How to Win at Checkers

by Fred Reinfeld

How to Win at Checkers [Paperback] This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879800682
• ISBN13: 9780879800680
• Release Date: January 1957
• Publisher: Wilshire Book Company
• Length: 184 Pages
• Weight: 0.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.3" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Great book

A great book for intermediate level players or determined beginners. Won't make you a Master, but you'll still be better than everyone you know.

Packed with Information

Reinfeld has truly excelled in this book about checkers. This is the most complete book on checkers you will ever find, in or out of print. The book covers tactics such as traps and shots and then goes on to cover just about every important opening to at least some degree, often with main-lines and numerous variations. Finally, the section on endings is quite complete; nowhere else can I find the four kings vs. three situation covered. Whenever I have a question I turn first to this book and almost always find an answer. Be aware that information is packed tightly into every page and you will need to study each situation carefully, playing through the variations on a second board. For instance, opening variations are often contained in a few lines of commentary; you will lose out if you don't pay attention to these variations. It is clearly not a book for dabblers, but one which requires substantial effort, which will be well rewarded. This book does not get a lot of attention from the experts, perhaps because Reinfeld's is known primarily as a chess writer. In fact this book is a must-have for serious beginners and intermediates. If you combine this with The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Checker Puzzles you have enough study material for months, and your game will improve rapidly. (Don't be put off by the cover photo, which is full of errors and serves to trivialize and stereotype the game of checkers. The contents are what matters.)

Excellent coverage of topics, let down by typesetting

I found this book to be a very good introduction to checkers. It covers, in depth, sacrifices (pitches) to set up two-for-one exchanges, and the "five positions" that most commonly occur in the endgame. The analysis of openings is thorough, and a major plus for me was the section on forcing draws from "losing" positions. Only two things stopped me from ranking this book at 5 stars - the pictures of the boards are just too big, and are sometimes two pages back from where the written analysis takes place. Also some sample historic games would have been nice. The author has used an appendix to describe different versions of checkers around the world and this is, frankly, useless. That space could have been better used by a couple of analysed historic games. Other than these minor peeves, it is an excellent book. I would not hesitate to recommend it to a checkers enthusiast from beginner to intermediate level.

Learn Strategy!

Reinfield's book is a must for the serious checker player. He covers various situations, openings and endgames, and provides the reader situation problems to solve on his/her own. My game was improved by reading this book.