Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75445 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From Amazon.com
This is the second in Seirawan's four volumes, taking the reader from the very basics of chess through appreciation of advanced play. He does a remarkable job of discussing tactics that usually appear only in books for advanced players and communicating them to anyone with a grasp of playing fundamentals. The first part of the book deals with basic tactics and how they can be used individually and in combination. In the second part, Seirawan introduces some of the great chess tacticians and their games, further illustrating tactics as they work out in real-life play.

Review

Ingram
A fascinating and enlightening introduction to chess tactics, from the USA's #1-ranked chess player. As compelling, instructive, and fun for aspiring chess players as it is for more advanced players. Lively instruction and scores of revealing examples on crucial tactical maneuvers, plus more than 200 diagrammed positions, analysis of the plays of the game's greatest tacticians, and more.

Customer Reviews

Excellent for beginners
As a beginner, I wanted to get better at chess, but how?

I bought a few books from Amazon based on the customer reviews. This one was by far the best and it has made me so much better! I would highly recommend it -- especially to people who want to improve and have never played seriously before.

Warning to new players: Chess books use notation (ex. 1. A4, B5, etc) and that takes about a month to get comfortable with. Don't give up just because the notation is confusing. A great tip is to set up a chessboard beside you while you read, so you can re-arrange the pieces and try things out.
P.s. Make sure to complete the tests at the end of each chapter.

Basic material, with advanced tests
After reading through Part 1 of "Winning Chess Tactics", I felt I had a pretty good grasp of the material Seirawan was presenting-- double attacks, pins, skewers, deflection, decoys, clearance sacrifices, etc. After doing the "Basic Tactics" tests in Part 3, I thought "great, I *do* understand what's going on." Needless to say, I was feeling pretty good about myself and my perceived IQ.

Then I hit Chapter Twenty-Two: "Advanced Combinations" tests. After maybe getting half of one test correct, I started wondering, "Am I a total idiot?" I didn't even try the "Professional Combinations". To add insult to injury, based on my score Seirawan admonishes me: "I'll be honest with you, this is not good. You need to carefully read this book again."

Somehow I don't feel that reading the book again would help me with those tests. While Seirawan presents the basics very clearly, the tests seem to demand tactical skills and insights which I simply did not pick up along the way. Based on another recommendation, I picked up "Sharpen Your Tactics" by Lein. This book of chess problems seems to progress more gradually in difficulty, though only time will tell if it sharpens me up enough to be "respectable" in Seirawan's eyes.

best introduction to tactics for beginners
I've never seen such a good introduction to tactics. Seirawan explains everything very clearly, with excellent illustrations.
Seirawan included several hundred problems in the book. I'd recommend following up this book with Reinfeld's 1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations. In fact, if you're a talented player, you might want to skip Seirawan's book and go straight to Reinfeld. But most of us could use Seirawan's book.