me to 2 - 4 variations for each of those openings, as well as 14 other openings (with variations) I was unaware of.

James Eade also did a great job explaining how the different strategies force an open, semi-open, semi-closed, or closed game. Turns out I usually force an open game. I tried a closed game and it was fascinating to switch up the tactics.

For a player like me, ranked at 1,200, this was a great tool to help me up my game and keep progressing. I took notes, and will continue to study and apply the information.

If you're playing chess for fun and want to up your game to start playing in chess groups and later on enter the tournaments then this could be a great asset for you.

[Tettey · Rating 4 out of 5]

it is commonly known that to be a patzer is the saddest thing in the whole of the history of the world of echecs.

i beg to differ.

i put it to you that the saddest thing in the whole history of the world of echecs is to get your ass whupped by a patzer, and consequently be left lamenting silently or non silently: "oh why, why must i be beaten by this idiot!"

let the lamentations cease. grab you a copy of this book.

patzer came with an opening trap and you fell for it. you dummy!
patzer played an obscure opening and got you into time trouble. you dummy!
patzer offered you a gambit, you took it and got your ass taken to the cleaners. you dummy!

Akua went to the Tromso olympiad and got a fool's mate stuck in her face. haHAHAHahaha.

let the lamentations cease. grab a copy of this book.

This book opened its mouth and told me what my playing style is (or would become), then it went a step further to suggest the openings best suited for my style. can you say personalized coaching, anyone? then it went on to explain the ideas behind the openings and showed me a few masters' games where those ideas were utilized. what more could you ask for?

and now while you the not-dummy laments your losses, i'm killing patzers here, there, and everywhere. even on the internets.

cease your lamentations dummy! read a book.
rid yourself of the sadness-iness. read this book.

[Pierfrancesco Aiello · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a beginner (as the book title says) it is quite good. It shows for each opening one game that "goes" the way of one color, although there is a serious fight on the board. Plus it gives the basic ideas why an opening is good, what does it achieves (controlling the center and so on)

[Sean S · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very accessible and easily digestible format for learning the major openings and a series of their variable lines. I think, after having read a few chess books in their entirety, that the process was very good in spotting basic patterns, reinforcing notation, and understanding the key fundamental differences for closed and open positions. I realize that I also prefer to watch videos and hear commentary with move by move analysis; this flows better for me and helps me understand in better depth.

One small update that should be done for the end of the book : the digital landscape for chess has changed dramatically compared to the recommended online resources.

Good reference!

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled with this one. It's hard to describe . . . it felt more clinical instead of real-world. Felt like someone reciting openings who had never used them . . . or maybe just never explained them before. I struggled to decipher what I was supposed to be doing.

The openings didn't seem well explained. I couldn't understand the principles behind the move set, nor the theory of the moves. It felt like the worst of all the worlds.

I didn't care for the "silly" names (for lack of a better word) for each of the openings. It seemed woefully short. Even openings I kind of know weren't making any sense.

I had better luck on YouTube, and with GothamChess's book.

[Dani Lensen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book is a great tool for ''meeting'' all the popular different chess openings. But so is the internet... All the included games were of little use because of the lack of explanations. I stopped going through all the games because it took a lot of time and I feel like I didn't learn anything from it.

[Stephanie Keil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Make sure you know how to interpret chess notation: most of this book is analyzing opening games in chess notation.

[Amar Pai · Rating 2 out of 5]

Feels like it was churned out by a machine. Not enlightening