How on earth can this, one of the best chess books ever written, be out of print? It is the very best way to learn basic chess tactics; it is wonderfully well-written and so economical. If you love chess and don't have this book, you are missing out on something spectacular.

This book, Winning Chess, is an incredible book. It has changed my chess forever. I am probably a "D" class player, but maybe I'm approaching "C" level status, thanks to this gem.
This book explains tactics in such a way that no other I've come across does. Most of the examples are based on the exchange of pieces, and just how powerful the exchange in chess can be. In particular it explains the following concept, which is little known to most amateurs: if you, the attacking player, attack one of his pieces once, and his piece is defended once, then under normal circumstances this situation is uneventful and static. . . but if you initiate the exchange, you take, then he retakes, then that one piece of his that WAS defending a minute ago, is now the OCCUPANT of that square, and it itself is now undefended! In other words, you forced him to replace a defended piece with an undefended piece!. . . via an exchange! You capture. . . then he recaptures. . . and now that square, where this action took place, is undefended. Anyway, this book shows you how to initiate and exploit this technique. . . more importantly, this book shows you how to PREPARE, in advance, to exploit this exchange. A simple example of this is diagram 42A (I realize you probably don't have the book yet!). . . the black knight is defended by the black queen. . . so if white captures the knight, black will recapture, which is normally no big deal. . . . but when white does indeed capture the knight, he forces black to give up a defended piece (the knight) and replace it with an undefended piece (the queen). . . which white was ready to exploit, in this case, with a knight fork.

There are many more examples of this type of thinking. . . again, all in all, this is probably the best book on tactics for the average amateur. . . you can get it ...on the internet. Also, another simple-to-understand book on tactics that focuses on the concept of exhanging and substituting the undefended piece for the defended piece, is Bill Robertie's Winning Chess Tactics. You might want to read Robertie's book first, to get an introduction to this wonderful concept. . . then dive in to Winning Chess. You'll savor the anticipation in the process! Have fun!

I read this book in college over 30 years ago. I still recall its simple, direct message: Most chess games are won by the use of the double attack, the concentrated attack, the uncovered attack and the skewer, according to the authors. The book helps you learn to spot chances to exploit these tactics.

80 highly tactical games, with venues and players named, annotated for the beginner.

This is what chess is all about! Amazing games. Glorious conclusions. A couple end in remarkable draws. Most finish with the inevitable threat of checkmate.

FEATURES

+ Digestible format. Each game looks like its own chapter, though it's only 2-3 pages. The brevity of the comments, the lightness of the annotations, and the shortness of the games all conspire to induce even a rank beginner into taking a bite. It's very easy to play out a single game when you find yourself with a few minutes to spare.

+ Breadth of coverage. Although this book is no-one's first choice for studying the openings, it certainly provides a convenient introduction. The games are grouped by opening, roughly in the order of their chronological popularity. The first half is dominated by open games, especially the King's Gambit and Ruy Lopez. In the middle, there are several of the French, the Sicilian, the Caro-Kann, and the Queen's Gambit. Finally, there are samples of modern openings, like the KID and English. There is no index; there wouldn't be a point.

+ Reinfeld's descriptions. They're brief, but they make the games interesting. He tells you what to watch for in plain English.

+ Useful, brief, understandable annotations. Typical chess annotations are of the form "instead of this move, which leads to this series of moves" and end with a position that is not obviously winning for either side. These are inscrutable to beginners. Reinfeld, however, only provides that sort of annotation when the result is decisive. Often, he instead lists the threats. In other words, he tells us what would happen if the next player skipped his turn. This is exactly what the beginner wants to know. He can think for a minute, "OK. So how would I counter that threat?" Then he can see the next move and understand why it was made.

DRAWBACKS?

OK. There are many ways to criticize this book. For example:

"Many of these games are against duffers!"
A: Yes, and often the master is hampered by considerable disadvantages (a blindfold, a simultaneous exhibition, a piece removed before the game even starts, or a free move for the opponent) which tend to level the playing field. Because the games are not nail-bitingly close, a beginner can understand the moves.

"There are too many mistakes in these games."
A: It is very useful to the beginner to see how to take advantage of mistakes. Most here are subtle, rather than outright blunders like leaving a piece en prise (attacked and undefended), but Reinfeld's verbal explanations are clear and cogent. Sometimes there is an obvious mistake, but only when the position is already lost.

"These games are all available elsewhere, in books and computer databases."
A: Yes, because they are classics. If they were lengthy struggles, I might recommend a computer or deep annotations, but not for such decisive games. Just watch and learn.

"The moves are in Descriptive Notation."
A: This is really not a problem when the analysis is so shallow. DN is fine for re-playing games (as well as for tactics puzzles, where NxN is actually easier to grasp than Nxf3). Don't be dissuaded by this.

"There is only 1 diagram per game. A beginner book should not require a board."
A: For one of these quick games, one diagram is almost too much. It mainly serves to remind you that you are reading a chess book! Well, it also reassures the beginner that he is following the moves correctly. Yes, this book requires a board. I enjoy moving the pieces and imagining that I am one of the great masters. I peek at the end to see which side wins, and I play his pieces, trying to guess the moves.

"It's very difficult to guess the master's move following a diagram."
A: True. Since the strong moves which follow the diagrams are far from obvious, this book is not useful for tactical drills. The purpose is to inspire. However, it is possible to look for the crushing blow near the end.

TRUST ME!

With these objections swept aside, there is much to love in this treasure trove. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Once you know the rules and have lost a few games, you are ready for this book, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

This book belongs in every chesslover's library. The combinations and strategies are suberb. This and "The Immortal Games of Capablanca" are, IMHO, two of the finest books in chess literature. And both are by the same author

This is a great book.The games are fantastic,the analysis good and the short introductions to each game are fascinating.The only drawback is the descriptive notation,but the book is too good to miss.

I bought this book over 20 years ago when I was 13 or so. Reinfeld's techniques improved my game immensely, and whenever I get serious and dust off the chess board, this is the book to which I turn. The author dedicated the book to his wife, who wanted "a chess book she could read". It is indeed easy to read, yet what you learn is powerful chess stuff. Now my brother-in-law is asking for a chess book, and I am buying him this one for Christmas. Maybe I shouldn't get it for him after all, if I end up playing him!

I purchased this book in hopes of introducing my family to the great game of chess. (A teacher I am not.) This book does a wonderful job of explaining the basic strategies involved in playing a winning game. From checks, mate, attacking threats, forks, opening moves, mid-game and end-game play, Reinfeld explains the game in language that anyone can comprehend.

In my particular instance, use of this book has allowed me to create additional interest in chess with former non-players in my family. (An interest I found nearly impossible to cultivate myself.)

So, if you are a beginner, or a player who struggles in passing along knowledge effectively, this is a book for you.

I think this is one of the best chess books for beginners.It's got complete rules and basic principles to follow in all parts of the game,as well as elementary tactics.The funny illustrations are an added bonus.

This was the first book about chess I ever bought. By studying it, I taught myself how to play chess when I was still a child. It contains a complete list of the rules, and explains them so that anyone who reads English can understand them.

If you just want to learn how to play Chess, and don't have anyone to teach you, this is the only book you need.

This book was the first book I ever read on Chess and it hooked me on the game. Although other books have more detail or are more comprehensive, this book gives the basic concepts of the game. It is quite readable. It is suitable for introducing a novice to basic strategies before they are committed to learning serious Chess. I still use concepts I learned from this book 30 years ago to teach kids chess today.

This is a unique chess book that has something for everyone. It has amusing and intersting stories that apply to people who have litereary interests as well as chess interests and it has a striong theme throufghout that although chess is wonderful, it is really secondary to life. It also has fascinating stats, stories, and great game collections and puzzles to solve. Really it is a perfect chess book to go over and read by the fireside on a cold night or any night for that matter. Buy it or pick it up at a library, and if you love chess, you will love this book..

Irving Chernev wrote many chess books, all of them good. But the Fireside Book of Chess is unique. It is not an instructional manual. Rather it is anecdotes, historical stuff and fiction about the long and glorious history of the game. It's an old book, hence there's nothing in it about Fisher, Karpov, Kasparov and others of the last 25 years, but this book is timeless. It is also the only such book of its kind.

This is a tough little tome to track down. In fact, it is less than 200 pages and too short to be a tome. No matter, "Complete Book of Chess Openings" by the late Fred Reinfeld is packed with openings, gambits, defenses and explanations why which moves will impact your playing.

Reinfeld authored dozens of chess books, and was one of America's top players. He summed up his understanding of openings into this book, suitable for beginning and intermediate players.

Included are what you'd find in most opening books:
Center Opening, Danish Game, Bishop's Opening, Vienna Game, King's Gambit, Giuco Piano, Four Knights, French Defense, Sicilian Defense, Queen's Gambit, and much more. The moves are described in notation form, and he briefly points out the sensibility behind a given move. There is a page with a notation chart for those players unfamiliar with it.

Where many great players falter as they prepare opening books is that they often overwhelm the reader with more material than is useful. Unless the player understands the reasoning behind the openings, the secondary and tertiary lines and variations are pointless. The player will have already lost. Reinfeld wrote this not for Bobby Fischer or even Garry Kasparov, but for the average player.

I fully recommend "Complete Book of Chess Openings" by Fred Reinfeld. It should be on every student of chess' desk, ready as reference or for study.

Anthony Trendl

This book is a very interesting and entertaining book. You can learn many different chess openings and defenses. If you are a beginner or a serious chess player this book will give you hundreds of diagrams to help create or sharpen your skills. Even famous games are included so that you can follow famous chess player's moves and pick up their winning tactics. This book helps mold you into a very sophisticated chess player. I would highly recomend for any type of chess player.

About 300 tactics puzzles, divided into 20-question tests. According to the intro, the questions get progressively more difficult toward the end of each test (but I have taken only the first one, so I'm not sure whether the tests themselves get harder).

The difficulty seems to be around 1300-1700. There is a book by Lein (Sharpen Your Tactics) which has about the same range, but it gets progressively harder through the book. If you like to have a range of puzzles in one sitting--some warm-ups, some thinkers, and a couple of really tough ones--Reinfeld's book seems to fit the bill.

I would rather have the puzzles grouped according to difficultly, but I suppose that Reinfeld's grouping lets you gauge your own skill level more accurately.

These are combinations mainly, not checkmate puzzles. Reinfeld's How to Checkmate would be a good companion. And if you can find it (OOP) Chernev and Reinfeld's "Winning Chess" is, in my opinion, the very best way to learn the types of combinations to look for. (Seirawan's Winning Chess Tactics and Znosko's Art of Chess Combination are also good for that, though the latter is quite a bit more advanced.)

This book is nothing but diagrams for drilling. No explanations. And no hints! That's closer to real conditions than some puzzle books are. And as the puzzles are from real games, they are of course realistic, not contrived compositions.

The diagrams are very clear, not old-style--maybe a bit small, but only because the book's dimensions are small. At the bottom of the page is a little comment about the game, usually revealing nothing about the solution. This really does make each puzzle more interesting. The answers, at the end of each 20-puzzle section, are described in words as well as in algebraic notation, and that helps to make the book less dry as well.

New algebraic edition, thankfully. A 5-star book for the money.

This was the first chess book that I bought about 15 years ago. It was a great way to become addicted to chess... That's why I am giving it four stars instead of three.

However, the book tends to be dogmatic in its openings theory chapters and also to dismiss lines that are actualy pretty solid. After reading the book one ends up with the impression that having the bishop pair is almost a ticket to a win. Nonsense, each position has to be addressed individually. The endings chapter is good for beginners but non-challenging. Middle game plans are analyzed from a tactical point of view in most cases neglecting value to strategic considerations.

This book is good as an approximation to chess but, as a word of advice, do read more advanced tomes and practice. I have seen that testing ideas on the board is a way to see if you are progressing or not.

This is the only chess book I have ever seen that is like a very
interesting and well-written college freshman textbook. Reinfeld
long ago taught a famous chess course at New York University so
I guess that is where he developed it. It covers all the basics
of chess very well and would be good for advanced players as a
reference for what is most important in chess openings such as
the Muzio Gambit, Noah's Ark Trap, etc. There are a handful of
books as useful for the serious novice as this one, but they predate modern Russian/Yugoslav chess too much. Reinfeld is pushing the Steinitz philosopy but he discusses most modern openings stressing their emphasis on strategy.

This is a great book for any interested chess player. It is more easily read then other chess books, it is written for the average person learning chess. tons of examples and moves, and reasons for moves. It is best if you have a chess set so you can setup an example and track the changes on the board, with the book's moves.

As so many other have noted, the price can't be beat. And for such an inexpensive edition, the binding has been very durable. My copy has survived unconscionable levels of abuse and manhandling. It's great to carry with you for study on the go.

If you're not familiar with the tactical armory of chess, this book will give you a quick, total-immersion introduction. If you already know what a pin or fork is, to name just two of the twenty themes covered in this book, you'll get extensive practice recognizing and executing decisive combinations. I find the book most useful to me in sharpening my ability to calculate. Many solutions are very subtle and require you to analyze a position four or more moves deep.

Be forewarned that some of the solutions are inaccurate. There have been times when, mystified by the supposed "answer", I've entered a position into the computer and got back a line that is less of a crusher than that of the answer key. Nevertheless, the player on move usually still emerges with an advantage.

I am currently a 1400-1550 player in standard games on the ICC. I started my adult chess interest about 6 months ago, my initial rating being 900 for several weeks. I have read many books and played many games in the last six months to make this modest improvement I've made. I've read them all, Silman, Nimzovitch, the Microsoft Chess books, etc (all good in their way), but this one book took me from 1200-1500 in one week, by far the biggest single jump of all (about 300 points or so). And that level of play has stuck, showing it's really in the head, for good. It's basically like strength training for your chess muscle. Just carry it around, do random puzzles to keep from getting bored. Work on the same puzzle (sometimes for days . . .) until YOU get it. Then check the answer. If you spend three days and can't get it, don't look it up, just go to a different one. If you use it in this disciplined way, it is incredible what changes occur in the WAY you look at the board. All the positional concepts that I currently know are really are about getting your pieces active, and avoiding potentially dangerous positions for your pieces. If you can't extract tactics out of a good position, the best position in the world won't help you. While I'm sure at a higher level of chess, there is really more to positional chess than just tactical potential, for anyone like me, or really anyone from 1100-1800 this book would be indispensible for improvement. Simply the best chess book (for us average joe's) EVER written, hands down, just look at the other reviews!

Combinations and tactics are the "punching power" of chess. This book is like the heavy bag in boxing, which trains you to punch HARD! Unlike many chess books written, which are made in a do-this-this-&-this-and-you'll-be-a-winner style, this book makes YOU work.
There are few if any instructive words of wisdom. Just positions to solve and solutions in the back. This is as close to the truth (being a real game setting) that one can come while training, WHICH DRAMATICALLY INCREASES THE VALUE OF THE BOOK. I know too many chessplayers with more "dtt&taybaw" books than the Library of Congress and can't play a lick of chess. I also know people who have never cracked a book and are some of the strongest players out there. Do the latter know something that the former don't? Yes, how to play combos and most importantly play chess.
GM Larry Christiansen said that this was the book that influenced him the most. You know Larry, the guy who banged out 3 GM norms in a row to become one of only a handful of people to go from nowhere to Grandmaster in a single bound. I used this book so dilligently (its actually fallen completely apart from too much usage), that even with a mediorce opening repertoire I scored 7-1 in the Under2000 section of the 1988 NY Open, tying for 1st place out of 200+ contestants from the United States and the World and split $15,000.00 with 3 other people. (Have I gotten your attention yet?)
The only reason why I didn't give this book a 10 is because there is a little "untruthfullness" about it in that you KNOW each position has a solution that wins. Too bad we don't have a chessic angel on our shoulders going, "PSST!! There's a knight fork combo that wins!"
There are no "instant pills" for chess understanding. There is no one book out there that will tell you everything you need to know, but if you work through this book (asking intellingent questions along the way and endeavor to dig for intellingent answers), you will be on your way. As the beginning of the famous poem Equipment (author unknown) so eloquently states in the first line, "Figure it out for yourself my lad..."