Chess For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Part I: Laying the Groundwork for Champion Chess 7

Chapter 1: Tackling Chess Basics 9

Chapter 2: Getting to Know the Pieces and Their Powers 23

Chapter 3: Exploring the Elements of Chess 39

Chapter 4: Going after the King: Check, Stalemate, and Checkmate 63

Chapter 5: Making a Few Special Moves 79

Chapter 6: Got Notation? Reading and Writing about Chess 85

Part II: Gaining Chess Know-How 97

Chapter 7: Trying Out Tactics and Combinations in Hand-to-Hand Combat 99

Chapter 8: Sacrifi ces: Understanding When It’s Better to Give than to Receive 125

Chapter 9: Building Pattern Recognition 135

Chapter 10: Recognizing Advanced Pawn Formations 153

Chapter 11: Mastering Mating Patterns 167

Part III: Game Time: Putting Your Chess Foot Forward 183

Chapter 12: Selecting Your Strategy: The Principles of Play 185

Chapter 13: Coming on Strong in the Opening 201

Chapter 14: Making Headway during the Middlegame 217

Chapter 15: Exiting with Style in the Endgame 227

Part IV: Getting into Advanced Action 249

Chapter 16: Playing in Competition 251

Chapter 17: Hitting the Net with Computer Chess 263

Part V: The Part of Tens 271

Chapter 18: The Ten Most Famous Chess Games of All Time 273

Chapter 19: The Ten Best Players of All Time (and a Few Others) 301

Part VI: Appendixes 323

Appendix A: A Glossary of Chess 325

Appendix B: Chess Resources 347

Index 351