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Mastering Chess Tactics
A chessplayer must continually be alert to tactics, which effectively decide the outcome of all chess games. Part one of this book introduces you to the various tactical themes such as forks, double attacks, pins, skewers, line opening and clearing, deflections, and destroying the guard, explaining them with practical examples from modern chess play. Part two goes one step further, showing you how to discover combinations and also how to instigate them - guided by the specific features of the position. Tests are then given to enable you to practise your new-found tactical awareness. A self-instructor that will not only enable you to deliver telling tactical blows but also to side-step threats coming your way. For Club and tournament players.
- GenresChess
192 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 2003
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 6, 2014
I actually felt a little sad when I finished this, it'd been such a rewarding "journey". I think I improved a lot as I read through this. It was so exciting everytime my intuition and/or calculation turned out to be on the right track. And when it wasn't, I learned from it and realised why my ideas were wrong. I really felt like I was getting the hang of things and constantly enhancing my understanding without wasting any time about it.
The concepts and puzzles are really well explained and are excellent examples of a variety of interesting chess situations that can arise. Even if you were an expert on chess, many of them are beautiful for their attributes even if you find them easy to solve. They progress in difficulty from the basics of a tactical theme through to the most recent, high-level examples of it in real games. There are complicated positions that require a combined awareness of various tactics at the same time but they are broken down so that you really feel you understand them thoroughly. You appreciate their sophistication, seeing concepts interacting with eachother in strange, unexpected ways.
The author clearly enjoys chess and is modest and has a lot of respect for his peers and all players of chess. This is infectious, I'm a fan of Kasparov (or at least keen to explore his games) because of this book.
Anyway, highly recommended, it's sort of at an intermediate level but it's so well written and concise that I think any level player could benefit greatly from it or at least enjoy the many ideas it has and the particular way the author approaches them.
The concepts and puzzles are really well explained and are excellent examples of a variety of interesting chess situations that can arise. Even if you were an expert on chess, many of them are beautiful for their attributes even if you find them easy to solve. They progress in difficulty from the basics of a tactical theme through to the most recent, high-level examples of it in real games. There are complicated positions that require a combined awareness of various tactics at the same time but they are broken down so that you really feel you understand them thoroughly. You appreciate their sophistication, seeing concepts interacting with eachother in strange, unexpected ways.
The author clearly enjoys chess and is modest and has a lot of respect for his peers and all players of chess. This is infectious, I'm a fan of Kasparov (or at least keen to explore his games) because of this book.
Anyway, highly recommended, it's sort of at an intermediate level but it's so well written and concise that I think any level player could benefit greatly from it or at least enjoy the many ideas it has and the particular way the author approaches them.
Displaying 1 of 1 review