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Forcing Chess Moves: The Key to Better Calculation | 
 enlarge | Author: Charles Hertan
Publisher: New in Chess
Category: Book
List Price: $28.95
Buy New: $18.13
You Save: $10.82 (37%)
New (22) Used (7) from $16.30
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 28045
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 381
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.7 x 1.1
ISBN: 9056912437
Dewey Decimal Number: 794.12
EAN: 9789056912437
ASIN: 9056912437
Publication Date: March 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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Product Description
This superb volume introduces readers to a new and radically different approach to playing the game. By analyzing the most forceful moves first, players will be able to find that winning move more consistently than ever before.In "Forcing Chess Moves", American Master of Chess Charles Hertan argues that the failure to consider key moves and options is often due to 'human bias.' He then goes on to show how, by studying forcing sequences, players can learn to overcome this bias, improve their tactical vision, and win more games.It provides a radical method for finding that ultimate winning chess move!
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Best tactics book on the market October 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I currently own three chess books published by New in Chess, this publisher is the best of the bunch, high quality productions that exceed Gambit Books efforts. The 650 puzzles in Forcing Chess Moves are arranged in a logical sequence and have clear explanations. If you are rated under 1800 then The Complete Chess Workout is a better choice. I enjoy reading chess books and would rather lay on my back in bed and read a chess book than start a family and pop out three kids and send them to college and go into debt and pay off a mortgage and a car loan and credit cards and work like a slave or indentured servant in order to fulfill someone else's idea of the American dream, the American dream being to become enslaved to debt and work all your life and die a pauper with no savings. Yes, chess has saved my life!
Should Be Converted to Software September 13, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Charles Hertan and New In Chess publishers are missing a great opportunity to convert this book to training software. A case can be made that Hertan's book is more pedagogically focussed than CT - Art 3.0, which dominates that field.
Relative to most other tactics books, this one actually advocates a straightforward thinking method involving forcing moves and, to a better degree than many similar efforts, does not focus on mating combinations almost to the complete exclusion of tactical opportunities for material gain, which are likely more commonplace in practice. "Stock" tactical motifs are covered in the first two chapters. I dare say that 98% of chess tactic books merely provide the information in those two chapters with varying degrees of examples. In this 400-page effort, Hertan moves well beyond that to more broadly consider and categorize forcing moves generally, many of which do not easily fit into traditional typologies.
I'm not necessarily convinced that Hertan's advocated postition of always addressing oneself first to hard calculation of forcing lines, rather than relying initially on more judgmental assessments to identify candidate moves, would survive a cost (in time) benefit analysis in many situations. Accordingly, I am in turn not necessarily convinced of his assertion that "A deep study of forcing moves is probably the single most important task toward achieving chess mastery." Some positions present a bewildering array of forcing moves and, in Hertan's explanations, this fact can sometimes be conveniently ignored, with solutions presented as if the winning move was necessarily the most forcing, which is not really the case. In these cases finding the winning move likley is the product of some process other than raw calculation of a large number of equally forcing moves. Likewise, the separate concept of "computer eyes" is gimmicky and unnecessary to his thesis -- the term is used in connection with the unremarkable concept that identifying the most forcing moves may include moves that are counterintuitive to humans, and that the human bias against considering such moves is not a tendency shared by chess engines. (While I really have no clue, I gather that chess computers in fact do not consider forcing moves first, and thus the computer allusion has no particular relevance to Hertan's thesis.)
This is not to say that Hertan's unique perspective, argument regarding thinking methods, and wealth of fresh examples from practical play, is not appreciated, or that adding increased consideration to forcing sequences will not contribute something of real practical value to those who need to sharpen their alertness to tactics. Hertan suggests at the end of the book that he wished it could be one's first book on tactics. Very few of Hertan's readers are likely to be blank slates, but I suspect that the greater value of his book will be to add new and useful dimensions to the play of those of us whose tactical approach runs somewhat in a rut.
Not insignificantly, the layout and production values of this book are above average. Returning to my initial point, the only way to materially improve the presentation would be to convert the book to training software.
Deserted Island; must have. July 19, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I'm a big fan of studying tactics to improve at chess, and I have a large collection of books on the subject. This is a very well written book on tactics, and is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Good layout, large diagrams, and the fonts and printing are excellant. This challenging book contains 650 fresh and very exciting tactical positions divided into examples and exercises. My only possible critism is that it could use even more exercises, but I keep a note card in the book to cover the answers to the examples and I use them as exercises also. This may not be the best for a beginners first book on tactics, but it is outstanding for intermediate players looking to improve. It is defintely on my deserted island must have list.
Not just another Tactics book July 16, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I've got plenty of tactics books, even tactical programs like ct-art (which is awesome btw). But there is something magical about this book! The tactics are so rich and vibrant and truely do change the way you look at positions. You'll find after going through about 50 of these puzzles (out of 650 I think) that you are yourself looking at the board differently. Also this book is thick for a modern day chess book less than 20 bucks, I was shocked to get this book in my hands and discover how the publishing company didnt "cheap out" on the size or text like they were going out of business... Buy this book, you wont regret it...
This book humbled me. July 15, 2008
22 out of 22 found this review helpful
I used to think I was pretty good at tactics and calculating variations..until I got this book. I've come to see that I have a biased "play it safe" mode that keeps me from seeing the dynamic potential in alot of positions. And I am terrible at calculating with precision. As the author says, close enough is not good enough...you must strive for precision. This book is helping me in each of those areas. The examples are HARD. Usually when you get a book on tactics the first few chapters are a breeze. Not so here. These are advanced, difficult problems, that have FORCED me to go where I haven't gone before: 1) looking for and analyzing moves I wouldn't even have considered before 2) calculating with precision. It's like having a personal chess coach in alot of ways. I also like that there are typically a number of examples of one theme (ie. corridor mate..back rank..etc) grouped together to help you in pattern matching for your own games.
Overall a terrific book! Whenever you find a book that helps identify and remedy a serious area of chess weakness it is well worth the money!
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