GM Ashley is the USA's first African-American Grandmaster. Not only is he good at chess, he is awesome at teaching it, too, as his scholastic teams have demonstrated. Seeing this book in the library reminded me I needed to get a chess program started up again for my boys.

I've played in scholastic chess tournaments and I know the thrill of doing well and of stinking up the joint. But it's one thing to be a competitor, it's another to be a parent with a child competing. I'm reading this book to help me keep a level head.

I used this book and it's companion to get me started again. If you're really interested in a systematic program of learning, check out Alburt's Comprehensive Chess Course.

Again, a good refresher for me.

It is said by far better players than me that the way to get to the Expert level is by studying tactics in heavy doses. This was a thin book at my library so I grabbed it. IM Littlewood does a good job of picking a theme, explaining it, talking about how to exploit it, how to defend it, and then giving some exercises.

This is the curriculum I am starting my boys on (hence the reason I am reading back through it). I know I'll take them through the first two books, but I haven't decided on the 3rd one as of yet. It may be better to switch them into GM Seirawan's series.

This is the curriculum I am starting my boys on (hence the reason I am reading back through it). I know I'll take them through the first two books, but I haven't decided on the 3rd one as of yet. It may be better to switch them into GM Seirawan's series.

I have the algebraic edition version of this book and while the overall material is good, there are some obvious errors in the text due to the conversion from English Descriptive Notation. I believe this version is English Descriptive... if you're not familiar with that type of notation, the book is going to be a very hard read.

The first time I picked this book up was when I was still in the USAF and traveling to Washington, D.C. every two weeks. I bought a copy, then published by Microsoft Press, and read through it during my trip. It's a great starter book for someone wanting to learn how to play chess better.

I ordered this one thinking it would be a good book for my oldest. It will be, in time. The book covers approximately fifty different mating patterns. I'm going to have to go through it with him because some of them aren't easy for a beginner.

Norwood's book is excellent and colorful; it really kept the attention of my oldest. The puzzles get progressively harder but he stuck it out and finished the book with minimal help from me.

My youngest son started out in this book a few weeks ago and ran through it. I quizzed him on certain sections of it and he recalled what he had read. It's an interesting way of presenting the material to a beginner.