The Thinker's Game

This book is written for beginners who are interested in the game andwould like to learn more about its various aspects. It covers the technicalaspects of chess: the use of algebraic notation (Chapter 3), chess evaluation(Chapter 4), the opening phase (Chapter 5), the middle game (Chapter 6),the endgame (Chapter 7), and the chess rating system (Chapter 8). It introducesa number of chess problems, formulated with a chess board and chesspieces and presupposing a working knowledge of chess (Chapter 9). It offersan account of variants of chess such as Fischer random chess (Chapter 10). It also covers the cultural aspects of chess: its history (Chapter 2) and statusas an immortal game that might enable it to play a role in the search forextraterrestrial intelligence (Chapter 11). Wherever possible, chess diagramsare provided to help chess beginners make sense of certain points about chess. Algebraic notation will also guide them in understanding certain chess-basedlines of reasoning. Whenever you are ready, let us begin this odyssey ofchess!