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Course in Chess Tactics
The advice frequently given to chess-players eager to improve their results is study tactics! But there is often little useful guidance as to how this is best done. By solving puzzle positions? Or endgame studies? By dissecting the games of great tacticians?
Few books present a structured approach to tactics, so this book fills a valuable niche in the ambitious player's library. The authors present each major tactical theme in turn, explaining how it works and providing inspiring examples. They then explain how you can spot the idea in your own games and use it to your advantage. You immediately get a chance to put your knowledge to the test, as there are challenging exercises throughout the whole book, with detailed solutions.
The second part of the book offers more advanced material, and takes us inside the professional's tactics laboratory. Here we see how tactical themes are combined, and employed to achieve strategic goals. We are also shown how grandmasters spot the targets for their breathtaking combinations, which we thus come to see not as sheer witchcraft, but as the product of disciplined thought and training.
Few books present a structured approach to tactics, so this book fills a valuable niche in the ambitious player's library. The authors present each major tactical theme in turn, explaining how it works and providing inspiring examples. They then explain how you can spot the idea in your own games and use it to your advantage. You immediately get a chance to put your knowledge to the test, as there are challenging exercises throughout the whole book, with detailed solutions.
The second part of the book offers more advanced material, and takes us inside the professional's tactics laboratory. Here we see how tactical themes are combined, and employed to achieve strategic goals. We are also shown how grandmasters spot the targets for their breathtaking combinations, which we thus come to see not as sheer witchcraft, but as the product of disciplined thought and training.
- GenresChess
160 pages, Paperback
First published April 13, 2010
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 30, 2022
This is the perfect book for the player who knows the basic tactics but wants to take it to the next level. Especially if one suspects some gaps in their tactics knowledge; this book will help fill those gaps to give a comprehensive understanding of the topic. The first part of the book discusses the different tactical themes, with the well-known, traditional categorisation (pin, deflection, fork etc.) The second part of the book moves into more strategic waters by discussing typical situations where the tactics occur.
Many examples are taken from games by top grandmasters, mostly from the period 2000-2010. Throughout the book, the focus on pattern recognition is strong. This proves to be excellent didactics, as pattern recognition is the science-based way to improve. The book ends with a practice section where one is to solve 50 problems. These problems are quite hard, but I found it also surprising how often I could spot the underlying pattern.
The size of each chapter is convenient, because one can do a chapter a day (except for the last chapter).
A drawback of the book is the language, which sometimes feels a bit awkward.
Many examples are taken from games by top grandmasters, mostly from the period 2000-2010. Throughout the book, the focus on pattern recognition is strong. This proves to be excellent didactics, as pattern recognition is the science-based way to improve. The book ends with a practice section where one is to solve 50 problems. These problems are quite hard, but I found it also surprising how often I could spot the underlying pattern.
The size of each chapter is convenient, because one can do a chapter a day (except for the last chapter).
A drawback of the book is the language, which sometimes feels a bit awkward.
Displaying 1 of 1 review