{"id":2956,"date":"2023-09-06T12:43:06","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T12:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/?p=2956"},"modified":"2023-10-19T13:39:35","modified_gmt":"2023-10-19T13:39:35","slug":"review-advanced-chess-tactics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/review-advanced-chess-tactics\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Advanced Chess Tactics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Review of Advanced Chess Tactics, 2nd edition<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLong variation, wrong variation\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/em>\u2013 Bent Larsen, as quoted by the author in this book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Despite its title, this is not your average tactics book with lots of exercises where you must find the winning move. Instead, \u201cAdvanced Chess Tactics, 2nd edition<\/a>\u201d is essentially a collection of annotated games, and these games are grouped around various themes as shown in the table of contents below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The games emphasize attacking tactical themes, and this explains the book\u2019s title. The two major themes covered are attacking in specific openings<\/strong> and attacking in positions with particular pawn structures<\/strong>. The second edition includes an additional chapter on the French Defense, which is of course a favourite opening of the author, GM Lev Psakhis, and he has written several books on this opening.<\/p>\n\n\n

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View Book<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The book is aimed at players with an Elo rating of 2000 \u2013 2600, although the author says that lower-rated players can also benefit from the book. In terms of practical advice, one of the author\u2019s recommendations is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon’t go out of your way to calculate long variations. A capacity for precise<\/em> calculation to a depth of 2 – 4 moves is usually quite enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is consistent with Larsen\u2019s view quoted above. However, many of the variations in the book are quite lengthy, and the accurate calculation of such variations in a game would be well beyond the capabilities of amateur club players. Despite this, the annotations are accessible to these players as study material, since they could skip the lengthy variations on a first pass through a game, and then revisit the variations in subsequent passes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psakhis also emphasizes the role of intuition during a game and says after a particular piece of lengthy analysis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese variations are beautiful and difficult. Working them out completely at the board is not of course possible, but with the help of intuition we can at least head along the right track.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each chapter starts off with questions for the reader to solve or at least think about, and these questions refer to the games in the chapter. The questions are generally tactical, but not usually of the \u201cfind the winning move\u201d variety. For example, one of the questions simply asks, \u201cHow to react?\u201d in the given position. The solutions to the questions are found in appropriate games in the chapter. Fifty-six additional exercises are included at the end of the book, and again many of the solutions are quite lengthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psakhis writes in an engaging style, and the excellent verbal commentary complements the detailed variations. In addition, he is not afraid to point out his mistakes where appropriate. He also offers some background to the games, including information on the players. In his own games, he notes what he saw and analyzed during the games and how he felt at various stages of the games. The book also includes some photos from the author\u2019s collection. These personal touches greatly enhance the book and make reading it a more pleasant experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two examples from the book are given below, with annotations from the book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Advanced Chess Tactics: Example 1<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n

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