How to Beat Your Dad at Chess

Learn Checkmate Patterns

"How to Beat your Dad at Chess" is actually a book on How to Checkmate! It may have a silly title, but the contents are very useful for any novice wanting to improve their game - and learning tactics (which checkmates are a part of) are important.
Like some of the other books that focus in checkmates/tactics (such as "Art of The Checkmate", "Winning Chess Traps", "Winning Chess Tournaments" - all will compliment this book well), the different patterns are broken down by type of pattern (or checkmate in this case) making it easy to learn the specific checkmates.
This is a fun book to learn from!

10 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

Checkmate! Checkmate! Checkmate!

Ok Mate! Learn every important checkmating position that every novice should
know. Smoothered Mates to Backrank Mates - the mates are broken down by type and example positions provided. Not a book on HOW TO BEAT YOUR DAD AT CHESS - Don't know why they called it this. Putting the mistitle aside, this is a book first book on how to checkmate. I also enjoyed, WINNING CHESS TRAPS, WINNING CHESS TOURNAMENTS and 1001 BRILLIANT WAYS TO CHECKMATE all that make good companion books to this one.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

This book is mistitled

The title of this book infers that it may offer opening & strategies & endings for kids, but only the latter is the subject of this book. Below the title on the cover in small print is 'Including the 50 Deadly Checkmates'. Well that's virtually ALL that this book is about ... there are about 8 pages of intro and notation and then over 100 pages of ~50 checkmates. What a ripoff ... get rid of the words 'Including the' ... this book is simply '50 Checkmates' ! No opening moves, no do's and dont's, nothing ! Very disappointing, especially considering the many good reviews that prompted me to buy this for my 11 year old daughter who wants help in trying to beat her dad.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Not just for the age 9-12 reader as it suggests

Checkmate! Checkmate! Checkmate! Learn all about the standard checkmates you will find in chess. This is a highly specialized book on one important type of tactic in chess: Checkmate! It has little to actually do with "Beating your dad". Though learning your standard checkmates should help improve your game and therefor you will stand a better chance of beating dear old dad.
The checkmates are orgainized by the type of checkmate it is (example: Smothered Mate). The type of checkmate is shown with examples to work on that follow. A nice format overall. This is not the only book that covers standard checkmates (example: "Art of the Checkmate" is also very good, "Simple Checkmates" for the super beginner) and does nothing to cover the many other standard strategies involved in learning as a beginner (example good first book that covers everything that a beginner needs to get started is "Chess for Everyone; A Complete Guide for the Beginner") which makes a greater need for a comprehensive introductory book for newcomers to chess.
I like it and agree with others that the title has little to do with the material in the book. A worthwhile book once an comprehensive beginner's book is read.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Learn Checkmates!

'How to Beat your Dad at Chess' will teach you one segment of chess - CHECKMATE patterns. This is one of many important things you must learn when studying chess. Tactics, Chess Opening Traps, Middle Games, End Games, Positional Play, Pawn use and much, much more. When it comes to learning checkmate patterns (what this book covers) it is one of the best. Every chess player needs a 'well balanced chess library'.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Amazing Book on Pattern Recognition

OK here is the scoop from an experienced chess coach. There is no better book on checkmate patterns than this one, and the thing is, it's not just for kids! Each of the 50 checkmate lessons shows an important concept and it is amazing how clear and easy the positions are to follow. If you are a chess teacher or taking a class of kids you will love this book as training material. Either use it to set up positions, or as a text-book kids can take home - a totally enjoyable way to learn. This book has helped the scholastic students I work with in several ways. a) Improved combinational ability. They can now find combinations quickly by recognizing the familiar patterns around the enemy king. b) Inspiration. A wonderful feature of this book is how the puzzles are graduated in difficulty in each section. The simple puzzles anyone can follow, and the tough ones inspire the students by challenging them. c) Knowing when to analyze. The puzzles teach the students when it is likely there is a combination to be found, even without them being aware of it! d) Motivation. Because the material is presented in such a fun format, even including the test puzzles at the end, the students find it easy to read. This book, together with the author's companion volume CHESS TACTICS FOR KIDS, provides enough material to keep a class going forward for several months. Since this book first came out a number of other authors have tried to copy the idea, but no-one has come close. HOW TO BEAT YOUR DAD is pitched at just the right level, and is the most original chess training book that has been published for years. It teaches tactical pattern recognition in a fun and challenging way. No wonder it is said to be the best-selling chess book in the United States.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

50 Great Checkmates!

This book works because the 50 checkmates (actually 47 checkmates and 3 drawing concepts) are so superbly well-chosen. Some typical examples of the patterns covered are: Single rook sacrifice on h8 The Bxh6 Sacrifice The Double Bishop Sacrifice The Greek Gift Sacrifice A nice touch is that for many of the themes a little bit of history is also given. For example, Deadly Checkmate 50 is called The Fischer Trap, as in involves the Bxf7+ and Ne6 motif of Fischer-Reshevsky in 1958. We also learn that the great German player Siegbert Tarrasch (1862-1934) once fell for this trap too. This educational element helps explain why this book is almost a text book in many schools and clubs - the clarity of the explanations is another reason. The book is fun too. Very highly recommended, even for adults!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Silly Title For A Great Book.

Aside from the silly title this book is a solid five star book. It's full of mating patterns that all chess players need to know. I think it's a little too advanced for beginners and novices but once you've learned the real basics of chess tactics like double attack, forks, pins, and skewers, then you're ready for this one. To get those real basics try Lev Alvbert's Comprehensive Chess Course Vol. 1, 2, 3, and 4 or Yasser Seirawan's Winning Chess Series volumes 1 and 2. When you finish this book you'll be ready for some of those high powered tactics books! Excellent book and highly recommended! Would give it six stars if I could! Caution. Don't spend all your time studying chess tactics. Buy a copy of the newly revised and updated Basic Chess Endings by Reuben Fine. See that you understand and can use all the basic mates. Then study the chapter on Pawn Endings like your chess life depended on it. After that study the chapter on Rook Endings. One in five endgames ends in a Rook ending. Study all of Basic Chess Endings along with How To Beat Your Dad At Chess and you'll see a sharp improvement in all phases of your game.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Siege Warfare - castling just looks safe

The only thing wrong with this book is the cover art and title! I wish it had a more classic chess look so I could carry it around and impress my friends. The content is outstanding for those who, like me, will learn to play chess better but only have a Sunday afternoon conviction. It is not for beginners, however. I would recommend it for novice who aspire to better their game and hope to become chess club strong someday. The sections are well illustrated and well written. I found myself going back and reviewing previous mating motifs just to refresh on the many styles of attack. You will learn many! The sections are conveniently organized and reasonably short. I read one every night for understanding and then practiced the moves. This does not mean the sections are difficult. But wrapping one's brain around previously unknown chess concepts requires focus. It will challenge. In the end this book has made my game presentable (as Chandler promised) and I learned more of the beauty of chess. I highly recommend it for those who have moved beyond chess for dummies and are looking for the next level in learning. I hope the publisher uses an artist and a better writer for their next cover.

Excellent Book on all the Basic Checkmates

Be warned! This is not an introductory chess book for children like the title indicates. It is however an excellent book on all of the basic checkmates. The book is broken down into mini chapters that each contain a specific endgame theme. The examples are carefully chosen and the author has a clear writing style. Would have been nice for more examples to have been included (a little skimpy there).

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Checkmate!

Learn the most important checkmates! That is the jist of 'HOW TO BEAT YOUR DAD AT CHESS'. Different checkmate patterns are broken down with their names and examples. This is more than just a book of chess problems to solve: the author actually teaches you by a logical arrangement of the patterns. Perhaps a larger number of examples would be the only way I could think of making this book even better.

Covering Basic Checkmates

This is a good general book on the basic checkmates you will find in everyday play. The ideas/names are covered along with a modest number of examples. Not a difficult book to understand for someone who knows the basic rules and wants to progress.

Learn How To Checkmate!!!

'Learn How to Checkmate' may be a better title for this book! Because that is exactly what you will learn by getting 'How To Beat Your Dad At Chess'. Checkmates are set up by type of the checkmating pattern. All is made very clear. And, there are a fair number of examples. Not exactly a really thick book, but for what it contains it is WELL DONE!

fun coverage of checkmate patterns

This is a wonderful book if you want to improve fast. It shows the '50 deadly checkmates' which are formations of attacking patterns around the enemy king. This book explains how experienced players can use their past knowledge of similar positions to help find deep combinations to force checkmate. This is called pattern recognition. Although this book would benefit experienced players as well, I found the style and format really straightforward and clear. Even a novice would enjoy and learn from the examples.

Learn Checkmate Fast!

'How to Beat your Dad at Chess' is one of the best books on Tactical Checkmates. It covers fifty of what I would consider to be most important checkmate ideas. True, there is a lot more to winning at chess than knowing how to checkmate, but this is one important piece of learning chess. Recommended for those who already know how to play and want to sharpen checkmate skills.

CHECKMATE! That's what its all about!

'How to Beat Your Dad at Chess' is all about the final goal of every game that is started - 'Checkmate'! In addition to knowing the many other tactical parts of chess, pins, forks, double attacks, discovered attacks, and strategies such as used in knowing your openings, endgames and positional play learning your checkmate patters is important. Therefore, let it be said and so written: 'if after determining which part of chess you are weakest in you need work on checkmate patterns, then 'How to Beat your Dad at chess' is a good choice.

Checkmates for more advanced players

I think this is a good book if you already have a good understanding of chess and are well beyond the beginner stage. Otherwise I found that the positions were too hard for my 9 year old son. Even I struggled with it a bit. The way the book is put together and the positions are good, it is just not meant for anyone as a first or even second chess book to get.

One of my two favorite books on Checkmate Themes

One thing for sure, Checkmate will end a game of chess! There are many critical positions where knowing an important checkmate pattern will make the difference in the outcome of the game. This and 'Art of the Checkmate' are the two best books on the market that cover checkmate patterns. This book would have been given 5 stars with a little more content. Other than that a good book if you need to work on improving your checkmate pattern recognition.

Basic Checkmates

Checkmates are segmented by the different types of patterns where they are common place in actual play. You learn the checkmates while trying to solve various problems. This is a specialty chess book concentrating on 50 checkmates (you will need to get books on other types of tactics to be comprehensive in your studies of chess). A fairly decent job is done in covering a good variety of the most important checkmate patterns. Could probably use more examples (more content).

Decent book on checkmate patterns

This is a highly specialized book: it has 50 types of checkmates. It is reazonably well organized and could use more example checkmate problems to work on. The actual selection of checkmates is good and the book is enjoyable to go over. However, compared to my other book, 'Art of the Checkmate' it isn't as good. 'Art of the checkmate' is better organized and I like the actual way it shows the checkmate patters even more. However, if you are looking for a specific book on checkmate tactics then, 'How to Beat your dad at Chess' is a decent choice.