Forcing Chess Moves: The Key to Better Calculation

by Charles Hertan, Joel L. Benjamin (Foreword)

Every chess fan marvels at the wonderful combinations with which famous masters win games. How do they find those fantastic moves? Do they have a special vision? And why do computers outwit us tactically? This rich book on chess tactics proposes a revolutionary method for finding winning moves. Charles Hertan has made an astonishing discovery: the failure to consider key moves is often due to human bias. Your brain tends to disregard many winning moves because they are counter-intuitive or look unnatural. We can no longer deny it, computers outdo us humans when it comes to tactical vision and brute force calculation. So why not learn from them? Charles Hertan's radically different approach is: use computer eyes and always look for the most forcing move first. By studying forcing sequences according to Hertan's method you will develop analytical precision, improve your tactical vision, overcome human bias and staleness, enjoy the calculation of difficult positions. This New and Extended Fourth Edition presents 50 pages with new and instructive combinations. With a foreword by three-time US chess champion Joel Benjamin.

Genres: Chess

432 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2008

Reviews

[Serge Pierro · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book on tactics. It had me starting to look at the most forcing moves in a position, compared to what I thought would be the "best" move. This concept has won me many games, and proved to be a major step forward in my tactical thinking. The first part of the book is quite instructional, as it introduces the concepts, and the latter sections deal with building on the initial concepts and includes exercises.

[Z · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll go through the good and the bad:

The Good: Many examples feature nice forcing moves

The Bad: 1. Repeated use of phrases like "computer eyes" and "EoG" that have no value. Computer eyes is not defined or explained in any way.
2. The author provides us with no thinking method at all. He just demands that we turn on our computer eyes and magically find tactical wins.
3. Analytical mistakes, which can happen in a book from 2008, but it seemed like pure sloppiness, since even Rybka from 2008 catches the errors.
4. No Structure to the book: it is not clear what the author wants to teach us. My guess is that he does not know himself.
5. Why was the author not able to make IM or GM if his "theory" of calculation is complete? It is quite a natural and reasonable question. If his theory of calculation was sophisticated, one would expect him to be extremely strong.

[Brandon O'Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many hidden gems in here. Tactics puzzles that really stretch your vision, creativity and calculation to the limits. This can be used for players of high levels as rigorous tactical training. Amazing stuff in here that has the potential to gain you 100's of rating points. Go through the WHOLE thing. Couldn't recommend a single better all-around tactics book. Aagaard has some great stuff but this thing is the best all-around package.

[Ken Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing puzzle book that aims to increase the reader’s calculation skills and level of awareness. I have learned a lot from this book, and I feel that I am more alert than before at the chess board. Highly recommended for experienced chess players.

[Janek · Rating 3 out of 5]

The prose gave me cancer but at least I'll die a stronger player.

[TjeerdFokkens · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been said before: this book is actually not so strong when it comes to instruction (Weteschnik's Chess tactics from scratch is much better in that respect). However, this is a good puzzle book and thorough study can improve one's game. The mentioning of 'computer eyes' and 'forcing moves first' is a bit repetitive, but the examples are generally well-chosen. The last section is new in this edition and is quite instructive actually; perhaps a few test positions will be a nice addition to this section.