Winning Chess Tactics (Winning Chess Series)

this is a wonderfully laid out book. I like this book and enjoyed reading it immensely. you don't need a chess set to read this book either so you can read it anywhere at any time. Yasser Sierawan imparts a lot of knowledge here in a superbly thought out and structured way. The quality of this book and the way it was written is profound. This book is for you if you understand pins, forks and the basics. But don't know, or would like to truly understand how to go for stalemate, x-rays etc. This book will increase the depth and crispness of your understanding and ability to use pins forks windmills etc. This book is so good!! i especially enjoyed the test section at the end. Thank you Yasser for this beautiful book

definitely will make you a better tactical player fast !written clear, and easy to understand [ aimed for beginner to 1600 ]

This book is very well written and an excellent support to my revision of the game after sixty-five years. However, the layout is not really suitable for use on a kindle because of the need to keep changing pages when attempting one of the many tests which are presented. The answers need to be on the same page as a copy of the board which sets up the question.

The book is in three parts: tactics and combinations; great tacticians and more tests and solutions. Test 50 is were I slowed down ( use of discovered check). Previously, most of the problems are for beginners. The glossary is the best I've read! 'Pig' is slang for rook. Diagram 70 and test 65 are impressive. Test 72 is a Spassky classic. Test 76 is a study by Lasker. About here I'd just got to chapter 11: x-rays and windmills; thought this book is a serious contender for book of the year (at least!) A windmill is a series of repeated discovered checks interspersed with checks to win material. There are numerous brilliancies throughout this book of varying types. Seirawan with the help of Jeremy Silman have written a minor work of art! Diagram 115: white is queen for rook and pawn and is drawn! ( either side to play!!) Diagram 116 is even better.... . 118 study by Chekhover should be memorised. Test 90, study by J. Hasek. is a superb drawing technique; in fact, these are better than winning attacks! Included are also Adolf Anderssen's Immortal game and Evergreen. Page 60 Reti. vs. Alekhine - Reti. should have taken the draw. ( what a game!) Alekhine equals Genius. Page 187: advanced combination. Test 109 is a beaut. The last two chapters, particularly the final one are for serious study. Permanent inclusion in my chess library. My elo as of last year reached 2280 (strict) I wish I'd found this book years ago; I would have been a better player as a result. Reccomended!

good value for money

A well written series of books that definitely improves your game and will raise your chess rating. It gradually explains through examples and tests how to improve your positions, best use your pieces and overwhelm your opponent. The series gets you thinking much better about what you need to do. Best of all is how the books are written, they are easy to understand and don't over complicate everything to the point where you don't take anything in. This series is the opposite, you feel like you are being guided rather than patronized. I've also purchase Winning Chess Strategies and Play Winning Chess and I am very happy with the results and the books.

Chess tactics explained with clarity and simplicity in a complicated game. This is the second book of a superb series on how to play chess and improve your game. Lively text with clear explanations, interesting and helpful. Useful for chess players of all levels who want to improve their game. Highly recommended, even players at a Superior level of achievement will find (be reminded of) useful hints and tips.

I intended to get this title in book form, but decided to keep this e book edition after all. Having read a few pages, I'm glad I didn't return it. On a kindle, the clear, understandable narration (by the author), is very good - with references to other authors chess books on tactics, as well as his own. Very good. Thanks.

Excellent book for underated to 1700ratings

LIvro recomendado por um enxadrista e presente para meu neto, que está utilizano bastante as táticas apresentadas

Seirawan's Winning Chess Tactics, part of the Winning Chess series, is essential for anyone who has never had a great introduction to basic tactics. I highly recommend the book to any average club player or relative beginner. Tactics are first defined and specifically what characteristics of the position to look for when determining whether a tactic exists should be carefully noted. Tactics in the book are broken down into sections based on a defining feature, such as double attack, pin, skewer, deflection, and there are plenty of tests along the way with solutions in the back of the book. In total there are over a hundred tests with clearly explained solutions in addition to all the explanation and examples throughout the book. At the end are 45 final tests in ascending difficulty, which should prove challenging for anyone reading the book, and will be of great benefit to anyone who follows the author's advice of sitting down with paper and pen and writing down your solution to the tactic and any relevant variants. In terms of accuracy, the book's analysis is extremely good, but not perfect. Only on some of the more difficult tests at the end of the book did I find any discrepancy between the published analysis and computer analysis, which in fact was relevant to my solutions of the tests. Possible spoiler alerts: On test 102, there is an equally good solution that isn't mentioned (which was my solution, and in my opinion is more obvious). On test 115, Black has a clearly winning position, but the analysis claims it is a solid mate in 4, where in fact the position is clearly winning but complicated, with Houdini claiming only a mate in 9. The problem is that the opponent's best response on his first move is overlooked. The solution I saw as winning reverses the order of the first two key moves in the published analysis, and Houdini agrees that it is a win with a mate in 10, so I gave myself full credit for that response as well. On test 123, the published analysis says mate in 3, when in fact the key first move allows a mate in 4. The main problem is though, is that the published second move ignores the best response, which if played would not allow for any mate in the immediate future (though a clearly winning position). My own solution to the problem has a completely different first key move, and is a confirmed mate in 6. On test 126, my own solution to the problem included a FAR superior second move (confirmed by Houdini, though both positions are winning). It is at first frustrating but then rewarding to think that you got the problem incorrect and then realize a great success! The main reason this is the case is that again the best response to the second move in sequence is overlooked (and subsequently the best response to the third move in sequence as well). These discrepancies may at first seem significant, but they are not. I only mentioned them to put them on record for the curious. They are only minor inconsistencies that don't affect the nature of the positions in the tests, and definitely don't affect the utility of the book as a whole! This book still gets 5 stars from me.

Ottimo libro! Buoni esercizi di tattica !

Achtung! Dieses Buch ist in englischer Sprache! 5 Sterne, weil es extrem gut gemacht ist und man ganz nebenbei sein englisch verbessern kann. Gerade für Schüler sehr empfehlenswert. Aus rein schachlicher Sicht ist dieses Buch für den Einstieg in die Schachtaktik hervorzuheben. Allerdings ist es auch für den Fortgeschrittenen sehr hilfreich, da man nicht "standartgemäß" an die "Stellungsmuster" herangeführt wird. Eines der Bücher die ich gern 2–3-mal durcharbeiten kann und es trotzdem Spaß macht!