5 comments about The Middlegame - Book I : Static Features (Algebraic Edition).

1. These are wonderfully instructive books. Full games are used to illustrate specific points. If enjoy Euwe and Meidens's Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur, let these be your next books on strategy. (I suggest sticking with an author you like.) These are probably most helpful for someone rated between 1600 and 1800 USCF. (Never waste time on chess books that are over your head.)
   
   If you have trouble with the binding, search the web for the books in ChessBase format. They are encrypted, and the key is found in the books themselves. So once you have bought the books, you can read them in ChessBase at no extra charge.
   
   4 stars for the books, plus one for the files.



2. This book is outstanding if you want to get better at chess,
   buy both volumes of this book.
   Forget the opening until you've gone through this book.
   It may take some time to go through,but believe you me ,it
   we be more than worth it.



3. I guess classic is the right word for it, for better and for worse.
   it has quite an old attitude, before the modern chess (sacrifices are not even considered an option, if there is no immediate benefit).
   good for beginners (say up to 1700), but I think that's about it.
   
   you can see a remark on this book in the introduction of Watson's book:
   Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy



4. This book is a classic. It goes through numerous starting middle game positions that arise out of the different openings and explains the strategies of each middle game position before illustrating some representative examples. I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes to learn more about the middle game.



5. (NOTE: For some reason Amazon sells te two volumes of this book--"Static" and "Dynamic" features-seperately. This review refers to both volumes.)
   
   Buy this book. It is well-written, instructive, and will help your rating. It is also... honest, modest, and civilized. With the reader's permission, I will explain these three less common features first.
   
   By "honesty" I mean that this book--by a world champion (Euwe) and a strong gradnmaster (Kramer) is obviously not the case of the world champion lending his name to the book and letting the other author do all the work. Clearly--as can be seen by the inclusion of many deeply-annotated games by Euwe (as well as by Kramer), he did a lot of the work himself. By "modesty" I mean that the book often includes lesser-known games that both Euwe and Kramer *lost*--as long as their opponents played in an instructive fashion. The authors don't try to make themselves look like invincible supermen; they only care about teaching the reader. By "civlized" I mean that the writing style is sober and to the point. The English translation (and presumably the original Dutch) is refreshingly free of slang and superlatives. So is the analysis itself: when the authors speak--for instance--about different pawn formations in the center, they note which type of formation usually arises from what kind of opening and how to play it, and give instructive games as examples. C'est tout. They do not include any waffle about "development" or "the center" in general as space fillers, explicit or implicit promises that if you only learn to play these formations you will become an expert/master/grandmaster/world champion (as some unscrupulous authors do), or games full of "!!" punctuations for moves that merely follow the correct general plan.
   
   So much for style. What about the chess content itself? The book is divided into a few large topics, each of them excellently presented. The first volume is wholly occupied with "static" features: pawn formation, material imbalance, etc. The second deals (first of all) with two types of "dynamic" issues--that is, issues that depend not so much on the *number* or *formation* of the pieces but on their *activity*: the initiative, second, attack and defense against the king.
   
   These issues are crucial to becoming a better chess player. What's more, Euwe and Kramer deal with the matter in severely practical style. They concentrate on the "problem-solving" issues players face: "when to exchange pawns or lock the center, and when should I keep the tension?" "what are the most important goals a defender must keep in mind?", "when I have two rooks for the queen, what should I do?", and so on. This is a far more practical way to improve than merely learning general strategic principles, since it connects directly to features of the common positions amateurs can actually recognize over the board in their actual games. In particular, the initiative is not seen as some mysterious, Grandmaster-only feature of the game, but defined clearly and distinguished from the *attack*--something amateurs very, very often confuse. How to correctly turn the initiative into an attack--a crucial feature of master chess that's utterly lacking from most amateur games--is dealt with in a particularly enlightening fashion.
   
   The latter sections of the second book is worth the price of both books all by themselves (without diminishing the importance of what comes before). They deal with two exceedingly important issues for amateurs: when and how to exchange pieces, and how to avoid the two most common strategic mistakes amateurs make (snatching material and premature attack) in a very enlightening fashion. Most amateurs know vaguely some general principles of the "exchange pieces when ahead in material", "don't grab pawns", or "attack only when ready" but there is a *lot* more to both subject than that. Read the book and learn.
   
   The only section of the book that may be a bit over the head of most amateurs is that of "style". In it, the games of various greats are examined in terms of their preference for positions with one type of feature over another (say, master X prefered piece activity to solid pawn formation, while master Y was best in positions with two bishops, etc.) The one problem is that the student better know VERY well what these elements of the middlegame are before he can begin to understand what preference for one element over another really means (I haven't reached that stage, myself.) That said, this section, as all the others, avoids superlatives (e.g., the "genius" of Capablanca and Morphy, etc.) in favor of concrete games and examples of their style.

3 comments about The Family Manager's Guide To Summer Survival: Make the Most of Summer Vacation with Fun Family Activities, Games, and More!.

1. Sure kids need some time to relax over the summer but quickly become bored. What's a busy parent to do ?
   I was delighted to discover this book after reading about in in the Maine Sunday Telegram. The author advises really listening to your children's input on what excites them, but also wants the parent to offer suggestions and set limits.
   A child may think watching cartoons non-stop makes a fun summer. This book gives ideas (tennis, hiking, other exercise or structured programs). I highly recommend investigating the free programs at your local public library. They might be able to lure your child into reading for pleasure (or reward).
   The book wants you to get resourceful and creative with your children. Learn origami or stamp collecting or take turns with other parents teaching the children new skills.
   The author also suggests a designated "pickup time" each day to gather up the toys and do a 10-minute clean up. Great idea!
   There are lots of things to do in the summer with children and many are inexpensive. Turn off the TV and turn on your family to having fun together this summer.



2. There were some helpful worksheets and ideas, however, over all it is geared toward the working mom. Also if you homeschool - most of the ideas don't fit but some could be modified.



3. I'm psyched for summer. I'm a SAHM and just read this tonight (I did do a lot of skimming as far as the actual crafts and stuff but read all the introductory text in each section).
   
   I have no idea why someone would say this is geared toward working moms. There is a part in the beginning saying how to ADAPT it to working moms, but most if it deals with what to do with your kids on a day-to-day basis in the summer to help them entertain themselves (and avoid the "I'm bored" monster) along with teaching different values and focusing on different areas of their growth. I actually don't think it would work that great for working moms - did I miss something?!
   
   There is a lot that I skipped over, such as how to help them earn money doing different summer jobs, and with any "list" type book of tips and ideas, there are some I already knew and a lot I probably won't use. However, just the craft part alone is worth the cost of the book. I got it from the library but am on here right now finding a copy to own so I can highlight and dog ear.
   
   There are many many craft ideas that are actually cheap, unlike a lot of craft books and magazines that require you to buy special expensive ingredients and ending up with crafts that the kids can't even make well so the parent ends up taking over. The ingredients in here that look like they might be costly are used over and over again so at least you are not buying a big box of something like Borax or liquid starch and only using a tablespoon. And the crafts seem to be easy enough for the age range of 6-9 that I'm looking for. There are enough crafts that I'm interested in that I actually think it would take several summers to do them all!
   
   I've already enrolled my 9yo and 6yo in a few day and overnight scout-type camps but was looking into some expensive daycamps at the Y and elsewhere (starting at $200 a week for both boys - yikes!) to keep them occupied during the day, since I plan to turn the tv and video games off for the summer. Now I realize I can actually enjoy doing camp-type activities with them without Mom getting too bored, and still have enough time to do the things I, myself, need and want to do this summer. Especially since there are a lot that require planning on my part but that they can implement all by themselves.
   
   BTW, it has definite Christian overtones. If you are not big on Christian literature, as I am not, don't be turned off. It's not preachy and there is plenty here for parents of any religion or even no religion, like me.

5 comments about Sharpen Your Tactics.

1. This is one important book that all aspiring chess players should master. It begins from humble beginnings and goes to higher levels. The star system while subjective is very good. The method of study should be different for most of the four star problems should be different than the 1-3 in that they are mostly processes rather than operations. (Like the Botvinik Gruenfeld game). I recommend doing all of the 1-3 stars, commiting them to memory and only then going back over the 4 star problems. All in all this is an excellant book and the authors should be commended for a first class tactics work. A must buy for everyone under 2300 and a good deal for some that are over it. Beginners will flourish from this book.



2. All I have to say is that I was a 1300 ICC rated player for a long time, and recently started reading this book. I'm barely a quarter of the way through it and have already broke 1520!



3. I've had this book a little over a month now and am about 20% of the way through. The book is nothing but problems, 1125 in all, with clear diagrams and highly accurate solutions in algebraic notation.
   
   The goal of the book is to build up your recognition of tactical patterns. To achieve this, the problems are annotated not by motif, but by difficulty. The goal is to work through all the problems relatively quickly. If you get stuck, look up the answer and move on. In general the problems progress in difficulty, but the patterns built up working on the earlier problems help solve the harder ones later. Marking by difficulty allows one to decide when to "give up" and look at the solution, unlike the Reinfeld book for example, where you never know if you are simply being blind, or you've hit one of the really hard problems.
   
   This book has no hints...no "spot the Pin", no "White has just opened the position, why was this a mistake?". So for general practice it is a little more realistic. This book does NOT explain the motifs. If you want that, try Nunn's "Learn Chess Tactics" or one of the similar books by Polgar, Littlewood etc. These books are also better if you find you have a weakness in a particular motif and want to practice just that one (my favorite here, is Muller's "ChessCafe Puzzle Book").
   
   The key is, though they are not labelled as such, the problems are organized by motif and pattern. As you move through the problems you will come across a series of closely related positions. For example, you might get 10 back rank mates in a row, then 10 knight forks. I often find I will hit the first of these, struggle a bit (though usually the first in a series is one of the easier ones), then the second one is quicker because the pattern is starting to establish itself, and so on. So the book really does contain "hints", but my experience is that discovering the pattern yourself cements it more than having it explained and then exercising a series of examples.
   
   For me at least, this approach seems to work better than that in the classic Reinfeld books, and "Sharpen Your Tactics" has replaced them at my bedside.



4. Unless you are a tactics guru, this book is pretty much a gaurentee to help out with your game. My rating plateaued around 1650 for a while and I Eventually took a week and went through the first 500 puzzles in this book (This may sound like a lot, but depending on your strength of play, the first couple hundred puzzles can be very quick to go through). I did this the week before a tournament I was playing in and I found myself almost searching exclusively for tactics in the games, and not paying as much attention to position. It payed off nicely! Within less than a year my rating jumped from 1650 to 1850+. Also I found that my wins became a lot more exciting instead of the "grind it out" and outplay them in the endgame method.
   
   As far as negatives about this book, I can't say that there are any. Remember, this is a puzzle book, puzzle after puzzle after puzzle, with the solutions in the back.
   
   If there is any doubt in your mind that you may need to work on your tactics, I highly recommend this book.



5. As this title says, after reading ( for those exercises if you cannot solve, as suggested by the authors, just memorize them !!! )this book, definitely your tactics would be much, much sharpened !!! Anyone should buy this book. Especially concerning the low price rate.

5 comments about How Does Aspirin Find a Headache? (Imponderables Books).

1. Have you ever wondered why pigs are roasted with an apple in their mouths? Or perhaps wondered why covered bridges are covered? Maybe you've always wanted to know the answer as to why we wave Polorids in the air after they come out of the camera? If you have, then this is the book for you! Even after so many other books in the Imponderables series, this book is still interesting. However, I recomend flipping through it, reading only the questions that interest you. If you read it cover to cover, it won't be as enjoyable. It also features the popular "Frustables" column, and an all new section with letters from readers. Overall, it's a fun and entertaining read.



2. All of Feldman's "Why Do" books are a blast. You cannot help but read them out loud to who ever is listening. Alot of fun for older kids. He even asks for help solving some of the unsolved questions. And he accepts questions for future books.

   If you read one, you want to read all the others. Too bad Amazon didn't sell them in sets as I have seen in other catalogs.




3. Here's another installment of the "Imponderables™" series, which, the jacket explains, find the answers to the conundrums over which, whether you realize it or not, you have been obsessing since your very beginning. Such as:

   Why did they sacrifice innocent bunny rabbits to determine if human females were pregnant? The Darwinian biology and physiology of a sunburn and subsequent peeling.

   Also considered are Reader Responses to "Frustables" posed previously:
   Why do women have to go to the Ladies' Room in a pack instead of singly?
   What *IS* it with men and the Remote Control?
   Does anyone really like fruitcake?

   As with "Do Penquins Have Knees," we are not here tackling "What is the meaning of life?" but the quick questions and answers are entertaining and illuminating. It's fun food for thought and answered my throbbing question: How does aspirin know I took it for a headache and not a stubbed toe? Reviewed by TundraVision




4. The Imponderables book series by David Feldman is the pinnacle of interesting and useful bathroom reading! Since the beginning of the series, Feldman has been highlighting questions that we didn't even know we had (like exactly why is it that a mile is 5,280 feet? and where is Donald Duck's brother?) then he finds "the experts" on any given subject to answer the question. At the end of each question and answer, you are left with a little better insight into the world around you (and you can go out and impress your friends with an expanded catalog of obscure anecdotes).
   
   These books are fantastic overall. They are one part almanac, one part encyclopedia and one part a book form of the show Mythbusters. Many of the questions Feldman seeks the answers to are sent to him by his many readers who want to know about these little-known facts (like why there are 18 holes in a golf course and why tennis balls are fuzzy). Okay, these may not be the most important questions in the world, but these are the things we take for granted in everyday life that we normally don't take the time to stop and think (why is that little finger on our hands called the pinky?).
   
   Feldman has been answering these questions since the first Imponderables in 1986. He has a masters degree in popular culture from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and taught to first ever college course on Soap Operas. If you enjoy trivia, David Feldman is the man for you. He uncovers the hidden meanings and lost history of sports, food, words, science, politics, and everything in between, often in a humorous and insightful way.
   
   So where did Oreos get their name?
   What is the difference between Dead End signs and No Outlet signs?
   Why does the letter K mean Strike Out in baseball?
   
   You'll have to read the books to find out.



5. great book lots of interesting and some non information, everyone will find something in it they wondered

5 comments about Images 4.

1. While the designs in this book provide for unlimited color and pattern combinations, many of the pages have spaces that are so tiny you'd have to use something as thin as a needle to stay inside the lines. A pencil or colored pencil sharpened lethally, barely. Markers or crayons, forget it! You've heard of large print editions? This one's microscopic.



2. If you use gel pens, the fine points....you will have no trouble at all with these patterns. They are absoulutely wonderful patterns. Yes, they are tiny lines, only for an adult, but like I said use the fine point gel pens and you will not have any trouble. Not to mention the gel pens rarely go through the paper. Enjoy!
   
   ROx



3. i bought this book early in the year and i found it amazing. truly so many possibilities within one page. the only thing i didnt like in this book was that on a few of the pages, the lines were super-tiny! maybe a gel pen could fit, but my markers, crayons, etc would go out of the lines by making the tiniest mark. overall great book for anyone 12 and up.



4. I love to colour but found these designs too small to look at, let alone colour in. You would have to use very sharp pencils or fine markers to enjoy this book. It's been taking up space on my shelf for years and has never been used.



5. My son, who is developmentally disabled, loves all of the Images books. He creates beautiful designs with all different colors of gel pens.

1 comments about WOD Innocents (World of Darkness).

1. This is a *self-contained rulebook* for playing children (up to 12-13 years of age) in White Wolve's World of Darkness. However, this is NOT a role playing game for children. It contains very adult themes, albeit, from the perspective of a child. In it you play an "innocent" who lives in a world of horror and the supernatural. Imagine the world of Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth or The Orphanage, but you play the little girl of boy. The book contains all the rules you need to play these child characters, you dont need the World of Darkness corerulebook. That said, it integrates seamlessly into Vampire, Werewolf or Mage, or particularly Changeling.
   That said this game may not be for everyone. If you are not interested in exploring horror and supernatural themes from the point of view of a child; if you dont want to play stories in which you are a child living in an adults world, with little protections other than those granted by adults, caregivers or social agencies; if you want a character less empowered to change his world and who must live by the rules of a society that still see's them as "innocents," then this game will definitely NOT be for you. White Wolf has the reputation for publishing books that are edgy (yet innovating). This book is one of them.

5 comments about The Legend of Dragoon: Prima's Official Strategy Guide.

1. Don't buy this book, unless its the only one you can find. Its not worth the paper its printed on. There is only two good things about this book, it tells you the stardust locations (but doesnt show up a map of where they are, most of my exporing of the towns was trying to find the one house a stardust was in out of 20 houses) and it gives you a decent strategy on how to fight the bosses. Decent as in if you use it youll bet the boss, most of the time.

   The book tells you what items there are to find in a section, but its incomplete and wrong. Most of the time there are at least 2 items i found that werent on the list, and at least 1 item on the list that wasnt in the game in that area.

   The walk through is good if all you want to do is go directly to the boss, but it doesnt take you to the weapon/armor upgrades neccesary to defeat the boss.

   The game is great, this book is pathetic.




2. I have bought alot of stragey guides and they have always been helpful until this one. It assumes too much and is of little or no help, I find going back to the little booklet that came with the game.



3. With this book you are almost certain to beat the bosses, Without it you won't find very much Stardust, it tells you where to go, and it even gives you a strategy for the last boss. It would be nice if the book had a few area maps, but that's okay. You will have a lot more fun with this book than without it.



4. This is the worst walkthrough I've ever read. The sections are incomplete and misinformed. The book gives the same item multiple names. Information is given twice on the same page and one of those times is always wrong. Weapons are not located correctly, if even told were to find them. Prices for weapons and items are wrong, and the enemy section has little information; not telling the HP or skills.



5. The reason why people buy official strategy guides in the first place is because they need in depth helps.

   This guide book is really brief hardly telling you where key items are and how to defeat bosses and the right team combinations and skills to use.

   Legend of Dragoon is a complicated game and the guide book does not help by briefly describing on the dragoon power, how to boost it up .......

   It could have been better

5 comments about The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Strategy Guides).

1. This is an excellent, Guide Book, I have been able to find things in the game through this Book. Great Graphics, easy to understand, Great walk through on this Game.

   I Recommend this Guide Book, Highly.




2. I don't like the game, and this didn't help me at all! Grade: D-



3. Talk about everything revealed. Not only does this guide have terrible descriptions, misleading maps, and other things, it doesn't tell you where everything is. This is frustrating when you try to get 100 skulltulas and it gives you 56! I don't care how much you love bradygames, you've never used a guide by this author. Do not be fooled by those other reviews. Trust me, they haven't ever looked at the guide. JUST DON'T GET THIS GUIDE!!!



4. First off, I'm going to give everyone a disclaimer and say that I haveN'T beat the whole game yet, and I've looked at no more than half the guide.

   It seems >complete enough<. For a color guide with a MSRP of only ten dollars, with listings of all the equipment, gold skulltulas, and heart pieces, as well as what they do/what they're used for, what mode equipment you need, and what you need to be in (adult/young Link) It's at the very least a decent bargain.

   Unfortunately, Not all of the stuff is listed in the correct place. The skulltulas are but the only shining example I can think of to illustrate this. The chart that lists the skulltulas, equipment requirements, and mode only list 57 of the 100 of them. However, all of them listed are outside the dungeons. You'll still find the rest if you read the dungeon walkthroughs. Would've been nice to have them included in that handy chart list as well, as what's the point of having everything in one handy location if you still need to flip through other parts of the book to find them?

   My final gripe with this guide is that for portions of the walkthroughs and descriptions, you have black colored font on brown/dark grayish backgrounds. Sure, the backgrounds look neat, but it always makes it harder (not impossible goodness forbid) to read the words and distinguish bold type from regular type. Flip thorugh the pages yourself to judge this. Amazon let's you preview the first 10 pages or so. A guide should be as easy as possobile to follow, and those choice of colors just don't help out.

   My main reason that this guide got 3 stars and NOT 2 was mainly b/c this guide is about 5 to 10 dollars cheaper than most of the competition, so I can kind of forgive missing some info here and there. My two gripes above will be my "ten dollar lesson" for next time to flip through as much of a guide as possible, compare the layout and material to other guides, THEN take price into consideration.




5. Well I can't get further on the trail up to the volcano!
   I don't know how to get past the boulders.If.....I had the guide, it would do a lot of help.I rememberd that I had a dream a long time ago that was just like princess Zelda had.

1 comments about Los Angeles Times Sunday Crossword Puzzles, Volume 23 (LA Times).

1. This puzzle book is very challenging, but definitely workable. You would enjoy the way the authors make you explore every part of your brain. I ended up buying 4 of their books.

No comments about TV Guide Crosswords Large Print: The Best Crossword Puzzles from More Than 50 Years of TV Guide Now in Large Print!.