Comprehensive Chess Course, Vol 1
by Roman Pelts & Lev Alburt, 125pp. (CIRC 2001)
Close your eyes. Imagine an empty board with a lonely white Knight on h1. Now, try to move the Knight from h1 to f3. Those who have completed this Volume I of the Comprehensive Chess Series should be able to do this in less than 10 seconds. The Comprehensive Chess Course is primarily intended to serve as a manual for those teaching chess in schools and colleges or, for that matter, to themselves. No prior knowledge of chess is presupposed for Volume I. Experience suggests that children will require about three months to complete the beginners’ course of 12 twelve lessons, while adults will need roughly two months.
Table of Contents, Volume I: Introduction; Lesson 1: The chessboard and the starting position; How pawns move and capture; Lesson 2: Chess notation; Lesson 3: How the Rook and Bishop move and capture. The center; Lesson 4: How the Queen and Knight move and capture; Lesson 5: How the King moves and captures. Check. Checkmate; Lesson 6: En passant pawn captures; Lesson 7: Castling; Lesson 8: Relative values of the chess forces; Lesson 9: How games are drawn; Lesson 10: How to record moves; Lesson 11: How to open a chess game; Lesson 12: Tests
