Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess (edition 1982)

Very instructive set of lessons on basic chess. I've owned a copy of this book for quite a while, and turn back to it every once in a while. ( )

An interesting way to teach chess. This is designed to make you think. It is a position book, showing you positions and asking for answers. It focuses on tactics. ( )

Let us be first aware that Bobby Fischer did not write this book. He allowed for the use of his name. The authors are Stuart Margulies and Donn Mosenfelder, both of Educational Design, Inc.

You will not need your pocket set for this book, only a pencil. Each page contains a diagram in which you are asked to find the best move, show the first move in a combination, et cetera. I hated to write in a book, but went ahead with it anyway, as the alternative would be overly complicated.

The entire book concentrates on Endgame alone. The first half of the book I breezed through in about a half hour--very simple problems. When you are finished you turn the book upside down and begin from the back of the last page, which is now the front of the 1st page, 2nd half... These take quite a bit more thought.

I liked the fact that you must visualize the moves, as you would in an actual game. This takes some practice. I learned some new chess lingo here: Interposition, Displacing, Driving away... I know that I will indeed be better at mating--something I very much needed a firmer grasp of.

It is true that there are much better books on Endgame out there, and that this book is even at first misrepresenting of itself. Bobby Fischer does manage to write a couple of sentences (and I mean 2). Also, in the introduction the two authors introduce themselves and explain their learning technique, which may not be groundbreaking, but is novel. I enjoyed picking up the book and a pencil and working problems at my leisure without the need of my pocket set. However, I am now ready to trade in my pencil for it back after this unique experience in chess reading.

By the way, I kept an honest record of problems that I got wrong--39 out of 300-something. A testament to the book's overall novice level. ( )

I'm sure I'm not alone in having first learned chess from this book. I've always wondered just how involved Fischer was in writing it, though. ( )

Life & Leisure
-chess game instruction