stinson@ihu1g.UUCP (Marcus E. Stinson) (10/02/84)
Thought I'd do my part to answer a few questions I've seen posed lately.... OPENING BOOKS - The best single volume book on openings is generally thought to be BATSFORD CHESS OPENINGS, co-written by Raymond Keene and Gari Kasparov. The best series is the 5 volume ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHESS OPENINGS published in Yugoslavia (never fear - it is written in figurine algebraic with explanations in most major languages). Also worth mentioning is the book MODERN CHESS OPENINGS; this book was the standard for many years - the grapevine says the 12th edition is pretty good. All of these books are quite detailed and may be a little advanced for a beginner. For a beginner I would recommend IDEAS BEHIND THE CHESS OPENINGS (Ruebin Fine), THE COMPLETE BOOK OF CHESS OPENINGS (Fred Reinfeld), or HOW TO OPEN A CHESS GAME (Larry Evans, et. al.). CHESS COMPUTERS - I don't claim to be an expert here, but the NOVAG Constellation is supposed to be the best under $200. The Chess Challenger series from Fidelity Electronics also has a good reputation, with a very large range of price/performance trade-offs. To get a catalog containing these and many other items, I would recommend writing the U.S. Chess Federation: U.S. Chess Federation 186 Route 9W New Windsor, NY 12550 I would also highly recommend joining the USCF - members get a discount on books, etc., not to mention a subscription to CHESS LIFE (monthly - contains news, ads, tournament notices, etc.), and the right to play in tournaments and obtain a national rating. Membership is $20/year for adults. (Sorry to bore any of you old pros, but I thought it was time someone tried to promote our federation a bit through this medium.) Marcus Stinson AT&T Bell Laboratories ihnp4!ihu1g!stinson