Digital Cameras - Camcorders - Think Like a King Chess Workout Family Package

	List Price: $129.95 Our Price: $64.95 Your Save: $ 65.00 ( 50% ) Availability: Manufacturer: ChessCentral
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Binding: CD-ROM Brand: ChessCentral EAN: 9781886846777 ESRB Age Rating: Kids to Adults Feature: One CD contains a complete chess library for everyone to share - get all six Chess Workouts© with First Lessons in Chess© Format: Single Label: ChessCentral Manufacturer: ChessCentral Publisher: ChessCentral Studio: ChessCentral
Features One CD contains a complete chess library for everyone to share - get all six Chess Workouts© with First Lessons in Chess© First Lessons© is our basic tutorial for novices, whether young or old. Covering all the basic rules and moves, chess notation, opening strategy, tactics and common endgame scenarios Think Like A King® series is the perfect starting point for those new to chess, from grade 3 to adult. Dozens of animations, challenges and 165 interactive chess puzzles make learning a snap. Chess tutorials are completely engaging and interactive.
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Tactics = everything Comment: For the amateur chessplayer, tactics = everything. If you're a beginner or club-level player you'll progress farther and faster by studing tactics than by studying any other facet of the game. ChessCentral's Think Like a King offers the user more than 1000 tactical drills for practice (since the ability to spot tactical patterns in actual games relies much on pattern recognition -- seeing familiar patterns in non-identical board positions). In addition to using these positions as just "tactics puzzles", you can also play these positions out against the "Crafty" computer program which is included in the package. This truly is a "chess workout" and will help improve the play of nearly any chessplayer. It's also a real "family package": unlike many other chess software programs, ChessCentral's "Think Like a King" makes provision for multiple individual user logins. Customer Rating: Summary: King Comment: I bought this because my brother recommended it. Wow, what a great buy. Get it now! Customer Rating: Summary: Great program but user-friendliness could be improved on Comment: I really like the way this program drastically improved my tactical vision by just solving about 100 "Grades By Difficulty" puzzles a day for a period of a few weeks (!). My rating on ICC went up about 100 points and, equally important, my confidence grows accordingly. Wonder what this will do to my future otb-rating (ELO). Only two complaints: 1)When taking a test there's no "counter" visible, so you don't have a clue how many puzzles you still have to go (I like the way other programs of theirs - like "Intermediate Tactics" give information like "#5 of 50"). 2)When you make a few mistakes, a small window opens up, showing you a similar position as the one you're trying to solve, which you can practice on, but... where the "main puzzles" have the (option of showing the) color you're playing at the bottom of the board, these small "help boards" always show the position from the White side. I find the above mentioned "shortcomings" annoying, but maybe it's just me... Overall, definitely a program worth buying, although I'd suggest you get "Total Chess Training", which not only contains CT-ART 3.0, but also 4 other interesting programs (Encyclopedia of Middlegames, Encyclopedia of Opening Blunders, Studies 2.0 and Strategy 2.0) for about $95. There's also a newer version of this product ("Total Chess Training 2") available for the same price, here on Amazon.com Customer Rating: Summary: Great Product Comment: First, the scoring system is a real modivator: depending on how you do on a problem your (estimated) ELO goes up or down. I work harder on the problems because I want the gratification of a higher score, and if I am not paying attention I get hit with a score penality! This constant reinforcement keeps me focused. Second, chess combinations are well tested, and one can check his or her own solution using the built in Craft chess engine. Finally, the system provides hints if you make a wrong move, allowing one to gradually work up to harder problems. This software does not have a 3d graphic interface, but this software has all the other options that will facilitate your study. Customer Rating: Summary: Not Worth It Comment: This is one of the poorest constructed chess tutors I have ever used. The whole point of teaching is to enable the student to learn. It may have a huge database of examples and lessons but the user interface is so badly done and the documentation is poorly written and poorly executed. It is just poor. It could have been so much better and if more money and work are put into it. Then it may be of real use to someone. For now stick to ChessMaster tutorials, from 7000 on up or Fritz for more experienced players. Learning and working with an application should never be this hard. Chess is hard enough on its own. Much better feed back is needed in this program. Why a move is better or worse and so on. I complete redesign is necessary to turn this thing around. I don't why it got good reviews at all. More Reviews
Editorial Reviews: First Lessons in Chess - a perfect way for reading-aged children grade 3 and up (or their parents!) to get started in chess. First Lessons is for players new to chess, whether young or old. Covering all the basic rules and moves, including chess notation, opening strategy, tactics and common endgame scenarios, this introduction to the Think Like A King learning series contains dozens of animations, challenges and 165 interactive chess puzzles that make learning a snap. Tactical Thinking-Master basic tactical concepts with an interactive tutorial designed to help players recognize strategic and tactical opportunities. From Pins to Forks and Skewers, Undermining to Overworking, basic tactical thinking is clearly defined and demonstrated via interactive puzzles. Simple text explanations and minimal reliance on chess notation make this a perfect teaching tool for beginning students. Checkmate Thinking -apply the tactical lessons learned above and add the next level of thinking (pattern recognition and combination attacks) to pursue the ultimate goal of Checkmate. Over 300 interactive checkmate problems that transform beginners into real chess thinkers! Endgame Thinking - Everything may come down to the Endgame, and here's where beginners have the most trouble. A course on the science of the end of the game, endings where clear thinking and careful play are critical. Learn the tactics of Pawn Promotion and the rules that let you create a winning position - or prevent your opponent from gaining one! Opening Thinking - a truly unique learning tool that explores the why and not just the how of opening play. Covering the common openings and variants, with Traps, Zaps and more.