Pandolfini's Ultimate Guide to Chess: Basic to Advanced Strategies with America's Foremost Chess Instructor »

Bruce Pandolfini, a National Master in United States chess competition, is the creator of the highly acclaimed Fireside Chess Library. He lives in New York City.

One of America's best-known chess masters, Bruce Pandolfini has helped millions learn the intricacies of chess through his acclaimed books and workshops. In this exciting volume, he presents a complete overview of the entire game and its culture. Structured as a dialogue between a beginning student and an expert teacher, Pandolfini's Ultimate Guide to Chess takes the student step-by-step from fundamentals to advanced, highly strategic play. Combining easy-to-follow diagrams with trenchant and up-to-date analysis, Pandolfini puts a new twist on accepted chess theory, offering a seamless beginning-to-end approach, including:

• a short introductory history of the game

• the moves, rules, and contemporary notation forms

• the basic principles of chess

• how to develop an opening repertoire

• the art of tactical play

• pattern recognition and memory aids

• traps and pitfalls to be avoided

• middlegame play, strategy, and planning

• defense and counterattack

• transitions to the endgame and the endgame itself

• computers and the future of chess

• the best websites for playing chess online

With Pandolfini's expert insight into the history and modern world of chess, as well as several appendices to enhance play and appreciation, Pandolfini's Ultimate Guide to Chess makes the perfect gift for players of all ages and will be the benchmark titlefor chess players for years to come.

Contents

Prologue: Chess, The Universal Game

Lesson 1: In the Beginning

The Moves and Rules

Lesson 2: Arming for Attack

Non-mating Tactics

Lesson 3: Defining the Goal

Mating Patterns

Lesson 4: Terms of Engagement

The Elements

Lesson 5: Staking out Territory

Opening Principles and the First Move

Lesson 6: Establishing the Neutral Zone

Black's Response

Lesson 7: Determining Priorities

Development and the Center

Lesson 8: Starting the Campaign

Comparing Minor Pieces

Lesson 9: Digging the Trenches

Trades, Pins, and More on Minor Pieces

Lesson 10: Accumulating Advantages

Pawn Play and Weaknesses

Lesson 11: Forming Plans

Doubled Pawns, Castling, and Open Lines

Lesson 12: Evaluating and Calculating

The Middlegame, Exchange Values, How to Analyze

Lesson 13: Breaking Through

Strategy and Tactics, the Importance of Material, Avoiding Errors

Lesson 14: The Beginning of the End

Endgame Principles, Centralization, the Active King, and Pawn Promotion

Lesson 15: Approaching the Goal

The Passed Pawn and Pawn Majorities

Lesson 16: All Good Things Come to an End

The Seventh Rank, Invasion, and Simplification

Epilogue: Chess = mc2

Appendix 1: Glossary

Appendix 2: Opening Moves

Appendix 3: Chess on the Web

Appendix 4: World Champions

Appendix 5: Significant Dates in Chess History

Appendix 6: Quotes

Appendix 7: Chess in Movies and Books

Appendix 8: The Most Famous Chess Game of AllTime

Bibliography

Index

Acknowledgments