What do you think?
Rate this book
Chess: Be the King!
Chess is played on every continent and by several hundred million people. It’s the most popular board game in the world, and people of all ages love to play! In Be the King!, you’ll start by learning how the pieces move and then progress to the more complicated ideas behind the best moves for the different phases of the game. This book offers something for beginners who have never picked up a chess piece as well as more advanced instruction for experienced learners who are looking to become expert players!Inside you’ll find exclusive tips from some of the world’s best chess players. These clever suggestions will help you to become a real king of chess. Imagine how much fun it will be to win a game against a classmate or-if you’re really good-maybe even your grandpa! If you’re up for a real challenge, you can also test yourself with puzzles taken from world championship games. Put on your thinking cap-your brain’s got some work to do!
437 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 5, 2016
85 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 8, 2022
Lots of good information and playing tips. I would have given it four stars if there weren't so many typos. Also, the solutions to the exercises were difficult to find and identify, at least in the kindle version that I read.
September 16, 2022
This is a very helpful and interesting introduction for chess learners. But as noted in the comments, there are some mistakes in proofreading. JK posted corrections to some games, the Immortal Game and the Chess Check answers 39 and 40. As JK notes, the answer key pages given are not correct in the English printed edition:
Chess Check answer key is on page 167 (not p. 171)
Do you remember the mates key is on P. 167 (not p. 171)
Are you a tactical master key is on p, 169 (not p. 173)
Can you find the mates? key is on p. 168 (not p. 172)
Can you identify the master moves key is on p. 170 (not p. 174)
In addition to the errors in notation given in JK's review, I believe there is a mistake in the second paragraph p. 45, 2nd sentence: "The black king cannot capture the queen because she is protected by the white bishop" (NOT the white knight) There are also mistakes on p. 71 which make reading the descriptions in the second and third paragraph confusing and difficult to relate to the illustrations. I believe in the 2nd paragraph, it should read "black responds by capturing the white bishop (Not the pawn) and the third paragraph is downright confusing! I hope a good chess player will correct it here. See the comment by JK for corrections to the chess check answer key, the immortal game notation and the other errors in notation he (she) gives. Other than these mistakes in the book, the games, chapters and explanations are fun, interesting and very helpful. I hope the publisher will release a revised edition soon!
Chess Check answer key is on page 167 (not p. 171)
Do you remember the mates key is on P. 167 (not p. 171)
Are you a tactical master key is on p, 169 (not p. 173)
Can you find the mates? key is on p. 168 (not p. 172)
Can you identify the master moves key is on p. 170 (not p. 174)
In addition to the errors in notation given in JK's review, I believe there is a mistake in the second paragraph p. 45, 2nd sentence: "The black king cannot capture the queen because she is protected by the white bishop" (NOT the white knight) There are also mistakes on p. 71 which make reading the descriptions in the second and third paragraph confusing and difficult to relate to the illustrations. I believe in the 2nd paragraph, it should read "black responds by capturing the white bishop (Not the pawn) and the third paragraph is downright confusing! I hope a good chess player will correct it here. See the comment by JK for corrections to the chess check answer key, the immortal game notation and the other errors in notation he (she) gives. Other than these mistakes in the book, the games, chapters and explanations are fun, interesting and very helpful. I hope the publisher will release a revised edition soon!
August 6, 2017
Reviewed by Miriam Wagner for San Diego Book Review
This book is really awesome. “Chess: Be the King” is really easy to understand all the things the authors are telling you about. There are lots of diagrams and illustrations that make it clear and easy to follow what is happening. It goes over all the rules and the set up, starting at the very basics of how each piece moves and the point of the game, so even if you are an absolute beginner, you will learn how to play.
You can read this entire review and others like it at San Diego Book Review.
This book is really awesome. “Chess: Be the King” is really easy to understand all the things the authors are telling you about. There are lots of diagrams and illustrations that make it clear and easy to follow what is happening. It goes over all the rules and the set up, starting at the very basics of how each piece moves and the point of the game, so even if you are an absolute beginner, you will learn how to play.
You can read this entire review and others like it at San Diego Book Review.
November 15, 2018
Godt bygget opp, lettlest og med gode tips underveis. Ispedd litt underholdende historie her og der trekker opp!
April 7, 2020
Great read for beginners
March 19, 2025
Total recommend to young chess players wanting to learn and improve their game.
Read
April 7, 2020This book was full of great tips for someone learning about elementary chess. There are a lot of grammatical errors, however, as it was translated from Norwegian.
There are CHESS CHECKS (questions) and after the CHESS CHECKS it says the answers are on p.171. This is NOT TRUE. They are on p.167.
On p.62 the chess notation for the "Immortal Game" is given. The notation printed in the book is wrong. MOVE 14 should be, "Qf3 Ng8," MOVE 16 should be, "Nc3 Bc5," and MOVE 18 should be, "Bd6 Bxg1."
The book refers to checkmate as "++" in notation. This is wrong. Checkmate in notation is "#."
On p.122 MOVE 2 should be, "Nf3 Nf6."
The answers on p.167 for CHESS CHECKS 39 and 40 are wrong. The answers on p.167 should be 39: B and 40: C.
There are CHESS CHECKS (questions) and after the CHESS CHECKS it says the answers are on p.171. This is NOT TRUE. They are on p.167.
On p.62 the chess notation for the "Immortal Game" is given. The notation printed in the book is wrong. MOVE 14 should be, "Qf3 Ng8," MOVE 16 should be, "Nc3 Bc5," and MOVE 18 should be, "Bd6 Bxg1."
The book refers to checkmate as "++" in notation. This is wrong. Checkmate in notation is "#."
On p.122 MOVE 2 should be, "Nf3 Nf6."
The answers on p.167 for CHESS CHECKS 39 and 40 are wrong. The answers on p.167 should be 39: B and 40: C.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews