United States Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess, Sixth Edition

Why so thick? There are reasons.

Bear in mind that the last major change in THE RULES OF THE GAME occurred about 500 years ago. By "major" I mean how pieces move and capture. THE RULES OF THE GAME proper can be expressed in considerable detail on a few pages with illustrative diagrams, so readers should find it obvious that a 369-page book must be going FAR beyond that fundamental set of instructions. Over the course of its 1500-year history, most of the changes in the game were brought about with the intention of speeding it up so as to be faster than the adage about "watching grass grow." That said, I shall point out that THE RULES OF THE GAME are adequately summarized in Chapter 1 on pages 3 through 8 in sections 2. THE CHESSBOARD, 3. THE PIECES, and 4. OBJECTIVE AND SCORING, with the actual moves of the pieces described in section 8. THE MOVES OF THE PIECES, pages 17 through 20. Yup yup! That's right, just 12 pages total. But don't buy this book to learn how to play. Any beginner book will offer you a much more thorough explanation and it will provide graphic diagrams to illustrate the ideas. This book, as suggested by other reviewers, is for the tournament player. It's many chapters are devoted to other aspects of the game apart from moving the little statues here and there on the playing field. For in addition to THE RULES OF THE GAME there are THE RULES OF PLAY. Though not formally distinguished as such, THE RULES OF PLAY are an extremely detailed set of conventions employed firstly by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and then - with modest variation - by the federations of its many member nations. This book is the official publication of the United States Chess Federation, and if you intend to play chess in USCF-rated tournaments, this book contains everything you might need to know. But still, that information is also available in less weighty introductory manuals. This book also contains a wealth of information for tournament directors and arbiters, something the average player isn't ...