Opening

I had the honor to take a couple of classes with Dr. Peters (who passed away in 1998) at the University of Notre Dame and although it has been several years since I had originally read this book, it's spirit lives on in me now. For people of African descent in the United States, this book opens new doors to us that because of a history of slavery, we were ignorant of. Don't get me wrong, this is not an exclusive book, anyone, regardless of your ethnicity, race, heritage, etc., can gain something from reading it. It re-affirms our natural beliefs that we are all connected, there is meaning in everything, and we are responsible not only to ourselves, but to each other, our ancestors, our progeny, and to the cosmos as well.

It is a book, once you've finished reading, you'll be surprised at how much it lingers with you.

I've read some good books on flanging before, but without doubt this is now the bible of flange.

Any Chess Player wants to get a strong background and improve his/her openings repertoire should buy this book. Anyhow its a nice companion for the tournament player. Recommended

Strong NT or weak NT this approach is excellent with many examples. Klinger is an excellent writer and analyst.

I feel foolish praising such a small book to high heaven. But, I must say that this book is a fascinating read. I bought it during my first business trip to Japan and couldn't put it down.

The book's author, an American, has lived in Japan for 50 years. It's clear that he knows the language and the culture. Moreover, he also has kept in touch with the States, and still has the ability to communicate with an American audience. As I said, the book is small. It's only half the physical dimensions of an ordinary book. It is about 170 pages in length. There are 64 chapters, so each chapter is only 2-3 pages long. Each chapter is like a short essay on some minute but nonetheless important detail about Japanese business culture, or advice on how to successfully interface with it. Some of the chapter titles are : The Role of the Greeting Ritual, The Name Card System, How to Recognize "No," The Importance of Going to Japan, Making the First Contact, Seeing Behind the Facade, The Importance of Following up, How to Use Interpreters, Dealing at the Negotiating Table, More Mistakes Foreigners Make, and Mastering the Art of Business at Night. Each of these short chapters is very well written.

The author has obviously advised many foreign companies on how to approach the Japanese and how to get past all the suspicion and barriers that prevent the Japanese from establishing a formal relationship with a foreign firm. His descriptions of how the Japanese protocol functions, how the Japanese company functions, the importance of etiquette, the all-important socializing between potential business partners, the Japanese sense of caution, their fixation on outward appearance, their "group think" mentality, their concern that everything be right and that everyone be comfortable with any new venture before it can begin, and even his description of how Buddhism affects the Japanese business mentality, singularly and in toto indicate that the author really knows what he is talking about.

I've lived a year or more in four different countries, and written about the culture of three of them. It's hard to write about a culture in a way that does not sound like criticism or like proselytizing. Yet, Boye De Mente manages to do so. The reader becomes far more sophisticated in a couple of hours than (s)he was before picking up the book. I was so impressed that after reading this book, I ordered another by the same author. I'll definitely read this book again before my next business trip to Japan.

Mary Ellen Flora is a spiritual teacher, healer, and clairvoyant reader who brings her remarkable insights on spirituality, daily meditation, and the Chakras to her introduction to how the chakras affect everything we do. She reveals just what the chakras are and how we can access the information in them to benefit our lives. The text comprising Chakras: Key To Spiritual Opening is clear, concise, and offers techniques to open our chakras, creating the life we truly desire -- and a welcome addition to students of metaphysics and spirituality.

Meditations and exercises to attune you to higher vibrational energies. Explore the seven bodies, raise your consciousness and learn to see and read auras. Comprehensive exercises for spiritual transformation.

I have a chess library that contains several hundred dollars worth of books. And looking at them now there are three that I have learned more from than all the rest: COLLE SYSTEM by George Koltanowski, IDEAS BEHIND THE CHESS OPENINGS by Reuben Fine, and MY SYSTEM by Aron Nimzowitsch. George Koltanowski is the world's great blindfold-chess player and in his prime he took-on most of the world's top players with this opening system. The type of play he advocates was developed into a complete system by Belgian Grandmaster Eduard Colle (hence the name: Colle System). The book is complete in that it takes the reader from the opening, through middlegame play and into endgames (if your opponent gets that far). He really teaches this opening with lots of explanation about why you do what you do and when. Koltanowski says that once a chess player understands one opening system in its entirety, then all the rest are easier to understand. I agree 1000%! He teaches planning almost to the point of handing you a blueprint for the entire game; this is the whole idea of the book. Many chess books leave the reader on their own once the opening ideas are given; Koltanowski sticks with you. The Colle System is flexible, gives lots of opportunities for a quick win, and is dangerous for an opponent to meet. This book should be read after time has been spent on the Nimzowitsch book above

Combinations is an awesome, uplifting book. It really makes you look more into you life and how to make it better. I was fortunate enough to see Ed Gerety in person at the NHS National Convention in Orlando and he was amazing. He created a sense of self confidence and leadership in all of his listeners. I recommend this book for anyone who is a leader and is looking to improve their whole outlook on life. Combinations is a book that you can learn so much from and apply it in your daily life.

This is a tough little tome to track down. In fact, it is less than 200 pages and too short to be a tome. No matter, "Complete Book of Chess Openings" by the late Fred Reinfeld is packed with openings, gambits, defenses and explanations why which moves will impact your playing.

Reinfeld authored dozens of chess books, and was one of America's top players. He summed up his understanding of openings into this book, suitable for beginning and intermediate players.

Included are what you'd find in most opening books:
Center Opening, Danish Game, Bishop's Opening, Vienna Game, King's Gambit, Giuco Piano, Four Knights, French Defense, Sicilian Defense, Queen's Gambit, and much more. The moves are described in notation form, and he briefly points out the sensibility behind a given move. There is a page with a notation chart for those players unfamiliar with it.

Where many great players falter as they prepare opening books is that they often overwhelm the reader with more material than is useful. Unless the player understands the reasoning behind the openings, the secondary and tertiary lines and variations are pointless. The player will have already lost. Reinfeld wrote this not for Bobby Fischer or even Garry Kasparov, but for the average player.

I fully recommend "Complete Book of Chess Openings" by Fred Reinfeld. It should be on every student of chess' desk, ready as reference or for study.

Anthony Trendl