How to Beat Your Dad at Chess
By Murray Chandler
Published by GAMBIT
This is not just a book for kids - for 'Dad' read any opponent who beats you regularly! This book teaches the 50 Deadly Checkmates - basic attacking patterns that occur repeatedly in games between players of all standards.
Each mating motif is carefully and simply explained, and several illustrative examples are given. A final test enables the reader to grade his pattern recognition abilities, and the last chapter explains what to do if your Dad is Garry Kasparov.
Every once in a while there are times that a wonderful chess book gets published with an 'odd' title and many chess players disregard it. This is definitely the case with How to Beat Your Dad at Chess.
How to Beat Your Dad at Chess starts with an excellent description of algebraic notation, complete with several illustrations. This is followed by a short, but clear explanation about how chess masters use pattern recognition to assist and speed up their chess calculations.
Now we get to the real core of the book, the "50 Deadly Checkmating Patterns" which is actually 47 checkmates, 2 material wins, and 1 how to get a draw from a difficult position. Each pattern has two(!) pages dedicated to it. First it is started with a little history of the combination, when it was first played and by whom. Next, shown are the key components and hints for when this pattern will occur. This is followed up by several example positions using this pattern. After you get through all 50 patterns there is a test chapter with 36 puzzles where you have the chance to put the patterns to work. The test even has its own 'target scored' to rank your pattern recognition. After the answers to the test and glossary of terms is the final part of the book… "What to do if Your Dad is Garry Kasparov"!
While this book is not a detailed manual on the attack or tactics, it is a great blend for the intermediate player. Don't let the title fool you, overall this is a great book that will teach many important winning patterns. Sprinkled with pictures this is a very fun book and would be a great addition to any strong beginner or intermediate player!
NSG rating = 9.4 of 10