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Practical Chess Exercises: 600 Lessons from Tactics to Strategy |  | Author: Ray Cheng
Publisher: Wheatmark
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
Buy New: $11.26
as of 7/29/2010 17:58 MDT details
You Save: $6.69 (37%)
New (16) Used (9) from $11.26
Seller: BooKnackrh
Rating:  54 reviews
Sales Rank: 46547
Media: Paperback
Pages: 216
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
ISBN: 1587368013
Dewey Decimal Number: 794
EAN: 9781587368011
ASIN: 1587368013
Publication Date: May 15, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Raise your chess to the next level with this program of 600 instructive and challenging exercises covering all aspects of the game. This book will sharpen your tactical vision, deepen your positional understanding, and enrich your knowledge of theoretical positions. It will also strengthen your analytical skills, and instill a sound move selection process. Win more games and increase your enjoyment of chess!
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 54
Good puzzle collection, but could use just a few training examples June 5, 2010
Matthew K. Morgan (Ruther Glen, VA USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this book having never seen it before, thinking it would be a good puzzle book to add to my collection for bettering my understanding of chess and thereby furthering my game. While this is indeed a puzzle book, it is not quite what I expected and I think the subtitle is misleading.
Most chess puzzle books provide a position and a clue about what theme is at play in said position. This book is different. All that is offered is a position and an indication of which side holds the move. The problem is on one page and the solution is on the facing page. The idea here is to force the solver to actually think a little more deeply about the situation, much like what would happen in a live game against a real opponent. As long as the reader does not look at the solution right away, this approach is interesting and it works - to a point. On several positions I personally would benefit from a subtle clue without being given too much information, but once I have reached a point where I need to reference the solution there is no opportunity to get that kind of help. If I have figured wrong, then I have essentially blown the opportunity to "get it" on my own and I really have not learned to recognize the problem for what it is. Even just a handful of positions with vague hints would have been a nice addition here, to help get the reader started and "in the zone".
The subtitle on this book is "600 Lessons from Tactics to Strategy". I don't think this book is really presenting lessons to the readership. Lessons would be more of an explanation of a theme with an example or two to work through. This book is about problem-solving and learning to think, and the explanations given for each solution consist of a simple statement of the theme ("fork", "skewer", etc.) and then a dump of the solution. Does the reader learn the theme? Perhaps. The reader will NOT learn it well, though, as there is insufficient explanation offered.
This is a good puzzle book, regardless. The approach is different and the philosophy is right. It does promote thinking hard about a position to arrive at a solution, which is something many players simply cannot do without some training (myself included). While not a perfect book this puzzle collection is a good addition to the library of anyone looking to work on their game by improving their thinking ability.
 Great Book - Deserves 5 stars May 10, 2010
Webhead (Mississippi, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a great book. Disregard a review that says anything else. To those who complained about wanting more detail, explanation, and the one who wanted an opening, middle and end game book inside this one too - IT IS A PROBLEM BOOK. It has problems that you solve with the answers to check yourself. It is an excellent one too. There is a nice mixture of tactics and strategy without any hints about what to do. Perfect for any student of chess.
OK for some, but not all, students March 21, 2010
bckm (Los Angeles, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book presents a variety of exercises, some with a novel themes like "Strategic Pawn Maneuver"... um...last time I checked, pawns can't "maneuver", they move one square at a time, and a "maneuver" involves something a bit more dexterous. On the other hand, there are many very good examples, like "mate", and one of my favorites, "The Mother of All Outposts".
My issue with this book is that it does not make sufficiently clear that in order to get the most out of this book, you need to already be familiar with patterns like mate, discovered checks, etc. So this book is good for presenting many examples, but not teaching them. If you are a novice, or a less experienced chessplayer, pattern recognition is absolutely critical. Therefore, you need to learn patterns, and the best way to do so is to do them bunches at a time, and books like the classic "1001 Mates" or "1001 Combos" should be learned first. Before you can become familiar with back-rank mates, or pins, or skewers, or overworked pieces, you have to learn about them. Books that arrange these themes in an organized manner are at least as important (more so in my opinion) than the "scrambled" approach in this book. This is why I only gave it four stars. It is a good book that would be very well served by including more disclosure.
 Not for iPod Kindle March 18, 2010
Colin Kendrick (Austin)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
The book may or may not be great but if you expect to read this on an iPod using the Kindle software app.... don't buy it. The chess board drawings are all but illegible.
Good practice problems February 14, 2010
P. Chappell (Lyman, Utah)
This has many features that I wanted for my middle school chess club. It has varying degrees of difficulty and the answers on the opposite page from the problems. This enables you to photocopy the problem page, without giving the answers away.
Some of the problems seem rather basic. Others give a challenge that encourages thought. I'm satisfied with this book and will recommend it to anyone who wants a similar application.
The one drawback, which the book wasn't designed to cover, was some of the strategy that is taking place. The sheer number of problems doesn't lend it to this, leaving the user to fill in the blanks, so it would be good for someone teaching a novice. It may not be as helpful to a novice learning on their own.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 54
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