Learn Chess Fast! by Sammy Reshevsky

by Samuel Reshevsky, Fred Reinfeld, Sam Sloan (Foreword)

Learn Chess Fast is a basic chess beginners book written in a rare collaboration between the strongest chess player in America and possibly the world at that time and the best and prolific writer about the game of chess.This book teaches the legal moves of chess plus it explains the descriptive notation by which chess games were recorded.After that, it explains the basic principles of the game and shows some tricks and traps. It concludes with some examples of grandmaster play.Sammy Reshevsky was born on November 26, 1911. Most chess players reach their peak at age 30. It was Reshevsky's misfortune that he reached his peak during the World War II years. He played in the World Championship tournament in 1948 and in the Candidates Tournament in Zurich 1953. In both events there were rumors and reports of collusion by the Soviets to prevent Reshevsky from winning the world championship which he probably would have won in a fair contest.Fischer is quoted as saying that Reshevsky was the strongest player in the world and would have easily defeated World Champion Botvinnik in a match at that time. However, Reshevsky never got the chance. There is no doubt at all that Reshevsky was the strongest USA player. He won the US championship seven times, in 1936, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1946 and 1969.

152 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1972

Reviews

[Dub C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can you learn chess with this book? Yes. Should you learn chess with this book? No.

This book uses outdated chess notation, making it not a good resource to build your knowledge on.

In general the book covers the absolute basics. Piece movements, castling, the most advanced this book gets are forks and pins.