Anyone familiar with the following title?
Coles Notes: Your Guide to Better Chess, by Roger Langen (2002).
Subtitle: For intermediate players: Openings, gambits, codes, midgame
tactics, endgame strategy.

I'm a beginner (class D player) who recently recieved this book as a
gift. It seems pretty good, but I couldn't find any information about
it on the internet. Just wondering if others are familiar with this
title, and can give any comments about it.

My impression is that it is very concise, but nonetheless
comprehensive. What is impressive is that Langen focuses on *ideas*
behind chess. It's not a big book, but I like what I've read so far.
Suited for beginners/intermediate.

And if it matters, I also have Patrick Wolff's excellent "Complete
Idiot's Guide to Chess" (2nd ed).

So in short, any thoughts/impressions on Langen's "Coles Notes: Your
Guide to Better Chess"?

Try www.chesscafe.com and their archive directory. Look for the Novice Nook
articles - excellent for starters!

"Jestrada" wrote in message
om...
Anyone familiar with the following title?
Coles Notes: Your Guide to Better Chess, by Roger Langen (2002).
Subtitle: For intermediate players: Openings, gambits, codes, midgame
tactics, endgame strategy.

I'm a beginner (class D player) who recently recieved this book as a
gift. It seems pretty good, but I couldn't find any information about
it on the internet. Just wondering if others are familiar with this
title, and can give any comments about it.

My impression is that it is very concise, but nonetheless
comprehensive. What is impressive is that Langen focuses on *ideas*
behind chess. It's not a big book, but I like what I've read so far.
Suited for beginners/intermediate.

And if it matters, I also have Patrick Wolff's excellent "Complete
Idiot's Guide to Chess" (2nd ed).

So in short, any thoughts/impressions on Langen's "Coles Notes: Your
Guide to Better Chess"?

Jestrada wrote (2003-12-30 19:20:38 PST):
Anyone familiar with the following title?
Coles Notes: Your Guide to Better Chess, by Roger
Langen (2002). Subtitle: For intermediate players:
Openings, gambits, codes, midgame tactics, endgame
strategy.

... any thoughts/impressions ...

I am not sure if it is relevant, but you might
want to look at Edward Winter's Chess Notes 2657
and 2689.

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/cnarchives04.pdf

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/cnarchives05.pdf

(Louis Blair) wrote in message . com...
Jestrada wrote (2003-12-30 19:20:38 PST):
Anyone familiar with the following title?
Coles Notes: Your Guide to Better Chess, by Roger
Langen (2002). Subtitle: For intermediate players:
Openings, gambits, codes, midgame tactics, endgame
strategy.

... any thoughts/impressions ...

I am not sure if it is relevant, but you might
want to look at Edward Winter's Chess Notes 2657
and 2689.

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/cnarchives04.pdf

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/cnarchives05.pdf

Thanks for the tip. These Chess Notes refer to a 1976 publication by
Coles Notes, entitled "Chess Strategy" by Frank Eagan, which was
really just a fraudulent reproduction of Capablanca's "Chess
Fundamentals."

I can assure you that the 2002 publication of Coles Notes (ISBN
0-7740-0638-2) is not the same, and is genuinely a book written by
Roger Langen (a former Canadian Chess Champion), called "Your Guide to
Better Chess".

Here's a newspaper article describing the release of the book with
further information about it:
http://www.chess.nfld.net/chess/news...nd%20Chess.htm

I am enjoying the book, and would appreciate any comments from others
about it, especially from those who are more knowledgeable about chess
than me!

(Jestrada) wrote in message . com...
(Louis Blair) wrote in message . com...
Jestrada wrote (2003-12-30 19:20:38 PST):
Anyone familiar with the following title?
Coles Notes: Your Guide to Better Chess, by Roger
Langen (2002). Subtitle: For intermediate players:
Openings, gambits, codes, midgame tactics, endgame
strategy.

I also have Patrick Wolff's "Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess", which
is an excellent introduction for chess (regarded by many as the best
now available for beginners). Roger Langen's book is a terrific book
for the next step, and is geared more towards intermediate players who
don't need to be taught the rules of the game.

I am currently making a PGN file with the 12 illustrative classic GM
games that Langen annotates in the last chapter. If you have Langen's
book and would like this file, send me a private email.

Even though it doesn't quite show how comprehensive and concise the
book is, here's a listing of the table of contents to give some idea
of its value:

1. GETTING STARTED: ARE YOU READY?
- following a game
- basic rules and popular misconceptions
- chess as a language
- trading values
- the symbology of chess

2. THE IDEA OF THE OPENING
- basic principles of opening play
- general position types
- gambits
- opening theories

3. SYSTEMS, PATTERNS, NAMES
- the ECO opening codes

4. PAWN STRUCTURE
- pawn types
- pawns in groups
- typical pawn structures
- color complexes

5. THE MIDDLEGAME: DYNAMIC FACTORS
- strategy, tactics, planning
- positional motifs
- modes of defense
- piece play
- manoeuvres and stratagems
- combinations and sacrifices

6. THE ENDGAME; CONCEPTS AND TECHNIQUES
- king and pawn endings
- minor piece endings
- major piece endings
- winning elements

7. TOURNAMENTS AND OTHER CHESS DIVERSIONS
- chess as a sport
- chess as a hobby

8. TWELVE ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES

APPENDICES
- sample scoresheet
- pairing tables
- national chess federations