Must-Read Chess Books for Kids - 适合孩子的象棋书

My son has played chess over a year. He went to chess camps and took chess lessons. One tip is to get the right books. He read the following chess books recommended by his coach. He improved rapidly and had lots of fun. A little regret from me, I can not beat him easily any more :-)

Conquer your Friends with 8 Easy Principles

• Strategy with 8 principles - big picture of the game

• Easy to read, only 50 pages, no complex notation

• Free online resources (YouTube links, apps, and websites)

• Good price under $10

Exceptionally well written in a conversational tone, not in a technical tone. Also, the book assumes only a basic knowledge of how to play, yet manages to teach an expert foundation. Another sparkling point is no complex notation but focusing on principles and strategies. Although my son implicitly picked up some of those principles via his games or lessons, the book connects the dots and helps him use them in a more proficient way. 

Later on, the author published 2 addition books with a focus more on tactics such as openings and checkmates:Conquer your Friends with 4 Daredevil Openings. Conquer your Friends with 10 Easy Checkmates. I did not buy them, but one thing for sure is that these books are very concise and friendly to read.

Chess Target Practice

• book is for beginners under 1500 ranking

• 200+ puzzles

• Simple notation with less distraction

A tactics handbook. It covers every square of the board, going over such battle tactics as the more obvious skewer, fork, basic trapping, to the subtler pin and Zugswang. A prerequisite book of Murray Chandler's book below.

How to Beat Your Dad at Chess

• Tactics with 50 deadly checkmating patterns

• amazon #1 Best Seller Book in chess

• Written by a famous educator Grandmaster 

• Good price under $12

What's an attractive name! Isn't it a dream that many kids have. Interestingly, my son takes it as his secret weapon and doesn't want to show me :-) In fact the secret is about the author - Grandmaster Murray Chandler. He won the silver medals in Chess Olympiads 3 times and is one of the few players beat Kasparov.
The book is all about tactics - 50 deadly checkmating patterns, basic attacking patterns that occur repeatedly in games between players of all standards. Remember and recognize them.

Chess Tactics for Kids is the 2nd book from Murray. Also teaches the 50 tricky tactics that experienced chess masters use to win their games. I did not buy this book yet, and maybe hold it until my son can master all the 50 checkmating patterns of the first book.