The Chess Mind

Let me start by noting that I'm no expert in the beginner-book genre, much less in the sub-genre intended for young children. That said, I think Igor Sukhin's Gary's Adventures in Chess Country (Mongoose Press, 2009; $23.95) is a book that can be profitably used for and by youngsters to teach them the game and to get them on their way to developing some important but non-traditional skills.

It's a colorful book with oversized pages and lots of illustrations, and as the title suggests it tells a story. (It's at least reminiscent of the Fritz & Chesster disc, though each has its own strengths.) Gary is a youngster who opens the door one day to find Cassie and her magical six-seat tricycle ready to spirit him away to Chess Country. (Don't worry, it's not Kalmykia.) While there he meets Riddles (his primary teacher), Zug (the [redeemable] villain, with whom he has a final showdown), the mysterious FRD and various chess pieces.

One chapter at a time, we see him learn how each piece moves followed by a discussion of checkmate and stalemate. Each step of the way there are review questions, some of which require thinking beyond the bare information presented, and then there are position puzzles. These are excellent, and I think they are valuable for non-beginners of all ages as a way to improve one's board vision.

By way of example, let's take the chapter on the knight. After the verbal questions, we have a series of exercise sets, each with six positions. called "To take or not to take?" In each case a knight is involved - though it's not always the piece to be moved - and while the side to move can capture a piece in each puzzle, there are cases where it can be recaptured. (In those cases, the answer to the question is "no".)

Next up: six "Army of One" positions, where the white knight gobbles up all Black's pieces seriatim. It's not challenging, but what it does do is help the student "see" what the knight can do, and to see it more quickly. Along the same lines, but moving up a level of abstraction, there's "Capture the Flag", in which the goal is to maneuver the knight from its current square to another square with a red flag.

The next exercise ratchets up the difficulty a couple of notches. Labeled "Amazing Maze", the positions again feature a knight and a square with a red flag, but the maneuvering is made much more difficult by the presence of minesweeper-like mines on many of the squares. Getting from point A to point B is far more difficult here, and working through these exercises offers a nice challenge for the youngster's maneuvering ability and thinking skills.

After this, it's time for a bit of a break, challenge-wise, with a set of puzzles called "Attack the Enemy". As you might expect, the aim is to attack the enemy piece with the knight, and in each case this is achieved in one move. Sukhin then, once again, builds on what has gone before with "Double Attack". This is a series of one-movers where two pieces are attacked. Usefully, the knight does the attacking sometimes, but in other positions it's the victim. This helps the beginner remember the other pieces and how they move, and further memory assistance comes in the next section, in which the goal is to capture the only black piece that is not protected.

Then it's time for another concept, "Defense", when White must find the only move that avoids losing a piece. Conversely, the next set is "Win a Piece", wherein the goal is just what it sounds like. There are five more sections after this, some of which are among his best ideas, but you'll have to get the book to find them. (Or find someone else who will blab.) I think it will be clear that a child or other beginning student who works through all the exercises in this book will have a huge advantage, tactically, over someone who learns the game by more conventional means.

The book doesn't teach the newbie everything he or she needs to know - the center is discussed, but only very briefly, and principles like rapid development and the value of castling early, etc. are not discussed. That's not a flaw in the book, of course; I bring it up only so the buyer has a sense of what is and isn't included. And for what it is, I like it a lot, but I'd like to hear back from anyone who has field-tested it, too.

I do have a couple of complaints; the first quite minor, the second a little more serious. First, a mild formatting complaint: The style of the white king should be changed - you can only tell that it's white's piece when contrasting it with its counterpart. It doesn't have the same shading as the rest of its army, and stylistically it doesn't fit in either (it's oversized).

A more important complaint, one that could easily frustrate a child or beginner using the book without a teacher's help: In the earlier chapters with "Get to the Base" puzzles, an important condition is missing from the instructions. The goal is to get a particular piece to a target square in a given number of moves, overcoming enemy resistance. There are several examples where the opponent can make the task take more moves than permitted by giving away the piece, but that "spite resistance" is not allowed is not mentioned until the chapter on knights. It's also not mentioned in the earlier chapters that the goal is to reach the "base" safely.

Two examples to illustrate. First, the "spite defense" problem: White queen on f3, Black queen on b4, flag on h8, mines on g7 and h7. The goal is for White to reached the flag in two moves, and the solution is supposed to be 1.Qa8 followed by 2.Qh8. The problem, of course, with making it a two-move puzzle with no restrictions on Black is that Black can play 1...Qb8 or 1...Qf8, making it take three moves rather than two.

Second, about the failure to specify that White must reach the base safely, take this example: white queen on h1, black bishop on b8, flag on d4. White can get to d4 in two moves very easily, via a1, d1, d5, e4, g1, h4 and h8. It's only via a1 that White can prevent Black's bishop from guarding d4; or rather, from safely guarding it. So we have a sort of conjoined problem, because Black can meet 1.Qa1 with 1...Ba7 or 1...Be5. If White goes to d4 on his second move, he achieves the stated goal but loses the queen, and in that case 1.Qa1 is no better than any of the other moves. On the other hand, if White takes the bishop on a7 or e5, then it's a three move job. So the instructions need to include something about hanging pieces to be complete.

Finally, I noticed an interesting ontological claim in the chapter on pawns. Here's a bit of dialog:

"Right, Gary, very good!" the big Pawn said. "How about this one: can a pawn visit all the squares of the chessboard?"

"No!" all the other children replied in unison.

Gary smiled. He realized why it was such a tricky question. "Yes, it can. It can get to the last rank, turn into a queen, for example, and walk to any square it wants!"

"Perfect!" the big Pawn said, smiling again at Gary.

Do we really have the same piece before and after promotion? If so, what is the ground of its "personal" identity through time? I wouldn't bet the house on it, but I'm more inclined to agree with the (other) children against Gary and the big Pawn - especially since queens can't capture en passant!

Anyway, it's a nice book for teaching beginners, and - with the repeated proviso that I'm not a specialist in this genre - I recommend it.