This book is written for beginners who are interested in the game and
would like to learn more about its various aspects.
It covers the technical
aspects of chess: the use of algebraic notation (Chapter 3), chess evaluation
(Chapter 4), the opening phase (Chapter 5), the middle game (Chapter 6),
the endgame (Chapter 7), and the chess rating system (Chapter 8). It introduces
a number of chess problems, formulated with a chess board and chess
pieces and presupposing a working knowledge of chess (Chapter 9).
It offers
an account of variants of chess such as Fischer random chess (Chapter 10).
It also covers the cultural aspects of chess: its history (Chapter 2) and status
as an immortal game that might enable it to play a role in the search for
extraterrestrial intelligence (Chapter 11). Wherever possible, chess diagrams
are provided to help chess beginners make sense of certain points about chess.
Algebraic notation will also guide them in understanding certain chess-based
lines of reasoning.
Whenever you are ready, let us begin this odyssey of
chess!
