Tactics Books

TACTICS TRAINER AVAILABLE! In this guide International Master Vladimir Barsky teaches the method created by his mentor Viktor Khenkin (1923-2010). It’s based on an ingenious classification of the most frequently occurring mating schemes. A wide range of chess players will find it an extremely useful tool to recognize mating patterns and calculate the often narrow path to the kill. All the 1,000 examples (850 of them in exercise format) that Barsky presents are from games played in 21st century. He has carefully selected the most instructive combinations and lucidly explains the typical techniques to corner your opponent’s king. More often than you would expect, positions that look innocent at first sight, turn out to contain a mating pattern. This is not just another book full of chess puzzles. It’s a brilliantly organized course that has proven to be effective. Finding mate isn’t rocket science, but you need to know what to look for. Vladimir Barsky teaches you exactly that.

“Together With Mamedyarov” is not a collection of his selected games but it is primarily a study-book. It contains test positions taken from games of the famous Azeri grandmaster with detailed comments on the solutions to the tasks. In this book the solutions have been placed right after a diagram with a test except for the six positions given as a warm-up in the beginning of the chapter one. For those of you who work without the assistance of a coach would recommend that you cover the answer with a sheet of paper to avoid spoiling the benefit of solving the problem. The tests’ tasks are intended for training: 1. tactical vision, 2. calculation of variations, 3. strategic decision-making, 4. your assessment of a position. The solutions have been given points ranging from 1 up to 7. After calculating their total amount, you can determine your approximate level by the author’s ranking scale. But do not forget that this ranking scale is subjective. After totaling your result, you should have an idea about what type of tasks are the most challenging for you. This will help you direct your time and efforts on the areas where you need further improvement. The tests given in the first and the second chapters differ by the level of complexity. The tests in chapter one corresponds to an Elo rating of 1400–1900 while chapter two is aimed at players rated 1700–2100. When you solve the tests from Mamedyarov’s games try to reproduce the thought process of one of the most creative and bright grandmasters of today. Imagine yourself in his place during a game, look at the chessboard through his eyes and think about the positions together with Mamedyarov.

In this book I collected 40 games of the World Champions which should depict their usage of the dynamic play in the most accessible manner. You will be able to examine how they treated all the dynamic aspects of chess throughout their careers, and how much their ideas contributed to de­velopment and evolution of chess technique. Also, you fill find 120 additional exercises with 120 different types of positions exploring the Champions’ ability to sense the dynamics, tactics and victories! That part of the pre­sented material should be used as a workbook of chess tactics, so you can test your tactical prowess trying to find the way the legends applied dynamics in their games.

404 Puzzles for those who are serious about improving their chess Tactical puzzle books all seem sort of the same, positions where you are being told what the demand is and you then have to figure it out. Typically having to sacrifice or exploit a tactical feature, the answers can typically be worked out sooner or later. The puzzles in this book are different. For starters, the puzzles are recent, from the latter half of 2018 and they are played by players rated at least 2300. Additionally, the solutions are not always a quick tactical solution, and the first move is typically not enough for a complete answer, instead a series of precise moves is required and not always is it a winning continuation but one leading to an advantage, often a large one, but occasionally a clear or even a small advantage is all you can hope for. The key is, the solver doesn't know just as in game situations. Should the puzzles prove too difficult, then there are hints for the solution, although the hints can be rather cryptic as well.

"Become a Tactical Wizard" is the second book of the "Power of Tactics" trilogy. "In the first book we tried to demonstrate a slightly different approach to studying tactics, and we chose tactical elements according to a great champion — Vasily Smyslov — to do so. The second book is devoted to much more complicated tactical ideas and motifs. We will also continue to develop the ideas from the first book." The second volume is recommended for players up to 2100 rating.

TACTICS TRAINER AVAILABLE! In 2017, Romain Edouard launched a brand new series of exercise books, Chess Calculation Training. The series became one of the most popular tactics books amongst advanced players. This new series, Chess Calculation Training for Kids and Club Players, is based on the same model, but aimed at players of a more modest level. In this first volume, you can enjoy 276 chess problems, which arose in real games, and you should checkmate your opponent! The book is divided into eight chapters, starting with basic mates in two, and the difficulty of the exercises increases as you go through the book. It is a fantastic training tool for anyone wanting to improve his tactical skills quickly, and not miss any opportunity to end the game with a glorious checkmate!

TACTICS TRAINER AVAILABLE! "Tactics according to Smyslov" is the first book of the "Power of Tactics" trilogy by GM Adrian Mikhalchishin and IM Tadej Sakelsek. "Recently many great puzzle books have been published, but this book is a bit different from the others. The authors have used a unique, and at the same time simple, model for classification of tactical elements. They tried to look at this most important feature of chess through the eyes of a great champion, Vassily Smyslov. His ideas about tactics will make studying the different aspects of this subject much easier. Tactics according to Smyslov is the first of three books in the The Power of Tactics series. I can heartily recommend this book to all players with a rating up to 1600. You will find enjoyment while solving the puzzles and improving your calculation." GM Georg Mohr

A mastery of tactics is essential to a competitive chess player, and the original Advanced Chess Tactics became an instant classic in this field. “This book is absolutely superb. For serious players... this volume will provide a wonderful breadth of study material and act as a workbook to advance your skills and understanding of this important topic...” was Carsten Hansen’s comment when awarding the book 6/6 stars. This new edition benefits from various analytical tweaks, plus an entirely new chapter dedicated to attacking in the French Defence, an opening which the author knows better than almost anyone, having played it for most of his career. Readers are sure to find this an invaluable addition to the original chapters, which remain usefully categorized by opening or common pawn structure.

TACTICS TRAINER AVAILABLE!

Chess Tests

Mark Dvoretsky (1947–2016) is widely regarded as the greatest chess trainer of the modern era, and this is one of the manuscripts he completed shortly before his death — a distilled course of training material, framed by a foreword from his long-time collaborator Artur Yusupov.

 

True to its title, the book is built for active work rather than passive reading. It is organised by the core skills a serious player must drill: training combinational vision, generating and choosing between candidate moves, calculating variations accurately (including attention to the opponent’s resources and the role of intermediate moves), attack and defence, positional play and prophylactic thinking, the technique of realising an advantage, and a substantial set of endgame tests.

 

Each section presents carefully chosen positions to solve, with the deep, honest solutions Dvoretsky was famous for — laying bare the logic of how a strong player reaches the right decision at the board. This is the same material he used with the elite students who passed through his school.

 

Demanding and high-quality, it is best suited to strong club players, experts, and aspiring masters who want to train rigorously. A fitting part of the legacy of a master teacher.

The diverse set of tactical ideas involving a bishop and knight in the finale will enable them to gain a deeper understanding of how the bishop and knight pair combine.

TACTICS TRAINER AVAILABLE!

1001 Chess Exercises for Club Players

"Chess is 99% tactics" — the old saying holds not just for beginners but right through club level, where most games are still decided by who spots the combination. This book is built to sharpen exactly that, for players roughly in the 1500–2000 range.

 

FIDE Master Frank Erwich does something most tactics books don’t: he combines teaching with drilling. Rather than only explaining ideas or only piling up puzzles, he introduces each key tactical theme and then backs it with a large bank of exercises on that specific motif — so you learn the pattern and then groove it.

 

The 1001 positions are organised by mechanism: elimination of the defence, the double attack, discovered attacks, skewers and pins, trapping pieces, promotion, saving draws, mating attacks, and — unusually and valuably — a chapter on defensive tactics, where you must find the resource that saves you. A large mixed section at the end tests whether you can recognise the right motif without being told which it is.

 

A complete, well-structured tactics workout. Ideal for the ambitious club and tournament player who wants a single book that both teaches the themes and provides enough volume to make them automatic.

TACTICS TRAINER AVAILABLE! 404 Puzzles for those who are serious about improving their chess! Tactical puzzle books all seem sort of the same, positions where you are being told what the demand is and you then have to figure it out. Typically having to sacrifice or exploit a tactical feature, the answers can typically be worked out sooner or later. The puzzles in this book are different. For starters, the puzzles are recent, from the latter half of 2018 and they are played by players rated at least 2300. Additionally, the solutions are not always a quick tactical solution, and the first move is typically not enough for a complete answer, instead a series of precise moves is required and not always is it a winning continuation but one leading to an advantage, often a large one, but occasionally a clear or even a small advantage is all you can hope for. The key is, the solver doesn't know just as in game situations. Should the puzzles prove too difficult, then there are hints for the solution, although the hints can be rather cryptic as well.