Chess Book

Over the past few weeks, I read a chess book by the U.S Chess Federation. When my mother borrowed the book I found out that all the book was about was the basics of chess. I felt that the book would not give me much help in honing my chess skills. The book started of with the history of chess, followed by basic information on different pieces then the different strategies in chess.
But after reading the book, I realised that my chess skills actually got better. Although I knew how to play chess before I read the book, I never bothered to thoroughly understand the basics of chess. All I knew before reading the book was to capture as many of my opponent's pieces as possible. After reading this book, I realised that executing a perfect strategy was more important than capturing my opponent's pieces. Also, the pieces exchanged must be of equal or higher value.
Through this experience, I learnt that knowing the basics of something is very important as it is the first step to learning. This reminds me of a Chinese idiom "基础打不牢,学问堪不高". In learning, for one to do well, he must have a strong foundation. Great learning is built on a strong foundation.