Power Chess for Kids: Learn How to Think Ahead and Become One of the Best Players in Your School

by Charles Hertan

A power move, explains experienced chess teacher Charles Hertan, is a winning master tactic that requires thinking ahead. To become one of the best chess players in your school you need to be able to think just 1,5 moves ahead, and this book teaches the four basic tricks do so. You will learn how to weed out silly moves and just consider a few important ones. Forget about learning openings and endgames, power moves will help you win in all stages of the game. Charles Hertan introduces the four main characters who will help you to learn these basic Zort (a teenaged computer from the planet Zugszwang), the Dinosaurs, Power Chess Kid and the Chess Professor . The most complete and fun kids book ever on learning how to win games!

Genres: Chess, Nonfiction

160 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 8, 2011

Reviews

[Barbara Lovejoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Books written for children are often quite helpful for me, especially when I am leaning something new--like chess. Yet, I struggled through this book. It is quite humbling to need an even easier book. :)

[Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know this book as marketed as being for kids, but I found it really helpful as an adult as well. I decided to read it because it was recommended by NM Dan Heisman. The format for introducing the topic, walking through examples, then having exercises for practice I found to be really helpful. Looking forward to reading volume 2.

[Bobsie67 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction, or review, of some basic chess tactical motifs. Many of the examples from real grandmaster games, some old and some more recent. Graphics and text are aimed at kids, but easy for adults to fly by some of the bad puns. While most of the positions were pretty easy (solve in less than 5 seconds), some were a challenge for me, which means that I need to work on tactics. If your rating is over 1800, you probably can skip the basics here. But if, like me, you're a club player away from the game for a while, a nice refresher.

[Steve S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is for the kid, or adult, who plays well and wants to become good. For kids, this is the book to read to learn to beat your parents. Parents, it's the one to read when your kids start beating you. It's laid out well, but you do need to figure out how to read chess notation to understand the puzzles.

[GeekBookwormGamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book

This is a great book for kids and adults looking to grow their chess skills. The kid on the book is a bit of a jerk, but it still teaches great tricks and how to set them up.