My First Book of Chess Tactics

by David MacEnulty

Tactics Are Tops!

My First Book of Chess Tactics is a thorough introduction to this vital aspect of playing winning chess.

Tactics are the tricks and techniques you use to surprise and ambush your opponent. The more you know about tactics, the better you'll play the game and the more games you will win.

In My First Book of Chess Tactics you will:

- Learn the ideas behind tactical patterns and how to name them
- See how to focus on a position to find tactical patterns
- Practice tactics by solving realistic puzzles
- Recognize not only what you can do to your opponent, but what your opponent can do to you.

208 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 2015

About the author

David MacEnulty is an award winning teacher with over twenty years of experience teaching children and adults. His chess teams have won numerous New York City, New York State and National Chess Championships. He has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the US Chess Federation, and was given the Lives that Make a Difference Award from A&E Television. The film, Knights of the South Bronx, starring Ted Danson, was based on David’s years as a chess teacher at C.E.S. 70 in the Bronx.

Reviews

[Ed Smith]

This one has it all, folks:

*fluent explanations of each tactic
*thoughtful, abundant, illustrative examples
*puzzles that cover a wide range of difficulty levels
*detailed explanations to puzzle answers
*easy-to-see and read puzzles and illustrations

One of the best things about the book is that it nicely balances all of the above so that the book moves nicely as a cover-to-cover read.

And don't let the title mislead you. Yes, it works as a first book on tactics, but that doesn't mean it's for only those with no experience. Lots of puzzles and ideas here will challenge even intermediate and even advanced players.

I wish there were more books designed in this fashion for a host of topics--openings, strategy, middle game, etc. This author does have a My First Checkmates book that I'll have to check out, but I would definitely welcome more.

[Laura]

Agree, book has everything you need to start your adventure with chess. Remember that it's never too late for this :) I decided to take care of it in times of pandemic, to spend some quality time with my kids. This book was a first thing I found on my Kindle, second one was by Maksim Aksanov - Chess Puzzles for Kids with coloring sheets. This to positions were more than enough to begin our family chess journey :)