How to Win at Chess: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners and Beyond

As someone who already plays the game, I found this book to be a great refresher. It reminded me of important concepts (basics actually) and helped me brush up on my skills. One thing I loved was learning new concepts, like Zwischenzug (an in-between move). I also feel that the book has helped me improve my endgame skills. For example, I now know how to calculate if my opponent’s King can catch my pawn before it promotes. This has made me more confident in close games. Top of head, Levy also talks about keeping tension in the game and not trading pieces unless it helps -something I am not good at as my old strategy was to have a good pawn structure, then trade immediately to reach end game. This tip really changed how I think during matches. Another thing I like is that his writing is friendly and easy to understand, which makes the book fun to read. In fact, I think if you watched any of his YouTube videos, it would feel like he is just right there coaching you as you read. Lastly, I appreciate that he included links to videos for extra help. The book was so good that I am playing with the idea of buying the physical version to reread it later. As for my recommendation, I am recommending this book to everyone. Whether you are new to chess or you already play. It is a fantastic guide that is easy to follow and full of useful tips! Thanks, Levy!

I am 71 years old and first played chess aboard ship on a westpac in 1974. My Chess Library is over 200 books from all the top grand masters who wrote teaching books going back to the 1970s. My only video teaching is from DVDs and Workbooks narrated by Elliott Neff. I have the Chess Genius Pro Computer that I use often. I have a small 10 inch magnetic chess set that I take with me on the road and also join my old chess master friend for lunch once a week at our favorite restaurants and play while waiting for our lunch to be served. Now the constructive criticism based on just receiving the book and not reviewing it totally cover to cover, yet. The book starts off with a five star rating because of the spiral binding advantages over all paperback and hard cover books I own. The only negative is the dark squares are too dark making it difficult to differentiate the dark chess pieces when on the dark squares. The teaching in the introduction chapters is very well written and in total agreement with the teachings in the better chess teaching books I own. The trouble with paperback and hardback books is that as you move through them it is difficult to read the pages close to the binding. With this spiral book, the spiral is heavy duty and the cover is hard and the pages are also heavier. You can easily lay the book flat and also open the book 360 degrees easily. I love it. With the more complex books, I use my 10 inch chess set to lay out the board to agree with the book for a better learning experience. The authors do not always have the best moves, and we really need to think for ourselves and not just use textbook direction. This book should be used with and without a good chessboard with the file letters and rank numbers for quickly teaching beginners. Eventually as you become an intermediate to advanced player you should play on a board without the file letters and rank numbers for serious tournament playing. As the authors recommended playing better players as I do is the best experience to advance your play. About me. I am a retired Electrical and electronic engineer and engineering manager. Engineers are by nature your better problem solvers especially after they gained some practical experience. My much younger educational years was with shops in wood, metal, and machine shop. Since I been retired, I used my hand and machine tools to make my children and grandchildren Chess Boards and Chess Pieces out of quality hardwoods. I also purchased he same small 10 inch magnetic chess sets and chess books for kids for the grandchildren who are more into playing and learning. PS: I will update my review after I reviewed the entire book at least once. After going through over 200 other books, I will be able to provide an update on the quality between the covers. The author said this is a book for beginners up to the intermediate level, so we should not expect to become a grandmaster from just reading this book. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Z9G456?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079RKQDN3?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title https://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Chess-Board-Set-User-Friendly/dp/B0CHW3V5LS/ref=sr_1_7?crid=OA3I62YT8Z7Q&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.qOfhrsMl-3kR7Q0VBV-dDo_c_Vp5G1q3gz_HQy0t7fOPZdRrg7AXN_9BM_4OkyJdvXGOXOHYUtkULlWBBTqwd5TF_vXQLkjOMcyQH-djyNxeBbfYw18Ab5iQdl1qdyzlh55wB6ZH4KhNEyZOnwtQNh68CVLW6ixVbyJOUNAXdCOT_msilUPNDbS931UMTF9jNG2lAm6zO_tt_T3X-WrnoBPK2TT5jHl-blEkW-oeIVdzRDoe-NvkI24pOqHc-ZH5zfXE7HvrjINb2euJWRGguk9KBDHXtp6iQ85cbjoKIZY.fIDM53sZAGVS3tCrDYraHfMD4leMl2TopHOeRi2BVvc&dib_tag=se&keywords=millennium+chessgenius+pro&qid=1752176051&sprefix=Millennium+ChessGenius%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-7

Excellent practical guide. And entertaining. Big on principles. Things that are important at each ELO rating.

Must buy for anyone learning. My husband asked me to play him in chess last week. I never really played. He smoked me. I bought this book without telling him and challenged him to a game a week later and I beat him. He was really impressed I learned so much in a short amount of time. This book has taught me a lot about chess but also about strategic thinking in general. I also recommend the chess deck! We each take a card to study and use it to play each other. It’s really fun.

A really solid beginner chess book. Levy Rozman explains ideas in a clear, simple way that feels like one of his YouTube lessons. It’s great for learning basic strategy and avoiding common mistakes. Some stronger beginners might find parts of it a bit basic, but it’s perfect for learning the fundamentals.

Really detailed intro for chess beginners. Love the content and great visuals.

An author that can communicate. Written to explain what the other books don't. Clear and analytical. May never open another book on chess because this writer can break it down and explain it. A rare book in the chess world. This book will be a classic.

This review is from our nine year old son who is very fond of chess. “Great book. It really helped me learn openings, middle, end game strategy. I recommend it for beginners.”