5 comments about Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge.

1. I agree with the other reader who said that this is a must read for anyone under 1800 USCF.

   This is a nice, neat concise book (104 pages) that covers everything you need to know about the endings to become a very strong club player.

   It covers basic mates, as well as rule of the square, rook endings, philidor and lucena positions, triangulation, pawn endings, etc. etc.

   This book has nice diagrams, and the explainations are excellent. This book does not weight one down with a lot of extra verbage.

   Many endgame books are a real drudge to work through. This one is just the right blend of material to keep it interesting. Also, the book's petite size means that you will be able to finish it in a reasonable period of time.




2. This book is translated from Russian, so it must pass the test of time. Averbakh used very concise analysis. He gave us, immediate level, a tool to understand the endgames.
   It is essential for players from beginning to intermediate levels. After a chapter about the basic mating the lone King with minimal force, it introduces the standard combats between various pieces. It explains where a forcible win is guaranteed where it's not.
   Then come two chapters of piece fighting against Pawns: a Rook or a minor piece versus Pawn (it's hard to believe that in some positions a single Pawn can beat the Rook!) and the Royalty versus Pawn.
   After that there are two important chapters. One is about the fighting between two minor pieces where one side has one or two extra Pawns. The part about the opposite color bishops is very instructive, some case is winnable and some not. There is so much to learn in the next chapter, which explains the Rook plus Pawn Ending. As Capablanca put it: Rook and Pawn Ending is one of the most important endings. When the Rooks join the battle, sometimes they are the last pieces, understanding this type ending can help to win or draw it.
   In the second half of the book, Averbakh used practical endgames from master games to emphasize what he explained in the last three chapters: Royalty and Pawns, Minor Pieces and Pawns, and Rooks and Pawns. He analyzed where some masters failed to save or win the game.
   I highly recommend this book at new or used price. I guarantee your endgame knowledge (same level as mine) will improve.



3. This book attempts to provide a foundation of endgame information for the beginning chess student. After an introduction and a brief discussion about the scope of each piece the book presents five chapters meant to introduce the reader to the basics of endgames. Since there is no "Search Inside" option for this book the table of contents is reproduced here:
   
   1 - MATING THE LONE KING
   Mate with a Queen
   Mate with a Rook
   Mate with Two Bishops
   Mate with Bishop and Knight
   Mate with Two Knights
   2 - VARIOUS PIECES IN COMBAT
   Queen versus Rook
   Queen versus Minor Piece
   Rook versus Knight
   Rook versus Bishop
   3 - VARIOUS PIECES IN COMBAT WITH A PAWN
   Queen versus Pawn
   Rook versus Pawn
   Minor Piece versus Pawn
   4 - QUEENING A PAWN
   King and Pawn versus King
   King, Minor Piece and Pawn versus King
   Knight and Pawn versus Knight
   Bishop and Pawn versus Bishop
   Bishop and Pawn versus Knight
   Knight and Pawn versus Bishop
   Rook and Pawn versus Rook
   Queen and Pawn versus Queen
   5 - PRACTICAL ENDINGS
   Pawn Endings
   Knight Endings
   Bishop Endings
   Bishops of the Same Colour
   Bishops of Opposite Colours
   Endings with Bishop versus Knight
   Rook Endings
   Queen Endings
   
   One of the best things about this book is that it is the perfect size for digestion in just a few study sessions. For those starting with little or no endgame knowledge this means that at least a basic understanding of endgame concepts is attainable in a reasonably short period of time.
   
   If you are inexperienced with endings, the information in this book is sure to not only increase your confidence at the chessboard but also provide a nice bridge to other more advanced endgame books. After studying this book one could move on to Seirawan's "Winning Chess Endings", which is still aimed at the beginner but contains slightly more in-depth information, or the superb "Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual" by Dvoretsky, which is more suited for the advance player.



4. I've earned 2017 fide initial rating without this book, but i was lucky.
   Here we have everything a tourneament player MUST know about endings, and something more. As an example you don't have to know how to defeat a computer in a Q vs R ending, so you can avoid that part of the book, in real games it's hard to find an under 2200 player that will play the perfect defense with the Rook. Maybe you don't have to know the B+N mate, I still have never seen a B+N vs K position in my tourneys. Anyway this book give you an EASY way to understand that mate. Thanks to this book now I know how to deliver this mate, the other 2 books i've studied weren't enough.
   Here we have a book with just 100 pages that gives you what it promises.



5. I refrained from writing a review for this book until I finished it (just two days ago). I am now undecided as to whether I should move on to another book, or simply go through it again! I thoroughly enjoyed reading/playing through this book, and I shall explain why.
   
   This book is small, indeed. However, I should emphasize that it is extremely *dense*. This book has no anecdotes, no analogies, and few sentences that do not directly relate to the discussion of a given endgame position. Some may not like this, but that is fine for them; they are going to miss out on a good book. After reading such an informative book such as this, one can only wish, as I did, that Mr. Averbakh had written more. This, however, would be contrary to his goal of creating a book of "essentinal" knowledge taken from his vast amounts of endgame material. Indeed, along with Alexander Kotov and another gentleman, Mr. Averbakh originally wrote a book titled Shakhmatnye Okonchaniya, available from Amazon as Shakhmatnaya shkola, it seems.
   
   This book is also very compelling with its examples, especially to a beginner such as myself. In fact, I think I developed a certain fascination for the endgame after reading this book. I eagerly anticipate working on endgame puzzles and reading/playing through more volumes on the endgame, which brings me to my next point.
   
   Realistically, I do not think that there is any need to move on to another book! As Mark Dvoretsky advises (and I am sure others do, as well) that one should know relatively few endgame positions, but understand them totally and to be able to execute them expertly. In this manner, and as a beginner, I could follow this advice and stick to this book for some time and not suffer from a lack of endgame knowledge.
   
   Through a small part of the beginning, I played through the varations on my chess board, but after a bit I skipped them in favor of merely acquainting myself with the positions and ideas, since this was my first undertaking of actual endgame theory. (I caught a glimmer of it in various parts of Chessmaster 9000, but nothing as serious as what is in this book.)
   
   From my estimation, all one would need for endgame theory is this book and one more advanced or exhastive book for later study. Highly recommended.

5 comments about Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends.

1. This was Penn & Teller's first book, and they made the actual book a prank in itself. Now, I won't give anything away, but the book is designed to drive anybody who reads it "the wrong way" batty. Plus, there are stories about how they did a lot of their tricks, including the infamous "cockroach trick" that made David Letterman leave his show. Plus lots of other mean stuff to pull on unsuspecting people.

   Oh, and there's also the full text of the screenplay for "Penn & Teller Get Killed." Here's hoping you have good eyes.




2. Please take note that this book originally came with a packet of trick accessories and another, smaller book. If you buy this book used and all you get is the main book, then many of the tricks in the book will be useless to you. Such is the case that happened with me.

   Penn and Teller are great writers (and showmen, of course) and you will thoroughly enjoy their stories, but there's just something missing when you are not able to perform all the tricks they mention because you don't have all the original materials. The mind-reading trick sounds so wonderful, but without the extra book you can't perform it, for example.

   Another impossible trick is the very first one where they tell you to call a phone number. I called it and was directed to the voicemail of someone within Random House (not the publishers of this book, btw). Being that the book came out in 1989 it looks like Penn and Teller have long given up that particular number.

   Maybe in a dusty old bookstore, sometime in the future, I might be lucky enough to stumble across this complete package, but until then, if ever, I can only wonder at what might have been.

   ...




3. I bought this book new, and I did get all the extra stuff that came with the book. Trust me, the book itself is all ya need. other than that, the exrta book doesnt have anything really important in it. if anything at all. The book is the most important thing. All you need is just a pair of red and blue 3d glasses for the rest of the stuff in the book if you read the first couple pages you will understand. It is a strange book due to the fact that the majority of the book is just to fool your friends. It doesn have great stories and some good tricks though. out of all 3 books, this is my least favorite but still one of my top 3 all time favs because of the authors.



4. I picked up this book since I'm a fan of magic and especially Penn and Teller, but was rather disappointed with this book.
   
   The book seems big because the book itself is meant to be a trick for your friends. You can leave it laying out on the coffee table without worrying about someone picking it up and learning all your secrets. That is, unless they read the whole thing. Parts of the book are printed just to fool your friends and some tricks don't work unless you know the secrets.
   
   Many of the tricks mentioned you won't be able to do yourself and are more of Penn and Teller revealing the secret behind cutting a snake or making cockroaches appear. There are very few tricks that you yourself will be able to make use of. Included with the book (or should be) are several aids used in some of the tricks, making the book feel more like a child's toy. One item that is quite useful is a book made specifically for the trick of mind reading, or making it appear that you can read minds. Although, it only works if you can casually leave the book on a table and casually say, "Let's use this one."
   
   In all, I found the book to not really live up to the standards of Penn and Teller and only found two or three tricks that might have actually worked on friends. If you're looking for a book full of tricks to really decieve your friends, keep looking.



5. This is a wonderful book, even without all (or any) of the accessories. The fantastic humor throughout makes this a great read even if you never intend to do the actual tricks.

No comments about DAWN OF MANA Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)) (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)).

5 comments about The Pocket Book of Frame Games: Hundreds of Mind-Bending Word Puzzles from the King of Brain Teasers!.

1. Terry's Frame Games have made him world famous, and just when you think all of the possible phrases and ways to utilize them in Frame Games puzzles have been used up, he makes more! All 200 (count 'em) of these puzzles are completely new. The answer to each puzzle is found 2 pages later, upside down, in small print, right at the bottom of the page. This keeps you from having to hunt around at the end of the book for the answers, but also from seeing the answer too soon by accident. At $9.95 for 200 puzzles, that's less than a nickel per Frame Game. You can't beat that.



2. Excellent and fun set of frame game puzzles. Its fun for a wide range of ages and even fun to do in groups. My whole family enjoys these puzzles. My brother and I (11 and 23) worked on them together (or in competition as brothers do) -- it was amazing, he really took to them and got many of them before me! Of course, at our house, I'm still king of our other puzzle book, "Are you as Smart as you Think?" ;-)



3. I discovered the Frame Game phenomena about a year ago and have been busily buying up back issues. I find the puzzles deceptively challenging, and the Pocket Book addition lives up to that billing. I have been using this particular edition to introduce Frame Games to my friends. Everyone has found these brainteasers to be a real exercise in mental flexibility. Each time you solve a puzzle on a page, you feel a sense of accomplishment, but can't wait to get to the next one. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a fun challenge. A good time will be had by all who read.



4. Bought the book to while away the hours on a flight to the "Big Apple" it did a great job, I even ended up lending it to one of my fellow passengers :-)



5. Terry Stickels is a great entertainer for the mind--and his puzzles are both challenging and wonderful fun for the entire family!

4 comments about The Complete Table Saw Book.

1. The competent and collaborative effort of expert woodworkers Chris Marshall and Mark Johanson, The Complete Table Saw Book: Step-by-Step Illustrated Guide To Essential Table Saw Skills, Techniques, Tools And Tips is an excellent methodically presented, do-it-yourself manual to the art and craft of joinery techniques, table saw jigs, woodworking with sheet goods, and more. Enhanced with full color illustrations on almost every page, superbly showcasing an in-depth text, and a narrative tone that communicates clearly with experts and novices alike, The Complete Table Saw Book is a "must-have" for anyone who, as a hobby or a career, needs to master the versatile uses of this woodworker's tool.



2. Written primarily for the beginning to intermediate table saw user "The Complete Table Saw Book" provides thorough coverage of the art of using a table saw. The first part of the book examines the table saw itself and the coverage is excellent. Starting with an education on the various parts of the table saw it progresses through different types, blades, and functions. Next comes a thorough section on table saw maintenance and how to select a used table saw. The analysis of what to look for and how to determine the condition of a used saw is very detailed and well illustrated.

   The next section covers basic cuts, joinery techniques, sawing accessories and basic jigs. One of the things that I really liked about the book is the detailed information on making your own jigs. Making the cuts to create a specific joining method is fine but it can be a pain to do several of them in a row by hand. So, he not only teaches how to make the cuts to make the join but also teaches how to make a jig so that it can be used to make the cuts quicker and easier. This shows that the author not only knows his joining techniques but also has the real life knowledge of how professional woodworkers actually do it. The last section of the book contains several projects you can make using your table saw. These projects include various cabinets, a play table and chairs, and an entertainment center.

   "The Complete Table Saw Book" is an excellent reference that I can highly recommend to anyone who wants to learn about table saws and how to use them for everything from basic cutting to cabinetry. Filled with illustrations so you can easily understand everything in it, you can't go wrong with this book.




3. For me, buying a new table saw is not only a cause for celebration, but an opportunity to shuffle through the shelves to find a book about my new toy. This one struck my eye - mostly because it was thicker than the others, was well laid out and seemed to cover all the salient points. Possibly not the best criteria in the world, but they have stood me in good stead for a long time now.
   
   For the most part, my initial assessment was accurate. The editor Tom Carpenter, has gone out of his way to maintain a solid, plainspoken approach to the subject matter, with a great number of illustrations and photographs. I can honestly say that there are enough ideas, pointers, and explanations to greatly enhance what you get for what is often the most expensive piece of equipment in the shop.
   
   Chapters cover Basics, Tune-up & Maintenance, Chosing Saw Blades, Basic Cuts, Joinery Techniques, Sawing Accessories, and Essential Jigs. That covers the first 160 pages. The second section, which is about the same size, is devoted to some information about Woodworking With Sheet Goods and a collection of ten projects.
   
   This latter section, while useful, is not up to the same level of quality is the first part. Not that it's shabbily done, but that the projects, which range from a bookshelf to an entertainment center, are a bit clunky looking. They are training projects rather than works of art. As such there is a good deal of explanation to help the budding sawyer.



4. The Complete Table Saw Book is useful for beginners and for those who have basic experience but have not been doing precision cutting. I found it helpful in setting things up and doing some semi-precise things. I expect to get a lot more out of it in the next few months as I get into more detailed projects.

5 comments about The Dark Side of Game Texturing.

1. These approached for things are unfortunately a bit dated and I felt reading through the text that things were going to be a bit cookie cutter. With new practices such as normal mapping, specularity mapping and such, this book covers the most basic of steps in texturing without going into much theory about how to create procedural textures to a great degree of detail.
   
   I would recommend getting Digital Texturing and Painting by Owen Demers as your primer to interpret what you see in the real world and my school teaches and recommends 3D Game Textures: Create Professional Game Art Using Photoshop. The work I have seen the students in the game texturing class at my school is very impressive and it looks a much higher caliber of work than what could be done learning from this Dark Side book.



2. I am a traditional artist with some photoshop skills. I am new to texturing however and this book is a nice beginners book. The techniques he shows are helpful if you are a texturing n00b like me.
   
   However the results he provides are so ugly that it is hard to be inspired by his efforts. OTOH it doesn't take much to create better looking textures than he does if you have any artistic training at all and use his techniques.
   
   When I say his results are ugly I don't mean that they look tattered and decayed - hey that's the whole point of the book. I mean they are poorly composed and executed.
   
   So while I am glad I bought the book I wouldn't pay more than $5.00 for it.



3. I'm currently in the process of learning game art and its limitations in my off time so I can, someday, break into the game industry. This book is right up my alley because I'd like to be an environment/asset artist and this book covers texturing of several typical environments you'll find in today's games and some texturing of some basic assets you'd find in those particular settings.
   
   Personally speaking, I learned a lot from this book and the techniques made sense to me, a fairly seasoned photoshop user, and I was able to re-create the authors textures picture-perfect (which do not look ugly, as another reviewer claims his were...sucks for you, pal). That, to me, is the biggest plus of this book. The instructions were clear and concise enough that I was able to follow them easily and come out with textures that were accurate to the examples in the book. Kudos to David's hard work to make that a reality for the people who use this book as their starting point to learn game texturing. It's a good mix of pictures to compare along the way and written instruction, but you're not overly burdened by reading and then doing. David does a good job of explaining to you why you are doing what you're doing instead of listing every step to get the texture to look as the example does. Understanding why you do what you do is priceless.
   
   I'm currently in the middle of Luke Ahearn's "3D game textures" book and I can't, for the life of me, figure out some of the instructions in the book and the outcome I'm seeing not matching the examples...to me, that is frustrating as all get out and it's unfortunate as it's a newer book that supposedly has more current techniques used by today's game artists. I've yet to finish the book, so I can only hope those issues are cleared up later in the book. This alone makes the book much less appealing than The Dark Side of Game Texturing already. One other things is that, gasp, the techniques in this book and Luke's (which seems to be getting nothing but 5-star ratings...) are very similar minus a few slight differences. Interesting.
   
   Overall, I'd say the techniques in this book are far from dated, but are integral for laying the groundwork to learning game texturing. People forget that not all developers out there have access to the latest generation hardware and utilize these 'old' techniques all the time and rely heavily on them to create their games so they look and play beautifully. Just as a fine artist must never forget the basics when creating beautiful masterpieces, digital artists must also have a solid understanding of the basics in the digital realm, and also of fine art. You may be able to create anything digitally these days, but only an artist who understands what makes art great will be able to stand out from the rest of the wannabe game artists out there.



4. David Franson does a fantastic job of showing aspiring texture artists how to strive for ever greater levels of mediocrity in this book, which amounts to little more than a printed compilation of the basic free tutorials you could find in 20 minutes of Google searching.
   
   The example textures Franson walks you through are pretty basic and lame, and the included images on the CD are hilarious by themselves. For example, a lot of them have a major case of flash burn or other serious irregularities that make them very bad source material for your own textures-no amount of cloning or doctoring can salvage a nicely tiling texture out of many of the images on the CD. You're better off building your own collection of source and reference images by searching for "Mayang" and "CGTexture" on Google.
   
   However, it is not without redeeming value-it's a great comedic read if you're a more experienced texture artist than the author. That bar, if this book is anything to go by, is pretty low.



5. I purchased this book to continue to develop my digital art abilities, but was completely disappointed. While it would work fine as a teaching tool for someone who had never tried to use Photoshop for texturing, as an intermediately skilled texture artist, the book offered nothing in the way of new material.
   
   One of the things I found most frustrating was the very poor art used in examples. The textures he uses look incredibly flat with bad color balance through-out the scene and far too much frustrating repetition. It looks as though he may have spent 20 minutes per texture. The exception to this rule is the texture at the end of the book which is interesting, but don't spend your money for a single good tutorial.
   
   I would have really appreciated some texture painting tips and techniques, but he doesn't really touch on them. He doesn't really mention how light plays with different objects (specularity etc.), which is completely essential to creating believable textures.
   
   On the plus side, if you've never made a texture in your life, the book will certainly give you a base to start from, and introduce some of the most basic concepts you will need to know. But anyone else (and including the above mentioned nOObs), don't waste your money. There are far better tutorials to be found on the internet, and they are in an abundance.

No comments about Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beta.

No comments about The New York Times Sunday in the Sand Crosswords: From the Pages of The New York Times (New York Times Crossword Puzzles).

No comments about Think Tank Cryptograms (Think Tank series).

3 comments about Travel Scratch & Sketch (Activity Journal Series).

1. My four year old chose this as his book last week and although I had some reservations, I now know that I would buy another one. He kept himself occupied for hours (truly) with the scratching and trying to copy pictures. My 5, 10 and 11 year old also love it. A great time consumer as well as educational about the landmarks in it!



2. On the go or at home, this Travel Scratch and Sketch activity journal is a great way for kids to have fun.
   
   There are pictures of places from around the world, like the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty and Big Ben with some great information about the pictures to scratch.
   
   The foil is rainbow and holographic -- really nice to work with. If you've ever done any scratch-off, you know how addicting it can be. If you haven't tried it yet, this would be a great one to start with.
   
   You might want to keep one in the car for boredom emergencies!



3. I bought this for my six-year-old daughter to have something to do on the plane, but after we tried the first one at home, I saw that it really couldn't/shouldn't be done in a plane. It is very messy, which I didn't expect. While drawing the pictures, you rub off quite a lot of black "shaving" and it gets everywhere. I would recommend this book for home, but not for a plane or even in the car. Other than the mess, the pictures were easy to draw, and she had a lot of fun with it.