Part I: Laying the Groundwork.

Chapter 1: Tackling the Chess Basics.

Chapter 2: Greeting the Pieces and Their Powers.

Chapter 3: Getting to Know the Elements of Chess.

Chapter 4: Looking Out for the King: Check, Stalemate, and Checkmate.

Part II: Gaining Chess Know-How.

Chapter 5: Tactics and Combinations in Hand-to-Hand Combat.

Chapter 6: Sacrifices: When It’s Better to Give than to Receive.

Chapter 7: Mastering Mating Patterns.

Chapter 8: Building Pattern Recognition.

Chapter 9: Recognizing Pawn Formations.

Chapter 10: Making Special Moves.

Part III: Game Time: Putting Your Chess Foot Forward.

Chapter 11: Selecting Your Strategy: The Principles of Play.

Chapter 12: Coming on Strong in the Opening.

Chapter 13: Making Headway during the Middlegame.

Chapter 14: Exiting with Style in the Endgame.

Part IV: Getting Into Advanced Action.

Chapter 15: Competition Play and Necessary Etiquette.

Chapter 16: Hitting the Net with Computer Chess.

Chapter 17: Got Notation? Reading and Writing about Chess.

Part V: The Part of Tens.

Chapter 18: The Ten Most Famous Chess Games.

Chapter 19: The Ten Best Players of All Time.

Part VI: Appendixes.

Appendix A: A Glossary of Chess.

Appendix B: Other Chess Resources.

Index.