Everyone's first chess workbook - fundamental tactics and checkmates for improvers.

 

                                                    BOOK REVIEW by Carl Portman

EVERYONE’S FIRST CHESS WORKBOOK 

– FUNDAMENTAL TACTICS AND CHECKMATES FOR IMPROVERS

by PETER GIANNATOS

Peter Giannatos

NEW IN CHESS

2021

1st edition (softcover, 344 pages)

What is this book about? (The back cover says…)

Working on chess tactics and checkmates will help you win more games. It develops your pattern recognition and your ‘board vision’ – your ability to capitalize on opportunities. This Workbook features a complete set of fundamental tactics, checkmate patterns, exercises, hints, and solutions.

 

Peter Giannatos selected 738 exercises based on ten years of experience with thousands of pupils at the prize-winning Charlotte Chess Center. All problems are clean, without unnecessary fluff that detracts from their instructive value. The Workbook has ample room for writing down the solutions to the exercises. This is helpful for both students and coaches, who can assign homework from the book without having to worry about being unable to review the solutions. And writing down the correct chess moves will greatly accelerate your learning process.

 

Everyone’s First Chess Workbook offers you a treasure trove of chess knowledge and more than enough lessons to keep you busy for a year!

 

Contents

Foreword – by GM Daniel Naroditsky

Preface – by the author

Introduction

Part I (comprising four chapters on general board visualisation)

Part II (comprising thirteen chapters on an introduction to chess tactics)

Part III (Comprising four chapters on Intermediate checkmates and combinations)

Part IV (Solutions to exercises)

 

My comments

I have coached chess to players from beginner to intermediate – and sometimes beyond – for many years. I have always gathered my material from different books and online resources, as well as actual classroom experiences. Here we have much of what I would want in one single volume.   

 

The pupil reading this then will already know how to play chess in terms of the rules and the basic moves. This book aims to improve board visualisation and tactical ability. It is not a strategy book. Pattern recognition is crucial for the improving chess player and this book focuses greatly on this.

 

One aspect of the book that I found of particular use was Chapter 19 – themed checkmate patterns. Many people (including some strong players) are unaware that some checkmates have actual names, because of their unique pattern and might be named after people long since departed. One example is ‘Boden’s mate which is a specific checkmate with two bishops. Here is an example position below. White to play (coming down the board) and checkmate Black in three moves, using Boden’s mate. Can you do it?

 

 

There are many other mates ranging from Anastasia’s and the ‘Kill Box mate to the Epaulette mate and Vukovic’s mate – but would you know which is which? It’s important to know these in my view, because they help to put a picture in the student’s head and therefore better focus the mind at the board.

 

With regard to tactical themes, there are examples in each chapter introduction, followed by guided practice and then tests. They are great fun to do and any student learning the game is bound to be filled with joy and wonder, if skillfully encouraged. The answers are given at the end of the book in a very logical and easy to follow way, headed with each topic and theme. Nice.

 

Does the book achieve its aim?

What is the goal of the book? Well, the author explains this in his introduction by remarking that studying will provide students with the resources they need to establish a fundamental level of checkmating and tactical abilities. I could best proffer an opinion about whether it achieved this aim or not by actually asking students who have used it. However, having just received the book I have not done that yet. I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that any student from unrated up to maybe around 1300 (the target audience) who diligently works through this book will benefit enormously. I can only imagine owning and cherishing such a book when I learned to play at the rather late age of twelve.

 

Note: this is not just a book for juniors but for chess players of any age, since our beloved game has no boundaries in that and many other areas. It is clear that the author has spent a good deal of time writing this and we coaches should be delighted that he is willing to share his expertise, and love for the subject, honed over many years. He has done so in a format that is easily understandable and very logical.

 

There is one final point. This is not only a book. It is a workbook. Therefore, I would envisage each and every student having a copy to keep, but the price would therefore have to be built in to each initial costing when engaging a new student. It is around £23 at the time of writing, but then the student gets to keep it forever, and it is well worth it.

 

To conclude. This is a lovely book for coaches, aimed at people who already know the basics but want to improve further. Containing tactics and pattern recognition with easy-to-understand text and 738 practical exercises, this is a timely addition to the market. I wish I had 50 copies, when I could change many new worlds.

 

Who is the author?

Peter Giannatos is the founder and executive director of the Charlotte Chess Center & Scholastic Academy, in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. Peter has been teaching and organizing chess for more than 10 years. As a teenager, he boosted his chess rating from 589 to over 2000 USCF in less than four years. Since then, Peter has achieved both the FIDE Master title and the US Chess National Master title. He now spends most of his time teaching his students the same techniques he used to rapidly improve.