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Back to Basics: Tactics
Tactics are usually why most people find chess fun! This book will greatly enhance your enjoyment learning about ― and benefiting from ― the recurring patterns of tactics. In chess, if you lose all your pieces you can't win! And if you capture each of your opponent's pieces, winning should be easy. Even if you just get ahead by a small amount of material, your chances of winning soar. The way to win your opponent's pieces is through the use of tactics. This book is about all types of beginning tactics. The author covers comprehensively the subject with basic instructional material, examples, and problems of all types ― about 500 examples and problems ranging from too easy to very difficult! Back to Tactics ― the first in the ChessCafe Back to Basics Chess Series ― should enhance your enjoyment in learning about ― and benefiting from ― the recurring patterns of tactics.
It does not matter who gets the advantage out of the opening if one of the players is likely to lose a piece to a simple tactic in the middlegame. Losing a piece from an advantageous position will almost always result in a lost position. So study tactics, not openings, until you almost never lose pieces to simple tactical motifs.
This book is an introduction to the various kinds of basic chess tactics. With instructional material, examples, and problems of all types, the subject of chess tactics is covered comprehensively. There are approximately 500 examples ranging from easy to challenging!
It does not matter who gets the advantage out of the opening if one of the players is likely to lose a piece to a simple tactic in the middlegame. Losing a piece from an advantageous position will almost always result in a lost position. So study tactics, not openings, until you almost never lose pieces to simple tactical motifs.
This book is an introduction to the various kinds of basic chess tactics. With instructional material, examples, and problems of all types, the subject of chess tactics is covered comprehensively. There are approximately 500 examples ranging from easy to challenging!
192 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 19, 2016
An awesome, intermediate-level chess tactics book. The chapter on counting alone makes this book worth it. After finishing the counting chapter, I was amazed at how many counting errors I had been making in my games. All other tactics are covered thoroughly as well, and there's even a chapter on defensive tactics, which I've yet to see in any tactics book.
January 4, 2019
*** Possible Spoilers ***
This is more of a reference manual as opposed to the sort of book one would read from cover to cover. At issue is whether or not someone can benefit from the content. It is targeted at novice chess players. Experienced or even intermediate players probably won't get much out of it.
If one wants to learn chess, a good place to start is by figuring out what an optimal opening position looks like. This can be found on the internet. Obviously you're never going to get a perfect position in real life but as long as you know what one looks like you know what you're trying to accomplish.
The next step is to figure out what to do with whatever opening you finish up with. For that you need tactics and this book will provide an excellent overview as to what you should look for, how to exploit your opponent's weakness and cover your own.
Once you understand tactics, you can go back and study various openings, their strengths and weaknesses and decide how you want to proceed, but once the first ten or so moves are complete, this is the material you need to move forward. I think the author has done a good job of organizing his material and I certainly recommend it for the beginning player.
This is more of a reference manual as opposed to the sort of book one would read from cover to cover. At issue is whether or not someone can benefit from the content. It is targeted at novice chess players. Experienced or even intermediate players probably won't get much out of it.
If one wants to learn chess, a good place to start is by figuring out what an optimal opening position looks like. This can be found on the internet. Obviously you're never going to get a perfect position in real life but as long as you know what one looks like you know what you're trying to accomplish.
The next step is to figure out what to do with whatever opening you finish up with. For that you need tactics and this book will provide an excellent overview as to what you should look for, how to exploit your opponent's weakness and cover your own.
Once you understand tactics, you can go back and study various openings, their strengths and weaknesses and decide how you want to proceed, but once the first ten or so moves are complete, this is the material you need to move forward. I think the author has done a good job of organizing his material and I certainly recommend it for the beginning player.
February 16, 2019
I was a beginner and this took my chess game up two or three notches. Understanding tactics is so important. Does a great job explaining the concepts and plenty of great exercises that challenge you and reinforce those concepts. Drill drill drill. Highly recommend for beginners.
August 19, 2008
Thjis is a good intro/refresher of tactical chess. Heisman's material on counting and piece safety is particularly good. Recommended for player below 1600.
April 25, 2023
An excellent guide to tactics in chess. Lots of problems to solve.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews