Reviews (5)

Great entry level book
I got this book to help me explain checkers to my daughter.It has been a great help in explaining the moves and significantly better than the other three books I acquired.The attached checker board was a big help.The book is easy to read and follow.I wish I could have had this book when I started playing checkers!

Fun But Not Very Helpful
This book is fun, witty, and entertaining, and certainly will get you interested in playing serious checkers. But it won't help you very much. Great book and rating booster!
I am a regular at the MSN gaming zone (usually playing in rated room 1 orkings a competitive room) and before buying this book I had around a1550-1600 rating which is not good at all.So I thought I would tryreading a book and see what it would do to my game.A MAJOR improvementoccured in my game after reading this book.My rating is nowhundreds ofpoints higher than before.I have beaten some of the best players and myrecent statistics are 16 wins and 3 losses.Where would I be without thisbook?I dont think my rating would of moved a notch.This is clear tounderstand and I am buying it for my checker buddys.The board it includeswith the 32 numbers is not only great for recording your games youplay...but its great for mail play!I got 100 times more out of this bookthan what I payed.Thank you Mr.Pike...you really improved my game. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Checkers    2. Games    3. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    4. Games/Puzzles    5. BG-ART/PHOTO/ARCH - BG-ARCHITECTURE    6. Checker problems   

Reviews (4)

Great book
A great book for intermediate level players or determined beginners.Won't make you a Master, but you'll still be better than everyone you know.

Packed with Information
Reinfeld has truly excelled in this book about checkers.This is the most complete book on checkers you will ever find, in or out of print.
Excellent coverage of topics, let down by typesetting
I found this book to be a very good introduction to checkers. It covers, in depth, sacrifices (pitches) to set up two-for-one exchanges, and the "five positions" that most commonly occur in the endgame. Theanalysis of openings is thorough, and a major plus for me was the sectionon forcing draws from "losing" positions. Only two things stoppedme from ranking this book at 5 stars - the pictures of the boards are justtoo big, and are sometimes two pages back from where the written analysistakes place. Also some sample historic games would have been nice. Theauthor has used an appendix to describe different versions of checkersaround the world and this is, frankly, useless. That space could have beenbetter used by a couple of analysed historic games. Other than these minorpeeves, it is an excellent book. I would not hesitate to recommend it to acheckers enthusiast from beginner to intermediate level. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Checkers    2. Games    3. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    4. Games/Puzzles    5. Indoor games    6. Puzzles & quizzes   

Reviews (9)

A Gripping Read
Well I never thought that title would describe for a book on a project to create a world champion beating chequers playing program! Very interesting!
Once I started to read this book I found it difficult to put down.Granted I am addicted to playing checkers against my computer when taking breaks at work, but still.... This is very interesting material for checkers players and computer programmers alike. OK, But
I enjoyed reading this book but as a serious checker player was hopingthere was a detailed list of new moves , 4, against 3, Ect.. a listing of cooks, detailed, a checker learning experence Something teaching me, some new endgames, something. New openings, challenging the existing openings. Im sure computer/checker players would love this book Since Jonathan chose to not use standard numeric notations as in most checker books, the helpful way would have identified the notations in each illustration of the checker board. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Checkers    2. Chinook (Computer file)    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer Games    5. Computer checkers    6. Computers    7. Computers - Languages / Programming    8. General    9. Programming - Software Development    10. Video & Electronic - General    11. Video & Electronic - Strategy Games    12. Artificial intelligence    13. Chess    14. Computers / General   

Subjects:  1. Checkers    2. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords   

Reviews (4)

Mixed feelings
There's no question that Richard Pask knows what he's talking about, but I am a beginner in checkers, and I found this book very daunting. After a quick introduction, the book begins to teach 9 basic strategies (2-for-1, 3-for-2, fork, rebound, breeches, etc.) along with presenting several examples of each. After that, the book then shows many miscellaneous illustrations of other moves that don't fit into the previous 9 strategies. By this time, the book is well into over 100 examples (!) with only terse commentary. I just don't find it very easy to read, and I lost interest before even getting to the later chapters. Well Worth the Time and Money
Don't let the title of the book fool you.This book is packed with all the key elements needed to become quite effecient at playing checkers with the best of them.It gets right to the point, and reveals the strategy of the game in a clear, consise A Complete Course of Study of High Quality
This book is the highest quality, best organized, and most thorough book on the market for beginner to intermediate study.It amounts to a complete course in checkers.Read more

Subjects:  1. Checkers    2. Games    3. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    4. Games/Puzzles    5. Games / Checkers   

Reviews (6)

Good book so far.
As a thirteen-year old, I bought this book at Borders as part of my birthday money. It's a wonderful book on checkmating (maybe one of the bests). Although I'm only up to chapter two, the rest of the book will probably be good too. Great for Beginners
The first hundred checkmate positions are fairly simple for intermediate players.The checkmates start to get somewhat "tricky" after that. I am glad that the authors did not just lump the positions together thematically, such as "Queen Sacrifice," like the Reinfeld "1001 Checkmates."Outstanding diagrams are clear and easy to study.While many of the solutions are simple, they are still beautiful.Great book if you love two and three move checkmate puzzles.

A delightful collection!
This book presents fun chess puzzles in an easy to understand, progressively difficult format.While it may be true that these puzzles are carefully constructed rather than the result of actual play, they teach the dynamics of checkmate in a simple, yet challenging way.The puzzles are designed and arranged to show how the various pieces work together in diverse circumstances and how slight changes influence the checkmate.This book teaches how to find that all-important first move in the series of moves that lead to checkmate and is good for young players just getting started and for more advanced players who want to stay sharp. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Checkers    2. Checkmate (Chess)    3. Chess - Specific Strategies    4. Games    5. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    6. Games/Puzzles    7. Chess    8. Games / Chess   

Reviews (2)

Beginners would do well to avoid it...
Othello, devised by Hasegawa-san in the 1970s, is an improved version of the century-old English game, Reversi. [What is called Reversi on-line is almost always Othello rather than Reversi].
Goro Hasegawa was the Japanese re-discoverer of Othello
Goro Hasegawa was the Japanese rediscoverer of Othello.Originally, the game was known as Reversi.Two rival Englishmen each claimed to have invented the game late 19th century.Hasegawa modified the rules slightlyand his father, a Shakespearean scholar game it the name Othello, becausethe reversals in the game reminded him of the plot of the play.This bookis the only widely distributed manual of Othello strategy.Although it mayhave some value for the collector, unfortunately most Othello playersregard the strategies discussed in the book as being obsolete and evenmisleading.Readers who are interested in the game should look forresources on the Internet. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Checkers    2. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords   

Subjects:  1. Chess - General    2. Games    3. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    4. Games/Puzzles    5. Games / Checkers   

Reviews (3)

GO PLAY OTHELLO THEN!
The book is not so bad for a Basic starting point on how to play Go. My review is of the uneducated review calling the game of Go Othello. You have never played Go or Othello if you would make such an absurd remark.

Go not Othello
With profound apologies to the reader who first reviewed this classic work; the game is certainly not checkers, but neither is it Othello.It is the classic game of Go.For those wishing a superb literaryexplanationof the game, see The Master of Go by Yasunari Kawabata.For those lookingfor a superb introduction to a game that most checkers lovers will find tobe enthralling, see this book, but more importantly, play the game.It isaddicting.

not about checkers
this book has nothing to do with checkers but is othello. I don't play the game so I couldn't say if its good or not. But I have a book on it now and minus $ii.95 ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Checkers    2. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    3. Martial Arts & Self-Defense    4. Sports    5. Sports & Recreation    6. Japan    7. Puzzles & quizzes   

Reviews (1)

John's Review of "Winning Monopoly"
This book is the ultimate strategy guide.Kaz had a personal computer play hundreds of thousands of game of Monopoly and analyzed them.The book is about what a saw and how to use this to win. There is a great amountof tips in this book.Mr. Darzinskis goes into extensive detail.Thisbook is designed for the die-hard Monopoly fanatic. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Checkers    2. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    3. Games/Puzzles    4. Monopoly (Game)   

Reviews (3)

Checker Power
Very disapointed. I did not lean anything new. I expected some good stratagies for winning the game.I think any thinking person would already know the tips they gave.

Checker Power by Robert W. Pike
Today I received my copy of "Checker Power by Robert W. Pike.I was excited about advancing my knowledge and skills in the game of checkers.I spent the next '10' minutes reading this (book).Each set of pages contain, (on one page), a LARGE checker board which takes up the entire page.The opposite page contained at least 'one' (usually small), paragraph explaining the absolute most basic aspects of checkers. If you have ever played even one game of checkers, you know more than all the knowledge contained in this (book).I say (book) in parenthesis because this should be classified as a PAMPHLET.The entire book contained about 40 or 50 paragraphs..!!Need I continue!.AOL, please do us a favor and remove this "PAMPHLET" so others will not have to pay the postage to get this PAMPHLET and the postage to RETURN this PAMPHLET.! Richard Mathis rdsupply@easilink.com

A fine book for beginners
An excellent book for beginners.It stresses the official colors for board & checkers, teaches the correct rules in an interesting way.There have been exceedingly few new books on checkers in the last 40 yearsor so.I have given away several copies of this book to nieces, nephews,and children of friends. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Checker problems    2. Checkers    3. Games    4. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    5. Games/Puzzles    6. Juvenile literature    7. Problem solving    8. Rules   

Reviews (3)

Misleading! TITLE.. Should say Pool Checkers"
No where in the title does this book spell out that it is for " Pool Checkers". a much different game than the version that most americans play, Luckly i found a copy at the library, so all that was wasted wastime. I dont know anayone who's played this and regular checkers iscontrary to popular belief a life study in itself.

Very good book
After reading this book,I realiged that I had always understimated the potential of sacrifice in checker.Thank to writer Vladimir Kaplan my checker knowledge has been widened tremendously.

Subject is Pool Checkers, not "Straight" Checkers.
An excellent book by an unsurpassed master of the subject--but the subject is Pool Checkers, which has different rules from "Straight" or "English" Checkers.Pool Checkers, in which single men can jumpbackwards and kings move like Bishops in chess, is played in the U.S.mostly by Black Americans and Russian immigrants.The book is written inawkward English, translated from Russian, and is in the algebraic,chess-style notation rather than the usual numeric checkers notation. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Checkers    2. Collections of games    3. Games    4. Games/Puzzles   

Reviews (1)

Review?Stale, mate
I wasn't expecting much from the chess set, but the plastic pieces were disappointing:they're just checkers with symbols printed on them (e.g., a silhouette of a pawn, of a king, of a queen, etc.).The board is stored folded into four pieces and doesn't stay flat when unfolded.
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Subjects:  1. Checkers    2. Chess - General    3. Games    4. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    5. Games/Puzzles    6. Games / General   

Reviews (2)

Secrets of Winning Roulette
I give the book 4 stars because even though it was good reading it did'nt exactly reveal any real exciting secrets.Overall it could be used by the novice gambler to learn roulette and the best & safest ways to bet. It also gives some history on the roulette wheel and the different types used in the U.S. & abroad.

An excellent addition and referance
The book covers the game from all aspects and is easy to follow.It covers the game basics, and basic betting systems, and from there goes into some spin offs and playabe variations of those betting systems.It also covers other topics like biased wheels, numerical concepts that are important to playing the game, and technichal information about wheel construction and cheating (It does not teach you how to cheat).I consider the book an excellent referance for all Roulette players, and and a great addition to any library. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Checkers    2. Gambling - Table    3. Gambling - Track Betting    4. Games    5. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    6. Games/Puzzles    7. Roulette    8. Gambling    9. Games / Gambling / General   

Reviews (3)

Fully Worth the Money Spent
Wow - what a fun book that was!This book has so many well thought out problems, that your game has to improve the first time through.I've been through this book several times now, increasing my speed (and mostly my technique) while getting as much enjoyment as the first time through. When using my newly acquired skills in real games, I've "Dazzled" more than a couple of players;having your opponent say"I didn't even see that coming" is a direct result of the insight gained reading this book. This book seemed free of errors (i.e. all problems were solvable and all problem numbers matched their corresponding solution number).I look at a checker board with a little more confidence now, and take my hat off to Robert Pike. I would recommend this book to anyone without reservation.

A Quick Road to Improvement
The 370 puzzles in this book will keep you occupied for some time and will greatly improve your play.Do yourself a favor and work through each one carefully, resorting to the solutions only if you are absolutely desperate.Most of these can be solved mentally, but in some cases the use of board and pieces will make the concepts more clear.The small pocket size format of the book makes it very good to take along and use during down-time such as waiting for doctors appointments and the like.The serious student of checkers really ought to have this book.

Little Giant Encyclopedia of Checker Puzzles
Yike! Sure hope I'm the only one at the Old Fogies Senior Center with this book.I'll be the champ in no time. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Checkers    2. Games    3. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    4. Games/Puzzles    5. Puzzles    6. Reference    7. BG-JUVENILE PROP - BG-JUVY YOUNG FICTIO    8. Board games    9. Games / Checkers    10. Puzzles & quizzes   

Reviews (1)

brilliant and mind- wracking!
I borrowed this book from the library and played the snakes and ladders game with my classmates for two hours! The rules of each game are easily understood but the fun is hard to be put down in black and white!Unfortunately the book was lost after a while or I'll certainly bribe thelibarian to let me have it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Board games    2. Checkers    3. Children: Babies & Toddlers    4. Games    5. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    6. Juvenile literature   

Subjects:  1. Board games    2. Checkers    3. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords   

Reviews (1)

For Peg Solitaire Gurus
This is the definitive reference for Peg Solitare, including the history of the game and mathematical theory.For players who have been stumped by the game, a few minutes spent on Chapter 2 will make the game seem much easier, kind of like learning specific techniques for solving Rubick's Cube.Read more

Subjects:  1. Checkers    2. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    3. Indoor Games    4. Set Theory    5. Solitaire (Board game)    6. Solitaire (Move game)   

Reviews (1)

Inconsonant Description of How to Play Roulette
The overall idea for this book is good -- a simple introduction to playing roulette accompanied by some short examples of winning systems, but some how that gets lost in the translation.Read more

Subjects:  1. Checkers    2. Gambling - General    3. Gambling - Table    4. Games    5. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    6. Games/Puzzles    7. Roulette    8. Gambling    9. Games / Gambling / General   

Reviews (1)

Combination of both previous works
This isn't really a review, per se, but readers/buyers should be aware that, from the inside copyright page, this work was "Previously published as Pente strategy I and Pente strategy II."
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Subjects:  1. Checkers    2. Children's 4-8    3. Games/Puzzles    4. General    5. Pente (Game)