This book aims to "cover all aspects of chess, from learning the basic moves, strategies and tactics, via simple end games, to chess heroes and heroines of the past and the present, as well as the most outstanding games" (quoted from the introduction). As you can see, the scope of the book is very ambitious, and it really does start with a description of how pieces move. All the concepts are illustrated with examples from real games, which are annotated in detail. There is a wealth of interesing ideas and the author's excitement for his subject adds to enjoyment of the book.

It is not clear to me that the book really was written for absolute beginners. There are many places in the text where references are made to more advanced features of chess, not covered in the book. An example: (p. 148), ...[commenting on a game] "Black issues an invitation to the Benoni Defense but White declines, preferring to remain in the paths of the Maroczy Bind Sicilian". Neither the Benoni Defense nor the Maroczy Sicilian is mentioned anywhere else, as far as could see. There is a detailed discussion of various pawn structures (including passed, backward, doubled pawns) on pp. 196ff but there are references to these terms earlier, e.g. on pp. 173 in the discussion of minority attacks. A further example: the author strongly advocates adopting a hero as a way of improving ones game, to the point of writing an article or a book about that person's games. This goes way beyong beginner's level, although this clearly is the only way to achieve your grandmaster rating.

Moreover, given that most examples are from games played at highest levels, the beginner will find that games at "patzer" level do not follow those scripts, as beginners make rather more mistakes than grandmasters. Thus, the examples given in the book are a bit like sample dialogues in phrase books, when you try to use them in real life. You know what I mean: you are in some foreign country, trying to ask for directions; you say Sentence A from your book, but the local never says Sentence B (and what he says you do not understand) thus rendering the rest of the dialogue useless.

That said, this is an interesting book. You will find, if you give it time, that all the main chess ideas are explained and illustrated here. There are enough games to inspire you. The book's basic message is that chess is a game of very few rules and a handful of tactical and strategic principles. Playing well requires experience, and experience is to be gained by playing.

A major blemish is the lack of an index. This makes the book much less useful than it could be.

The first chapters cover elementary positions and combinations, and then the book goes into moderate detail for a least 100 famous games.

As a beginner myself, I found this book to be very informative, though not exhaustive.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas -- with the help of Bess Marvin! Bess has taken a job at Albemarle's department store to decorate it for the holidays. When Bess's friend is accused of stealing expensive evening gowns, Nancy Drew is called in to crack the case. This is a good paperback, but a little predictable. I'd say that the best thing about this book was the chapter titles, like, "The Weather Outside is Frightning," "Deck the Halls," and others. But hey, it's a great book to read at Christmas time!

Bess Marvin ends up working as part of a decorating group at a mall/department store thing and one of her friends gets fired for a crime she didn't commit. (surprise surprise) Naturally here comes Detective Drew and Detective George Fayne. After a few more crimes happen Nancy gets an oppertunity to join the decorating committee and then a few somethings really really really...really dangerous happens. If you want to find out more read the book already!

In short it is an awesome book that you should have atleast some fun reading.

This book is a full-of-suspense story, and keeps you reading. Nancy is looking forward to spending time at Ned's college, but someone is trying to ruin the election for the running candidates of the International Friendship Club. You would love the book!

This is a wonderful book! It has you thinking one person then another. I would of rated this book a four and a half because, the plot was a bit mixed but they didn`t have that so 5 was close enough. The case was that someone seemed to be sabotoging the I.F.C. The 2 people running for president are from rival countrys and blame everything on each other! THIS BOOK has some really, really cool twits! I really recamend this book to everyone!

"Mystery of the Fire Dragon" was the very first entire Nancy Drew book I have read in its entirety, and I became a fan and tried to get my hands on every Nancy Drew book I can (courtesy of the school and local library)since.

The plot is Nancy's aunt had a pair of new neighbors who moved in her building. They were an elder chinese man and his grown daughter Chi Che. Chi Che went missing one day and in an effort to track her down, Nancy (the redhead) and her two constant companions Bess (the blonde) and George (the brunette) stumbled upon a smuggling ring. The action eventually took them to Hong Kong....not before someone threw a flowerpot at Nancy, Bess was abducted, Aunt Heloise' oven exploded, and George have to undergo Oriental drag. And oh yes....Nancy's hot beau Ned Nickerson is revealed to be able to speak Chinese. How convenient.

Overall, this is one of the better Nancy Drew mysteries... considering that this book was written in the 1950s/60s, its depiction of its Asian characters are surprisingly non stereotypical; none of them acted like buffoons or know karate. Which is very refreshing.

this time nancy goes to china to solve a smuggling case. like all others this is a great mystery!

The Mystery of the Mother Wolf is a fairly good book, I would have rated it three and a half stars, but it was more closer to four. It isn't exactly a "must-read", but it is rather fun to trail along with the huge number of suspects. Nancy's father is missing, so she has to take drastic action at once! And it's during the ski season, so that way it is exciting, even more than the book "The Case of the Twin Teddy Bears", for those of you of have read that. I am writing this because I gave this book a chance, and that's all that matters to true 'Literature Lovers' like me! Be sure to try this book out, and do it, just to give it a chance if you really truly like books!

I love this book! while vacationing in a rustic lodge nancy is asked to find the lodges tame wolf rainbow. Rainbow disapeered sudenly and nancy suspects that she was stolen. can you figure out who took rainbow? find out in the myster of the mother wolf

It was a great book.Noone could find out the culprit till the end.It was very interesting and bess' role was quite funny. You should POSITEVELY read it

My daughter, Emily (age 8) and I read this book together and loved it! Nancy and her friends experience a variety of crises while they solve this mystery. This book will keep you guessing until the last few pages.

This book is a must have for any fan of Kiri-E, or Masayuki Miyata. His illustrations are beautiful...it is easy to see why he has become one of Japans modern masters of this traditional artform. Great Stuff!

If anyone adores the simple beauty and truth of haiku, this is the text to own. Not only are the Japanese characters printed alongside the inquisitive English translations, but the accompanying collages are breathtaking interpretations of the works. The entire book is a work of art.

Once again, Nancy Drew has prevailed in a brethtaking mystery where every chapter ends in suspense. When a famous astronamer disappears, Nancy has to find him. But when he finally shows up, she has to figure out whether it's really him, or just an illusion! Starstruck by a celebrity couple, Bess isn't much help, and Nancy has to solve this one on her own! A breathtaking mystery that will keep readers on their toes, I would not recommend this book to read at night if you have a test in school the next day. This book is so good, no one who picks it up will be able to put it down until they finish it!

I loved this book. I had to rate this 5 stars. In this book Nancy and her friends are excited when Bob Steller an astronomer comes to do stargazing shows. But when he doesn't know information about astonomy it leads Nancy and her friends in a world of mix-up they never would've suspected.

The Book is pretty good. It is the second Nacy Drew Book that I have read. It is a really good mystery. It takes a while to get into it though. So just keep reading and it will adventually get better. The book is very "twisty" though. You will on one subject then it will jump to another then another. But you just need to make sure that you understand everything or eltes you will be allmixed up

The book keeps you in suspense righ tfrom the first page. Nancy recieves a call from a museum curator who claims that he has been reciving death threats. ( Or is he?) Nancy investigates and uncovers a web of bogos fraud. It full of suspense and kept me itching to turn the page and find out what happens next. It kind of fool you...the most unexpected person turns out to be the culprit. Definitely worth reading!

I really liked this one, even if there wasn't really any Nancy/Frank stuff in it. It was exciting and funny, and I've read it about a hundred times already!

THis is one of my favorite Nancy Drew and Hardy boys mystery I've ever read!! It all starts when Nancy goes to Japan for a vacation and is checking in to her hotel. While she is waiting in line she hears a crash. She turns around and sees an elderly women sorrounded by police. The womens vase had fallen and out of it had fallen tons of stolen pearls!! Nancy is convinced the women is being set up. Meanwhile Frank and Joe are in Japan also.They are trying to find out who is making cheap imitations in an electrical company. Are the cases connected somehow? And can the witty detectives find the answers before it's too late? Go out and buy this book to find out!