Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess

by Bobby Fischer

A one-of-a-kind masterclass in chess from the greatest player of all time.

Learn how to play chess the Bobby Fischer way with the fastest, most efficient, most  enjoyable  method ever devised. Whether you’re just learning the game or looking for more complex strategies, these practice problems and exercises will help you master the art of the checkmate. 

This book teaches through a programmed learning It asks you a question. If you give the right answer, it goes on to the next question. If you give the wrong answer, it explains why the answer is wrong and asks you to go back and try again. Thanks to the book’s unique formatting, you will work through the exercises on the right-hand side, with the correct answer hidden on the next page. The left-hand pages are intentionally printed upside-down; after reaching the last page, simply turn the book upside-down and work your way back.
 
When you finish, not only will you be a much better chess player, you may even be able to beat Bobby Fischer at his own game!

Genres: Chess, Nonfiction, Games, Reference, Sports, How To, Self Help

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note to readers looking for a little light reading enjoyment on a sunny afternoon: "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess" is not the book you're looking for. It has two woefully undeveloped main characters, with poor distinction between protagonist and antagonist. These mysterious main characters, known only as "White" and "Black", have the sole purpose of meddling constantly in the affairs of thirty-two minor characters, also lacking more than cursory description or much development. With "mating" being the rather single-minded goal of these opposing forces, there isn't much that can be identified as a main plot. There is a fair amount of action, and there are hints that other books have been written featuring these characters, so perhaps there is hope for some story arc. Though lacking a focused, cohesive central plot, it is fraught with flashbacks and countless tedious sub-plots, often leaping from one action scene to the next without so much as a "by your leave" en passant. Worse still, the setting is terribly unimaginative in its scope, as if the medieval landscape had been designed by one whose vision was limited to black & white. I hope Hollywood decides NOT to make this into a movie...

This book gives a beginning player plenty of interesting examples, and focuses on two important aspects of the game: thinking ahead and recognizing opportunity (although there also seems to be huge emphasis on achieving mate while the opponent's king is trapped in the back row, presumably by his own errant play). The complexity of the presented game situations increases as one progresses through the book. Despite its failings in some areas, I believe this book to be a very handy learning tool for any beginning player.

Did it help me as a beginner? Sure, but just like most of us will never be NFL quarterbacks or Olympic gold medalists, I also will never be a master at chess. That said, the fact that I still continue to have my @$$ handed to me almost every time I engage in a friendly game of chess in no way detracts from the enjoyment of exercising the brain... nor from my opinion of this book when viewed in light of its intended purpose. So, yes, I believe my game improved some from having read it, and I'm equally certain that no one shall ever bestow upon me the title of chess master.

Beginning chess player? Yes? Then read this book.

[Jared · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book would be better titled "Bobby Fischer Teaches a Very Limited Set of Mating Positions." It does a good job of teaching a person to recognize opportunities for checkmate. What it doesn't do is teach chess. There is nothing here about openings, middle-games, or principles of end-games like passed pawns, stalemates, etc.

The presentation style is good, and the book does a good job of teaching the very limited set of mating positions that it bothers to present. And it's short. But don't expect to win a lot of games using only this book as a reference. You'll never survive against a good player long enough to get to one of these mating positions without understanding controlling the center, pinning pieces, and immobilizing pieces, and getting into mobile positions.

[Eat.Sleep.Lift.Read. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be the first to admit, I'm feckin' useless at chess.

Bobby made me a little less feckin' usless.

[P.E. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chess kindergarten. Do not expect any thoughtful method designed by the World Champion. This is but a sheer array of chess diagrams with Bobby Fischer never taking any part in it, merely scribbling his signature on the top of the sham.


Further reading:


The documentary Bobby Fischer Against the World (2011) on Robert James Fischer aka Bobby Fischer, who partly inspired Beth Harmon in the series The Queen's Gambit.


-----------------------

Exercices d'échecs pour les joueurs dans leurs débuts, qu'on ne s'attende pas à un apprentissage fouillé, Bobby Fischer a apposé sa signature au livre, rien de plus.


Pour aller plus loin :

Le documentaire 64 case pour un génie (Bobby Fischer Against the World) (2011), sur la vie de Robert James Fischer sur la vie de Robert James Fischer, alias Bobby Fischer, qui a inspiré (en partie) le personnage de Beth Harmon dans la série La partie de la dame.

[Zeyad Elmortada · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب جيد للمبتدئين في اللعبة يعيبه فقط التركيز علي الكش مات في الجوانب الأربعة من الرقعة فقط وترك باقي الرقعة دون حماية، كما لم يتطرق للإفتتاحيات وهي أهم جزء في اللعبة من وجهة نظري, هذا غير الطباعة السيئة جداً واختلاط الأسماء فكان أحياناً يطلق علي الوزير ملك والعكس وكل هذا الإنتقاد الشخصي موجه لمترجم النسخة الحالية ودار النشر وليس للعظيم بوبي فيشر بالتأكيد .

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love "Bobby Fischer teaches chess". It introduces several key concepts, such as pinning, back-rank attacks, interposing etc., and after each concept there are lots of puzzles. In the puzzles you have to determine how to accomplish checkmate, if it's checkmate even possible or if it can be avoided (as the defender), always by the means that has just been explained (except for the mixed-bag exercises). This really drives home the points and forces you to learn.

In a real game, you start to see possibilities of checkmates a lot faster, but also your general game improves by understanding these concepts that don't just apply to endgame situations. I used to just know the rules and play more or less just reacting to moves or improvising, not being able to see a path to victory. If you had given me a queen and a rook and unlimited moves without the opponent reacting, it would still probably have taken me forever to checkmate. Now so much has become clear. My boyfriend said that my chess game improved by at least 200 points just by reading this book!

[Theo Logos · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book transformed my chess game. Mind you, I was a twelve year old chess novice at the time, with little more knowledge of the game than the basic rules and how to move the pieces. Reading this book, working the simple puzzles it presents, started me down the road toward a more serious game.

That’s the audience this book is geared towards — young chess neophytes. This isn’t a book to make you a master. But if you are still at the point of mindlessly pushing pieces it can give you the beginning steps to think about the game more strategically.

And yeah, Bobby Fischer’s involvement with this book began and ended with lending his picture and his name. Kid me, who thought he was learning from the master, would have been so disappointed!

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still suck but it’s not Robert’s fault

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bobby Fischer Teaches Back Rank Mates would be a more accurate title, and a title that included the other two coauthors would be more accurate still. But never mind the cover. This is a handy little course in beginner's-level tactics. The coauthors use their method of "programmed instruction," a series of bite-sized exercises, each with immediate feedback to reinforce each lesson. The scope is limited, but the method is self-paced and engaging. It has me thinking about using programmed instruction with my students.

[Omar Kassem · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب خفيف نضيف يصلح للمبتدئين في الشطرنج
فيه التعليمات الاساسية بخصوص هذه اللعبة ، كيفية تحرك القطع ، ماذا يعني الكش مات وكيف يمكن تحقيقها ، بالإضافة للقليل من الأمثلة عن ذلك من أدوار بطل العالم السابق بوبي فيشر..
لكن لا يُنصح به للخبراء او أصحاب التقييم المتوسط لأنه لن يقدم لهم الكثير

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, i loved this book when i was just a kid first learning about chess. Somebody must've given it to me circa 4th grade when the cool new young teacher first came to our tiny parochial school and taught us all the game. I'm estimating that i entirely consumed it for the first time when i was only 10yrs old, and probably understood very very little of it. A whopping 5 nostalgic stars from the little kid inside me who still kinda remembers what it was like to believe i could be that good at something.

[Sean McGowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh I’m sorry, is this “not really a book” and “more a collection of worksheets” that “shouldn’t count towards my reading challenge”? well if you’re so smart how bout you meet me at the chess.com app motherfucker. Knight to d-eez nuts

[j k · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel a little less useless than before

[Saly Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike Fischer and a lot of my friends who started to play chess when they were 6 years old, I started chess after I could legally drink in the US. Starting off, I lost uncountable times and thought about quitting. I questioned whether it is possible to be really good at chess when one started playing it pretty late in life. I kept thinking about it and sometimes dreamt about playing chess. After finishing this book, I still lost uncountable times and don’t know the absolute answer to that question I’ve had but I enjoy playing chess even more than I used to. Really, I’ve never known that completing chess puzzles feels so much fun like playing Sudoku.

[Mohamed Mokbel]

يااااه، الكتاب الذي تعلمت منه مبادئ الشطرنج منذ سنوات. لا أذكر محتويات الكتاب؛ ولذلك لن أقيّمه ولكني ما زلت أذكر مبادئ الشطرنج بالطبع :D

[Michael Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost exclusively focused on achieving checkmate and avoiding checkmate. I've read that it's better to learn about the endgame first, because it's the best way to learn how the pieces move and attack. This is a great beginners book, but it did feel a tad simplistic to me, even with my only basic knowledge of Chess.

In the end though, it was fun to read, and I do think I'll see positions for checkmate that I wouldn't have seen otherwise.

[Ishank Tyagi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is for beginner chess players who want to learn about basic chess tactics.
A nice introduction to tactics. It is a kind of workbook with enough puzzles to make you
understand the idea behind a particular tactic.
The title may imply that it covers the game as a whole but it discusses only 5 basic tactics.

[Vasarė · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 / Na, knyga nėra bloga – tačiau skirta tikrai tik pradinio lygio žaidėjams. Ir netgi dar labiau pradinio nei aš, nes pasirodo, kad per porą mėnesių ir taip ėmiau sugebėti pamatyti, kuriuo būdu yra geriausia apginti karalių – šitam dalykui skiriamas vienas iš knygos skyrių. Žodžiu, pusė knygos buvo toks truputį "meh, I know this already, it's easy", bet visgi kitoje pusėje atradau kai ką ir naujo.

Iš esmės Fischeris moko matavimo kombinacijų – realiai tai viskas. Taigi, tema ganėtinai siaura ir specifinė. Kita vertus, jaučiu, kad kelis tricks'us ir kombinacijų galimybes išmokau ir išsinešiau, be to, buvo puiki praktika elementariai stebėti lentą ir figūrų išsidėstymą bei atsiveriančias (ne)galimybes kažką nuveikti. Jaučiu, kad be šio įgūdžio šachmatuose daug nepasieksi – už jo lavinimą Fischeriui ir esu labiausiai dėkinga. O dar patiko ir tai, kad skaitant nereikėjo turėti šachmatų lentos po ranka, tikrai užteko vizualizacijų ir galėjau perskaityti kad ir kelis puslapius darbe per pertraukėlę.

Ar Fischerio knyga padarė mane geresne žaidėja? Manau, kad taip. Aišku, iš esmės tik prieš tokius pat noob'us kaip aš pati, bet vis tik tai vis vien yra progresas – o tai ir svarbiausia.

[Tac Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

You won't get a lot of strategy or Fischer's philosophy of chess. This is a good little workbook with lots of diagrams and puzzles and was fun to read. Very focused on checkmate with nothing about openings. Gave me lots to focus on.

[João Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um bom livro para quem tem dificuldade com o final do jogo. Me ajudou bastante a entender alguns temas de mate.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Surprisingly, I'm disappointed in this book. Almost the entire thing is made up of 275 back rank checkmate puzzles of increasing difficulty. Back rank mating is a very important skill to learn, and I'm sure I'll be better at it now. The main problem is the puzzles are formatted in a way that's not very conducive to learning. The book presents a puzzle, tells you to find the correct answer (usually by picking yes/no and drawing the first move in a sequence), and then you turn the page to find out if you were right or wrong. So most readers would probably end up with a lot of incorrect answers scribbled onto their pages (I know I would have if I didn't use my eraser). You also have to flip the book upside-down halfway through to do the rest of the puzzles, which is a little bizarre but a more economic use of paper I guess. The principles are sound, of course, but there's nothing you couldn't learn from puzzles on Chess.com or other sites/apps these days. There's a select few anecdotes covering games that Fischer played, but they're never explored in any depth. I'm sure the book was indispensable in 1966 and for a few decades after. But it still makes a lot of top Chess book lists, which doesn't make sense in a world with much better learning tools and resources.

[Arman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book focuses on the endgame: back rank mating. It is organized into so-called "Frames" in which there are checkmating lessons, puzzles and solutions. I could say the book is aimed at the beginners but that doesn't mean chess players of higher ranks won't have benefit from it. It opens up your eyes to look for checkmate opportunities.
Recommended to those who are interested in chess.

I suggest you write down numbers of the frames that seemed challenging to you, so that in case you decided to review, you can refer to those frames.

P.S. You can feel Bobby Fischer's pride in the sentences of this book. :)

[Sena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chess is my latest obsession so, like any reasonable person, I went and got me a book. This one is fun to read and I did improve (at least my ranking on chess.com went up, if that means anything) but I don't know if that's thanks to Bobby Fischer (and his ghost writers) or my incessant craving to play chess at every waking hour. It's messed up.

The problem with this book is, now I can see a lot of cool back-rank mates in a minute or so if I put my brain up to the task but I can never get to these configurations in a real game. Does anyone? Apparently Fischer did, more than a few times. Nevertheless, it was a fun read and I'll be thrilled to pull these moves on someone someday.

[Sharad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could be a good book for someone that already knows the basics of chess. It does not teach how the pieces move or basic opening/middle game/end game . What it does is teach Tactics, in particular focusing on back rank mate (which is probably the most common tactic). The format it different than other tactics books. I think it’s quite friendly for beginners.

[Zineb | زينب · Rating 3 out of 5]

كمبتدئة في عالم الشطرنج توقعت ان اتعلم اكثر
ولكن لا باس به كبداية للاعب العالمي بوبي

[jayden yau · Rating 3 out of 5]

did not help me get better at chess 💔 (i chose the wrong answer like every time)

[Eve Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of fun! Definitely would recommend for beginner players wanting to learn how to checkmate more efficiently.

I found the “frame” system very efficient as it encourages you to actively solve the problems- rather than analyse positions in traditional chess books

I don’t know if I’m a better player afterwards, but thanks bobby for the journey

[lingg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should have been called "(Not Really) Bobby Fischer teaches back-rank mates". I don't think it is very helpful for beginners, if you can't get to the situation where you can back-rank mate your opponent, this is mostly useless. It doesn't explain much so it takes longer for the reader to sometimes understand a particular move or why it wouldn't work. I believe Fischer had little to do with this book and it doesn't really teach you how he thinks about chess. It was kind of fun solving the puzzles, though not particularly enlightening. Overall, I'd say it is fitting for a first and superficial contact with the chess world.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about the one thing Bobby Fisher undeniably knew well - chess (this review will not comment on his ideas on other subjects). It is an excellent tutorial for improvement, and will work for chess players at any level, or even those who have never played. Fisher's premise is that the object of the game is to achieve checkmate, therefore the most basic thing to learn is how to do so. For me, this was an excellent shift in perception - whereas before my game focused on immediate concerns like taking more pieces than my opponent or not losing my queen, after I had done these exercises, I was far more focused on the big picture. It may seem counterintuitive to learn the game from the end forward, but this really does work and will improve your game. Most of the book is made up of exercises which you can work on in the book, or set up your own chessboard and play along. Of all the books I have seen which claim to help you improve your game, this is far and away the most effective.

[Dunya Al-bouzidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب نافع للغاية حول سُبل إماتة الشاه في لعبة الشطرنج، لأسطورة الشطرنج العالمي "بوبي فيشر".