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Looking for Trouble: Recognizing and Meeting Threats in Chess
Identify and Deal with Threats!
This book is written to address and underemphasized area of chess training and study, the identification of and reaction to threats.
For beginning and intermediate-level players, the study of tactics is paramount. Almost all tactics books take the approach of providing a position where there is a forced win, checkmate, or draw.
However Looking for Trouble – now in a revised and enlarged second edition – takes a different tack. It helps you to recognize threats by providing over 300 problems in which you focus on identifying and meeting threats in the opening, middlegame and endgame. The author’s clear explanations are presented in a manner that should greatly benefit players of all levels.
About the Author
National Master Dan Heisman is a chess writer and professional chess instructor in the Philadelphia area. His best-selling chess books include Elements of Positional Evaluation and Back to Tactics .
Excerpts, including the Table of Contents and the Foreword, of most Russell Enterprises books are available at
This book is written to address and underemphasized area of chess training and study, the identification of and reaction to threats.
For beginning and intermediate-level players, the study of tactics is paramount. Almost all tactics books take the approach of providing a position where there is a forced win, checkmate, or draw.
However Looking for Trouble – now in a revised and enlarged second edition – takes a different tack. It helps you to recognize threats by providing over 300 problems in which you focus on identifying and meeting threats in the opening, middlegame and endgame. The author’s clear explanations are presented in a manner that should greatly benefit players of all levels.
About the Author
National Master Dan Heisman is a chess writer and professional chess instructor in the Philadelphia area. His best-selling chess books include Elements of Positional Evaluation and Back to Tactics .
Excerpts, including the Table of Contents and the Foreword, of most Russell Enterprises books are available at
100 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2003
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October 25, 2016
This book is a collection of over 200 problems that focus on recognizing the threats that your opponent is making and responding with the best preventative actions before it is too late. The format is simple: A position is presented, and the threat and its prevention are described below. The reader must identify the threat (i.e. cover up the answer and figure it out), and then determine the best preventative move. The solutions in the book describe why certain responses are better than others.
This edition has a few mistakes in the notation, but is pretty clean overall. I learned a couple of things I didn’t know about the Ruy Lopez opening. It was at an appropriate level for me.
It confirmed a few principles that I play by:
- Playing an inferior move just to set a trap is never justified unless you are losing anyway and desperately need a chance to get back in the game. [pg. 83 M64]
- If you want to improve, always consider a draw offer as an offer to remain ignorant of what you would have learned if the game had continued. [pg. 106, M105]
This edition has a few mistakes in the notation, but is pretty clean overall. I learned a couple of things I didn’t know about the Ruy Lopez opening. It was at an appropriate level for me.
It confirmed a few principles that I play by:
- Playing an inferior move just to set a trap is never justified unless you are losing anyway and desperately need a chance to get back in the game. [pg. 83 M64]
- If you want to improve, always consider a draw offer as an offer to remain ignorant of what you would have learned if the game had continued. [pg. 106, M105]
Displaying 1 of 1 review