Chess Opening - Traps and Zaps - VOLUME 1

I went through a couple of books to have my teen compare, but he thinks this is the best for his age.

I think I understand the negative views.Good chess players learn their openings well and learn early how to avoid opening blunders like those shown in this book. So if you are a serious player, these exercises might seem a waste of time.However, I approached the book to learn the "why" behind the opening lines.In some openings, it is absolutely critical to make a certain move at a precise moment, while in a very similar opening, it can be a major blunder to make that same move at that same moment. I wanted to know why, and by studying the problems in this book, I learned some of those reasons.This book has other benefits too.1. It shows you how you can punish CASUAL chess players as they make opening blunders.2. It helped me learn the basic moves of many different e4-e5 openings.So I recommend this book to anyone who has these hopes for the book.

A lot of people "want to get into chess" but don't really want to put the time in. The prospect of learning an opening can be daunting, and it can be hard to absorb the information out of context. This book is great because it teaches the important principles of the most common openings by showing you precisely how to exploit the most common opening mistakes. You'll quickly see why controlling the center, castling early, winning space, developing pieces in the proper order, etc. are important because you'll see exactly how to punish an opponent for violating key principles. Plus, these moves will be useful right off the bat against other beginner players - and even against mid level players who try to get cute. I recommend this book highly to anyone new to the game.

"CHANT" The chants were nice but the second time I played it, the tape got all tangled up. In trying to rescue the tape, it came loose from the take up reel. It's now unusable. I'm very disappointed as I just bought this tape. I would like to buy another or better yet, get reimbursed for it. I'm afraid that I'll have the same problem if I order a new one. Please advise.Thank you,John W. Kelley.

I'm around 1500 strength, depending which site. I thought the first puzzle I looked at was not hard. But now I open to random pages and cover the hint with my hands. The puzzles are short but challenging. Very interesting motifs used. Spectacular actually. I'll be keeping this book for a while, as a reminder of all the outrageous tactics that can be pulled. I failed to solve the last 5. I think I'll stop covering the hints.After the puzzle, Pandolfini explains what opening principle was violated that allowed this to happen.Don't memorize the moves that got here, as they likely won't be played. Just learn the principles and the tactics. Once I learn them well enough, I'll go through one more time to practice blindfold chess.

I like the easy to read format for this book. I arrive early, it was also very excellent wrapped and protected and in mint condition.Bruce Pandolfini is an easy to understand chess grand master and I have gained a lot of knowledge from reading his book.I like that he writes in algebraic notation which makes memorization a lot easier as the old notation is rather difficult for some of us.I would recommend this book for all levels of chess play, from beginner to the merely curious to the expert and master player all of us will learn something from this excellent book. I would recommend the others of Bruce Pandolfini's Fireside Library Collection as well.

After reading the Intro and Scenario 1, I’m not wasting my time or money. I’m getting a refund, but I wish I had just read the other reviews in the first place. What I’m about to say is nothing new - but I hope it helps guide you and confirm the other criticism you might read.The description of the book fails to mention that the only opening variations covered in this book all begin with 1. e4 e5 (both Kings’ pawns). While that was disappointing to read in the Intro, I thought I’d give the book a shot... until I discovered sloppy errors IN THE VERY FIRST SCENARIO no less. Are you kidding me? What kind of editing went into this back in 1989?I’m somewhat of a beginner, and I’m sitting here by the fire trying to enjoy the pursuit of improving my chess game. But I just found myself irritated and frustrated as I picked out the sloppy errors.

This book covers king pawn openings only. For each of the variations the progression of ideas and clever attack and defense positions is explored in a practical way. One can enjoy the short games that emphasize tactical strategies, again and again. It is a perfect travel companion. I refer to it many times and have read it at least twice. This book contains practical attacking considerations and exploits mistakes one's opponents make. There is an explanation for each of the critical moves and an analysis as to have countered the particular offensive maneuver.

Oh dear, I wanted to like this book, but proofreading errors in the first four positions discussed don't bode well for the rest of the book. They are:- 'Center' Game 1, page 3, is missing a black knight from the board. 'Center' Game 4, page 6, the Scenario text says the white bishop should be on h6 to deliver a pin - but it should be g5 for the pin as h6 just allows the bishop to be taken.OK, so I have the 1989 edition of the paperback, and these errors may have been spotted and corrected in later editions, but for a chess book, which relies on very accurate text and diagrams, they are not acceptable - hence the two stars. This is a shame, as the premise and potential of the book are great, but in reality can I trust the rest of the text?

A good fun book. But rarely do I find people will fall into these traps - many of them require quite a long setup... if indeed you can find anyone that plays ...e5 these days!Still, I quite like it.

Thank you.