fun for chess experts
596104
I bought this game for my son who plays chess since he was 5. He played against two allied armies, so it was two players not three. He won the game with the last three chess pieces he had left. He loved it.
3198699
This is an attractive book from Thinkers' Press (love the chameleon chess cover)  GM  Edward Gufeld and Master Oleg Stetsko did a nice job of presenting great games to give the reader a good feel for the opening. The first 169 pages include opening move analysis and 39 complete annotated games. Pages 170-175 include an additional 40 game scores, not annotated (these are  from 1998/1999). Diagrams and comments are good... the book is easy on the eyes. Several high level masters have played this opening and done well with it. As for me, I really like the Richter-Veresov Attack. I am typically getting nice king-side attacks where my opponent's king sits, awaiting help from other black pieces that can't get back over to assist in time. Sometimes I see my opponent castle queen-side... it has not been a problem attacking on that side of the board either. Just before writing this review I played over a game from the book, then played a game on-line. Me (1812 on-line Blitz / 1894 USCF) vs. a 2054 Blitz player (rated 2385 at Rapid Chess). Anyway, I played a line with the f3 pawn push followed by e4 on the next move. The game was quite positional and my much higher rated opponent resigned on move 29 as I had mate-in-2. Note: This is not a white to play and win book... there are also losses to look at.
37405
This was a nice read for someone who did not know a whole lot about the game chess and wants to become a master. This book gives tips, trick, and strategies to the game that allow you to accelerate your learning in the game. I would recommend this to anyone who is wanting to the master the game.
1830675
This hardback phonebook-sized tome is worth every penny Amazon charges for it. Over 5000 diagrams give the reader ample opportunity to become adroit at determining the best relationships among the pieces. For example, there is a large section of mate-in-twos. In many of the board settings of that section, the reader could easily mate in multiple moves, but the requirement to mate in two forces one to develop a strong sense of how the pieces work, separately and together. And in many real games, one has but a brief window of opportunity to put the pieces to work.  It is surprisingly easy to play chess over the Internet.
246541
We all know most chess puzzle books -- "White to mate in 3", "Black with a fork", etc.  This book has no hints, just six positions on a page, with the color that has the move.  Plus, they are not all "to win" positions, sometimes it is the best defensive more, sometimes it is avoid the blunder, etc.

This format makes it very useful for actual chess training, as these are real positions for non-GM games.  They are randomized by theme and difficulty, so you never know what is coming next.

Furthermore, the positions are on the left-hand page and the solutions are on the right-hand page.  The book is also a very convenient 5.5" x 8.5", so you can fold a standard piece of paper in two, place it between the puzzles and the solutions, and it serves as a shield for the answers as well as a bookmark.

The only problem I have with the book is that the puzzles are numbered from top to bottom on the left column, and then to the right column, rather than reading left to right first, and then down.  But this is extremely minor flaw to what is an excellent chess puzzle book.
878474
This is Murray Chandler's follow up to his highly successful "How To Beat Your Dad At Chess". The book presents 50 common tactical ideas - pins, skewers, forks, stalemate and many more - each one explained and illustrated in a double page spread. Only themes which occur fairly commonly in practice are included, and there are six diagrams per double page. The explanations are in simple language, and each diagram is accompanied by a brief commentary pointing out the salient features of the position. The continuations are very short (usually only one or two moves) so they can be followed easily without the need for a board.

Three or four examples are given of each tactical trick, with the aim of getting the reader to recognise certain patterns, and hopefully apply this newly acquired pattern recognition to his/her own games. To test how well the patterns have been absorbed there are 54 test positions for the reader to try. If the reader is unable to spot the continuation, a hint is given by way of a reference to the number of the tricky tactic that is being tested. So you can refresh your memory by looking back at the illustrated examples and then hopefully spot the same theme in the test position. All of the illustrative positions and test positions are taken from actual play (though there are no game references given), and there are no artificially composed positions.

Although the book is aimed at children in the first instance, it could be used equally profitably by adult beginners who wish to sharpen up their tactical awareness.

This review first appeared in the magazine En Passant.
1000067
AS a USCF rated 1698 tournament chess player,  I like this book quite a lot. I like that Neil McDonald spends somde text to explain the nuances of certain move orders, that, if played in the wrong order, could make your game into a bit of a nightmare for white. It makes sense to try to simplify ones opening arsenal as much as possible. I play 1.e4 quite frequently. So, I have to have an opening to play if my opponent answers 1.e4 e5. I can play either the Vienna Game, or the Bishops Opening, and those are my choices, with a bit of a preference to the later of the two. I have found in my games that the French Defense can be a tough nut to crack, and I play it as black a lot. Needless to say, if you play 1.e4, you had better have something prepared to use against the Sicilian Defense, as black's winning percentage is pretty high, and it is a very popular defense.  With the KIA opening, you have a way to answer both of these defenses, and have pretty similiar, and sometimes exactly the same positions as white. The same for facing the Caro Kan Defense.  If you play 1.e4 then, you can pick your system for double e pawn openings, and use the KIA for about anything else except for the Skandinavian/Center Counter. I'm also looking into the somewhat dubious Tennison Gambit, which can be used against 1.e4 d5 2. Nf3. I am not too far into this book yet, but find Mr. McDonald's style and explanation of the opening moves very helpful.
270258
Even if you don't know the first thing about chess, this book can help you learn the fundamentals behind chess strategy and become a good player within a short period of time. The book is profusely illustrated with hundreds of diagrams and annotated games.

The author uses a clear and conversational style to clarify problems that may seem difficult or confusing for the beginner or casual player. This book is an update of a previous work by Lasker (Chess strategy) that was consider the "Chess Bible" when published many years ago.

The book is organized in two parts and five chapters as follows:

PART I - FUNDAMENTALS
- The rules of the Game.
- Elementary end-games.
- Fundamental middle-game combinations.
PART II - PRINCIPLES OF CHESS STRATEGY
- The openings.
- Middle-game and End-game.
3626348
This game it's highly chess like strategic, is base rules are simple enough to quick learn for new players and the race/power combinations make it an enduring replayable game. The humour of this game comes mostly when the races get odd and funny power combinations. Old people usually don't like this because of rules changing between races and special powers.

Small World and Carcassonne are my favourite modern competitive strategy board games I've recently acquired.
526568
Love this game! Lots of fun, eight rounds of three turns for each player. There's no dice rolling, just deciding where to send each "worker" (blue or red action piece) on the board. Collect your resources, spend them on barns, fences, feeding troughs, or new animals, and of course block your opponent. There are rules to keeping those critters that make it a puzzle sort of game, and then there is counting at the end to determine who gets the most points and wins the game. The number of animals is generally the top point value, but added "expansions" to your farm and more buildings can get more points too. A lot of fun and reminds one of Catan, though the boards are nothing alike. The pieces are either sturdy cardboard of a sort or little wooden pieces. My only complaint is that they should've made more tiles representing four of a kind animals and a few more wooden animal pieces, as my hubby and I regularly use up all the sheep and sometimes all the pig pieces in most of our games.
I highly recommend this game to anybody who likes a good challenging game.
533794
For the sheer volume of Openings and variations , there are no prominent errors as some reviewers suggest . This book is best used with a chessboard , and takes time . The text does not provide redundant explanation, the moves talk by them self. Explaining Chess moves its like translating music with text : it talks by it self. I appreciate the fact the author lets the reader discover chess  with a minimalist approach .
1989126
Just got this for my daughter for Xmas. She loves it, it takes a never-ever chess player gradually through the pieces so that you're playing shorter, faster games right away and in the process building your knowledge. It's particularly fun for a parent and child because the book is written as a dialogue between two people (so my daughter and I trade off reading it).
475498
My friends and I stay up for hours playing this game. It takes chess and amps it up to a whole new level. For anyone that has ever liked chess, get this game. It makes it a lot more fun, and the strategies increase like none other. I recommend it to anyone!
4445794
My favorite part of the game are the cards.  The game uses sixty cards (only 50 are used in 2 and 4 player games) that come in five suits/colors.  In a nice touch, each suit corresponds to art within a particular theme: Landscapes (gray), Seascapes (blue), Animals (green), People (red) and Buildings (yellow).  Cards in a suit are numbered by fives, so a streak of all one color would go up in increments of five (2, 7, 12, etc)

-----

During play, each player plays cards to their own private museum which consists of eighteen spots for cards, in three rows of six cards.  On a turn, a player places one of their cards (from a hand of five) onto the game board in one of the eighteen slots, then draws a new card.  The catch lies in the fact cards played in each row must be arranged in order from lowest to highest number.  Cards can be placed in any location at any time, provided the cards number is above the value of the cards on its left and below the value of any cards on the right.  Gameplay continues until both players museums are full of eighteen cards (or as many as can fit by the time the deck runs out.)

End game scoring provides one point for each card played, plus bonus points for adjacent cards.  Every two adjacent cards of the same color in a row provide a bonus two points.  In between the rows, in each column, there are tiles that represent chandeliers and staircases.  Cards of a matching color that are above and below a staircase marker score an additional 3 bonus points.  During the game, the first player to completely fill each row (top, middle bottom) wins a 4 point bonus.

Obviously, the player with the highest score wins.  The game recommends a two out of three series of games, but Ive found even a one-round game to still be fun.

Verdict:
I like it, especially playing with partners.  The two player game provides tension as you aren't sure what cards you are going to get later.  Do you hold out for that possible perfect play or take the good play you see now so you can move on to other things.  In a two player game players are able to see about the same number of cards, but in a four player game there is additional information to be had just what is my partner doing?  I liken it to trick taking games like Spades or Bridge, a good Muse player will be able to read their partners intentions in order to make more informed plays.  So while the two player version is just OK (and the three player game seems a bit of a kludge) I will keep it in my collection, but only take this one out for games with partners.

Is it good for kids?:

Fairly simple rules, only involves sorting numbers and matching colors so this could be played by quite young kids.  They won't win consistently, but will be able to play correctly and generate a reasonable score.  Oh, and double bonus points for exposing them to some great art history.
1762055
Ravensburger has put a new spin on some old gaming ideas with Indigo.  The object is readily apparent, but the ways to accomplish (and strategically screw your opponents out of) the goal are seemingly endless.  The fun factor depends greatly on the number and nature of gamers.  The board and pieces are made of sturdy stuff, but the tiles, gems and general volume of small pieces make the probability of loss or ingestion by pets or small children fairly high.

It's a smart but easy to understand strategy game that you can have a lot of brainy fun with, but there are some factors to consider in deciding if it's worth the price for you and your family.
3519647
I'm horrible at chess but fascinated by minds who can think this deeply.  I am a better player because of studying these games.  I love the annotated game when Josh beats his first grandmaster.  I wish i could think like that but i can't so I'll live through Josh instead!

Playing the computer is hard.  Sometimes on fairly easy levels they give you something too ez to allow you to get ahead.  I think the computer is always too good at the end game for the level.
3168747
Seirawan offers a compelling toolbox of chess tactics - patterns that you can look for and exploit in novel and surprising ways - and the resources to train you to recognize them.  He offers a great balance between lecturing, practice puzzles, and raw delight as he examines dramatic games with an excitement that is contagious.  His focus is mostly on the mid-game and end-game, with almost no material that will help with openings - you'll want to find other resources for that.  But in his focus he does a good job of covering patterns not only in an introductory way, but showing how to spot opportunities to use them that might not be obvious even if you were familiar with them.  If you are an aspiring novice chess player, you will at very least enjoy this book and will almost certainly come out a stronger player.