[.ca] Chess Tactics For The Tournament Player (ISBN 1889323020)

Just the Best book on tactics a beginner can buy:
As I am well on the way to master level starting out from scratch I think I can give a good overview. Fisrtly most chess players have a tendency to jump from book to book, thats a lot of time wasted. What I like about this book is all the key info on tactics is in the book so you do not have to get tactics info from several books. Yes thats a lot of time saving and money saved. All the keys areas (Pins, Discovered check, Xray etc) are included with both classic and modern examples. There are exercises at the end of each chapter to test your and reinforoce your knowledge. Two years ago I went all the way through this book and jumped about 200 elo points. You can do about 10 pages each day easily (Approx 1 to 1 1/2 hours). So you can finish the book in a month. Every 6 mths I revise the book and each time I understand the examples to a deeper level. When I first went through it was understanding that these ideas existed (pins for example). Now when I look at the diagram I see the motifs, how and why these tactics exist e.g. Bishop control of key diagonal, over worked piece, etc. Its amazing now on ICC I see the motifs and my opponents just seem to place the pieces where I want them to, and the combination results. So this book covers it all along with the next volume (King in Jeapody) they are all you need to reach to master level. Especially good in this book is the calculation chapter which is over 40 pages long and is the last chapter. You would need to buy Kotov's Think like a GM and Soltis's book to get this info. How do we calculate variations? Its laid out in a simple yet effective way. In a nutshell all the info is easy to understand, comprehensive, practical and can be reviewed again and again. This book should raise your Elo about 100 to 200 points. Yes there is a lot of off beat advertising in the book; However the secret Russian method is there, 1) The best most efficient examples so you maximise study time. 2) Ideas are reinforced with end of chapter questions that you can solve under time pressure. 3)There is chess culture, examples are from all chess eras, today's ideas do not originate in a vacuum they progress from the greats of old (Capablance, Alekhine, Morphy etc...). I will also be reviewing the Pirc & Just the facts books in separate reviews. Thanks, email me if you want other chess book reviews (I have over 60 books, that I use not 1000 on the shelf lol)

Chess 101: This Book Delivers Exactly What It Promises:
This book is part of a 7-part comprehensive Chess Course which is designed to take an absolute beginner from a basic knowledge of the moves to a solid grounding in the essentials of chess. As a part of that course, this book is right on target. Every chess player should know the terminology of this book-- skewer, x-ray attack, double attack, etc.--in order to think more clearly and quickly at the board and develop tactical ability. Each tactical motif is defined in a crystal-clear way and illustrated with some excellent, classical examples. Time and again you will see the solution to an exercise and say, "Aha! Everyone should know that one!" As part of an introduction to the fundamentals of chess, this book is especially pleasant to read. There are so many diagrams that you don't really need a board--and you would benefit from calculating in your head without the board anyway. The production value is extremely high. It is easy to read through, easy to review, easy to enjoy. It has a nice selection of exercises. It has quality. Ditto for the rest of this fine 7-part series. Remember, however, that this book is part of Chess 101: It is not for more advanced players. If you have already worked your way through Lein and Archangelsky, or Reinfeld, or Hays, or any other large exercise book on tactics, then you are unlikely to need this book. As far as I can see, other reviewers who had complaints about this book were mostly more advanced players who failed to realize that they are not the intended audience of the author. If you want a fine Chess 101 course, buy this book along with the rest of the series. You cannot go wrong. Slightly more advanced players--and here I mean people at least up to USCF Class B, and probably higher--may occasionally think to themselves, "I wonder if I am missing some chess fundamentals that might be holding back my progress?" After going through Alburt's course, you can be sure that you have been exposed to the chess fundamentals you should know. That is quite an accomplishment by Alburt, and one for which I am extremely grateful to him. My children--all gradeschoolers--learned the fundamentals of chess from Alburt's 7 books, and their results have been superb. You can trust your kids--and yourself--to Alburt's Chess 101 course.

good:
This is a good book on chess tactics. After reading this book i felt my tactical play improved by at least thirty percent and that i was as good at finding combinations as a master. Altough i can't promise you such an increase in your tactical ability (unless your a genius like me \ohey, im only joking\c), i do believe that reading this book would significantly improve your tactical play. P.S I am not a lev alburt fan. In fact i greatly despise him and think that the rest of the books in his comprehensive chess course (ccc) series are nothing but hyped up nonsense.

This book is a must buy!:
If you are looking at this book review it's probably because you want to see if this book is worth buying. Well it is!!! IT IS "a highly instructive" as GM Larry Evans said and it is great for improving tactical play. If you want more than just tactical puzzles but explanations as well then get this book!. Although it is part 3 in the "comprehensive chess course series" this book is great stand-alone. It may even make you want to purchase the rest of the "comprehensive chess course series"!!!. This book should be in any improving player's library and after going through it you will notice how your tactical recognition is improving, and the book is so well structured that you can go through it many times within a short period of time. Pehaps a lesson a day and with nine lessons in the book that's 9 days and you can do the whole thing over and over again improving each time. Understand tactics don't just do puzzles...get this book!

Please Read:
This book is good. It presents many tactical motifs and defines them clearly, so that you can instantly recognize them, and put them into practice in your very own games. Of course this is all excellent, however, i have to say, that there are many others books, which offer the same instruction at a lower price, and dont mislead you. There is no secret to this book, apart from teh very well organised method of chess study. This book is good for begginers, who want to improve fast, and those of you who are intermediate players or above, will surely benifit from reviewing the material presented in this book, however i beleive players above begginer strength should buy (Test you chess IQ: First challenge) - these are a set of tactics books, which present tests, which are to be carried out as if it were you playing in a tournament. Its much better for a stronger player.