Being a late comer to the game of chess, I was twenty-four years old when I tried to decipher the moves and strategies of the game from books. The only beginner's books then available were dry and very nearly discouraged me from carrying on with the learning curve. If I had a book like Batsford's "Learn Chess Quick" the learning process would have been much more enjoyable, certainly quicker and more thorough. Many beginners books nowadays are aimed at children but this seems to be directed at older people. Written in a quite humorous manner, some of the light hearted comments and cartoons are a little risqué for much younger readers. This treatment makes for an easy recall of the concepts, I always remember that I learned the colours of the spectrum in the correct order by the ditty "Robert of York gave battle in vain". Such are the weapons scattered throughout "Learn Chess Quick." A joke, a cartoon, will help one to remember much easier than a page full of dry prose.
The cartoons have been drawn by Gray Jolliffe who, it is claimed "....knew diddly-squat about chess when he started the drawings for this book, but is now a ruthless and brutal opponent". He has been pretty busy with this book as practically every page has a drawing of some sort. The 144 24.5 x 19 cms pages of this book cover the following main topics: Introduction The Basics Playing Tricks The whole shooting match from start to finish Index For learning purposes, the sections on Basics, Playing and Tricks are the most important. Here the subjects are broken down into various themes, all of which are essential armoury for a successful chessplayer. The normal tactics pop up such as skewer, pin, fork and x-ray attacks but all these are expounded in a light hearted manner in succinct phrases that are difficult to forget. Now comes a difficult question. Who would want to purchase this book and for what purpose? If I were a teenager wanting to learn chess quickly I would look forward to this being a birthday/Christmas present from my chess dumb parents or my girl/boyfriend. However, this is not enough to become a grandmaster. Once one has absorbed the basics as set out in this book, it is important to put this knowledge to the test. Join a chess club, play in congresses, learn, refine and get the killer instinct. As we have become to expect from Batsford, the production of the book is immaculate and just handling it is a pleasure. It is published with a recommended sale price of £9.99 and is worth every penny. o f
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Here is an example of this learning technique which would be hard to
forget.