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

While the layout and structure is not super advanced, it is one of the easiest books I have ever read on chess.As to the overall content on the book, it is extremely practical and useful, filled with hidden gems if you will, for both beginner and intermediate alike.Do I recommend it?I think even masters would enjoy reading this book even if they find it very basic.You do not really need any other book besides maybe Pandolfini's Weapons of Chess, which is probably the best bet for intermediates-advanced players.The final verdict is that Pandolfini is a great author and very easy to understand. His teaching style is one of the best you can really get when studying, so I highly recommend this book as well.It can even be the best starting book on chess you can read.

I purchased this book for the Kindle app on my iPhone, and in retrospection, that was a mistake. In the past I've read poor reviews from others when they've found a book that doesn't transfer well to the screen, but I'll write the review based on content, rather than my own personal convenience. I'm giving it four stars because the material content is useful for its target audience.First, why this doesn't work as an eBook. Throughout the dialog between teacher and student, references are made to diagrams a few pages back (which could be flipped to in a second and held by a single finger,) but on the screen this back-and-forth get old fast. Some points in the book even juggle between two or three different charts to compare multiple options the student could play and the teacher's explanation of the merits of each. Physical pages would make this material much easier to navigate through.As for the content itself, this is the first book I've read on the subject and I'm finding it to be a decent intro for someone interested in learning more about the game. Pandolfini writes with a rim-shot every few pages, but if you look past his dated humor, the information he presents and his chosen format work well enough. The chapters are divided in a logical progression through the game and give a clear sense of what happens during the various phases of play and how an informed person analyses and dissects the board state to make their decisions.I've known how the pieces move since I was a child, but just passed my 30th birthday and decided I'd finally like to learn a bit more about the game. This book was a good starting point, along with Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess. If you're interested in learning how to play, both of these books are an excellent starting point.

Fantastic and entertaining, the dialogue format makes it so much easier to read than your typical, dry, "text book" Chess book. If you want to learn how to play, grow, and have fun with chess, I recommend this book. It demystified so many things that you might have wondered really giving you a foundation to grow beyond just "here's how the pieces move." My favorite part is that he provides you with told to apply to any game, instead of just giving you solutions to very specific problems. As you learn to recognize principles at work, the game comes alive as something you can play, where it may have once seemed like either an overwhelming sea of options or conversely a rote sequence where only computers or brains that think like computers win. I think a teacher that can open up a world to you is the sort you want to learn from and Pandolfini's does that here.

I'm a pretty bad chess player and there are other reviewers who have read ten times as many books on the subject as I have. However, I think this is really one of the best first or second chess books you can ask for. It tends toward breadth over depth, laying out lots of good, simple principles for new or improving players. You won't find lots of long lines of moves. If you play regularly and read lots of books, this is probably too simple for you, but if you're just developing an interest and want a book that explains in plain words (assuming the student/teacher dialogue format is "plain") things like center control, pins, discovered attacks, and so on, I heartily recommend this book.

Most chess instructional material is “ above the heads of beginner players because the material assumes you know more than you do!However, this book conducts a dialogue between a beginner player with a master player! It starts with the rules, pieces ( their values etc. then progresses from there. The step by step approach is very effective and non intimidating!I highly recommend this book for both complete beginners, or those ( like myself),Who haven’t played the game for a while and need to brush up, and want to learn how to advance your approach to the game !

As a book for chess beginners, it's not bad. It is however extremely verbose. The author chose to write in a sort of "Platonic dialogue" style between a tutor and a pupil. I have to admit this did not work for me at all, and I got to the point where I was skimming pages quickly just to extract information I care about, like important openings and various tactics.

The sender provided excellent service in sourcing this not so easily book and supplying it to us in mint condition. Well done. Keep it up.

Good book. A very different way of writing a book but it is effective & the repetition will make the important chess concepts stick in your head (which is a very good thing).

Useful "ultimate" guide for the chess beginner. The book really starts from zero and teaches all a beginner should know. I am very happy with my copy.

I think this is a lovely book from this well known US writer and coach. The first thing that makes it appealing is that Mr Pandolfini has written it in the form of a Socratic/Platonic dialogue between a beginning student with only a few perceived ideas of the game and gently instructs and advises as the book goes along. Mr Pandolfini (unlike his portrayal by Ben Kingsley in "Searching for Bobby Fischer") is known to be a laid back and yet effective teacher. This comes across in his assurances to the reader not to panic or get distressed if something is not immediately clear as it will be revealed later. I find this approach a breath of fresh air as a lot of chess books throw a lot of information at you very fast: often with lines of notation which you either have to play on a chessboard to hand or something like an ipad. Pandolfini's book, thanks to plenty of diagrams means that you sit yourself down and absorb the material without having to flick between board and book. I have not seen them yet but no doubt his "Chess Movies" books will be even better in this regard.I have not come across any typos yet in my book of confused diagrams but I could comprehend these from the gist of the text. There are always going to be a few mistakes as to diagrams and notations in a book such as this ("The Right Way to Play Chess" By David Pritchard (recent update by someone else whose name escapes me) is littered with them but you can figure the problem out normally. I would recommend this because the calm and yet detailed style of the book makes it particularly useful to younger players or those who are taking up the game later in life and want a clear, simple guide. Unfortunately not many off us are able to have access to a top chess coach but through good books like this, "Learn Chess" by John Nunn (Gambit), Play Wining Chess by Yasser Seirawan (Everyman ) and the Dover reprint of "Better Chess" for Average Players by Tim Harding (Pandolfini and Harding: IMs and Nunn and Seirawan GMS) you will have great instruction by players who have the gift of great writing and teaching. This book is probably the first i would recommend out of all of them for its breadth and its accessibility however.