Chess Tactics for Champions: A step-by-step guide to using tactics and combinations the Polgar way

by Susan Polgar, Paul Truong

Susan Polgar became the first female Grandmaster at age 15—and it wasn't luck that got her there. Her use of tactics, combinations, and strategy during her games gave her the critical advantage she needed against her opponents. In Chess Tactics for Champions , Polgar gives insight into the kind of thinking that chess champions rely on while playing the game, specifically the ability to recognize patterns and combinations. With coauthor Paul Truong, Susan Polgar teaches the tactics she learned from her father, Laszlo Polgar, one of the world's best chess coaches.

• Teaches players how to calculate the effect of a move in order to gain an edge over an opponent

• For intermediate to advanced chess players of all ages

Genres: Chess, Nonfiction, Reference, Sports

368 pages, Paperback

First published April 11, 2006

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book a while ago, when I was quite new to chess, and was frustrated because I couldn’t solve any of the problems in it. Since it bothers to explain how each tactical technique works, e.g. forking is attacking two pieces at once, I thought the exercises would start with simple applications of those techniques. Instead they are all at least “two-step” problems. e.g. a straightforward fork would be one step, but the problems are something like decoy sacrifice and then fork, or check to get to a square with tempo and then fork. Although two steps isn’t a lot, it was beyond my ability to see a few years ago.

It was super gratifying, then, to pick up this book again and find that I can solve many of the problems in it quickly, and most within a few minutes. They are pretty much the perfect difficulty for me now, since I still get enough wrong to feel like I’m learning. For reference, my tactics rating on chess.com is about 1700. Only the chapter "Twenty-Five Famous Combinations" was too much for me. I couldn't follow most of those examples.

Like most tactics books, I wish the problems had been all mixed together rather than separated out by theme. It's more satisfying to try to find the best move rather than trying to find e.g. perpetual check in particular.

I liked the inclusion of more defensive problems than I’ve seen in other tactics sets. The last problem set I worked through had perpetual checks and stalemates, which are also present here. But this book had two chapters with more general defensive thinking - “Game-Saving Combinations” and “Traps and Counter-Traps.”

There were a few problems marked “White to move” that should have been “Black to move”: Problem 25 in “Double Check,” Problem 17 in "Trapping Pieces,” Problem 18 in “Mixed Checkmates in Three Moves,” and Problem 14 in “Perpetual Check.” Also the solution for Problem 3 in “Game-Saving Combinations” was wrong. It seemed to refer to some other problem.

Update: After going through these problems a few times, my chess.com tactics rating shot up from about 1700 to about 1850. I definitely think the book helped. :)

[Corey Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the fact that the tactical themes are explained in the beginning of each chapter. The exercises are good, but there are not enough of them, and there are occasional mistakes-- such as which side is to move. I would recommend this book for beginners to intermediate players, and Reinfeld's "1001 Combinations" for intermediate to more advanced players.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Polgar's is one of the great up and coming female Grandmasters, and her book is great for beginning chess players as well as more advanced players trying to fine tune their basics. This book isn't completely notation, as so many of the more advanced books are, which helps the beginning player get a hold of the game instead of being lost in a sea of notation with no idea whats going on. Polgar's puzzles are a great way to lay the foundation for a winning player. Though it has a smaller amount of interactive "chessulzes" (chess puzzles) than most of this type the ones it does contain are top notch and will even give the seasoned veteran a hard time.

[Beau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book on tactics. Well-chosen problems, ranging from very easy to somewhat difficult. There are more categories of tactics than you would find in comparable books. There are just a handful of errors (like a few problems that said "White to Move" when it was actually Black to move). Play through everything slowly in your head, and intermediate players are sure to improve their chess.

[Steve Kohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

For intermediate players, not beginners or masters.

The approach is different from every other book on chess I've seen. We're introduced to a topic - forks, for example, or "the back-rank problem" - and then given from 25 to 50 challenges - pieces set up in the middle of a game - and tasked to come up with the right next move.

These little mental challenges (which, so depressing, I too often fail) make my brain feel like it's just spent a few minutes on the mat with an Olympic wrestler.

I LOVE this book. Can see now I've never had ANY idea what I was doing all my life when playing chess. (Sometime have me tell you what happened when I played, in 1976, the 1975 All Services chess champion. Hint: it wasn't pretty, and it was very quick.) One thing I clearly see now is that I used to play a foolish game of trapping pieces, of defense, instead of aggressively looking for checkmates through skewers, pins, etc.

This book opened my eyes to how chess can be played at a higher level. It breaks the game down so that strategies can be studied and practiced. Not mastered; very few of us will ever be able to say that. But, without a doubt, improved.

Edit, 8 October 2017. Not to compare the books, but one I'm reading now is also excellent for beginner-to-intermediate level players: "Chess for the Gifted & Busy," by Lev Alburt and Al Lawrence. Believe it's the one to start with, then to go to Susan Polgar's book.

[Slow3635 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book on tactics. Well-chosen problems, ranging from very easy to somewhat difficult. There are more categories of tactics than you would find in comparable books. The chapters are:

Forks and Double-Attacks
Pins
Deflections/Removing the Guard
Discoveries
Double Check
Skewers
Trapping Pieces
Decoys
Intermediate Moves
Pawn Promotion
The Back-Rank Problem
Destroying the Castled King's Defenses
King Chase
Mixed Checkmates in Two Moves
Mixed Checkmates in Three Moves
Mixed Checkmates in Four Moves
Game-Saving Combinations
Perpetual Check
Stalemate
Traps and Counter-Traps
Sibling Positions
Twenty-Five Famous Combinations

Each chapter begins with an explanation of what the tactical idea is with some basic example. Then there is an illustration of how the tactic arose in one of Susan Polgar's games. Then there are usually 25 problems for the reader to solve, with solutions given at the end of the chapter.

There are just a handful of errors (like a few problems that said "White to Move" when it was actually Black to move).

This book is sure to improve the chess of most intermediate to advanced players.

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be honest I am a weak player. This book was tough. Very challenging. I will probably go through this book a few times. I believe this book would help out a weaker player tremendously. I have heard stronger players think this a pretty good chess tactics book.

[Costin Manda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had some changes in my life lately and more are coming so I took a break from chess, but I found a bit of time to finish this chess puzzle book that I started reading a few months ago, but never quite got around to complete. Chess Tactics for Champions is not really for champions, but for beginner to intermediate level, or at least this is what it felt like to me. Susan Polgar chose to structure the book into chapters of about 25 puzzles or examples, each covering some important aspect of chess tactics. Here is a list of those chapters:
01 - Forks and double attacks
02 - Pins
03 - Deflection/removing the guard
04 - Discoveries
05 - Double check
06 - Skewers
07 - Trapping pieces
08 - Decoys
09 - Intermediate moves
10 - Pawn promotion
11 - The back-rank problem
12 - Destroying the castled king's protection
13 - King chase
14 - Mixed checkmates in two moves
15 - Mixed checkmates in three moves
16 - Mixed checkmates in four moves
17 - Game-saving combinations
18 - Perpetual check
19 - Stalemate
20 - Traps and counter traps
21 - Sibling positions
22 - Twenty-five famous combinations

The last two chapters are presentational only, but the first 20 contain puzzles that the reader must solve, with solutions at the end of the chapter. The authors tried to order the chapters by complexity, so that beginners could understand and solve the first chapters and then move over to the more advanced positions, but it is not always so. It seemed to me that, for most of the chapters, the last two puzzles are especially chosen for the "wow!" factor.

The bottom line is that the book is not just something you read. You solve the puzzles, some are frustrating, some are beautiful, most can be "seen" without a board in front of you - for the last chapter I would advise a board, though - but one can return to this book again and again. For example myself, once I get around to chess again, I might go through the book, just to get into the solving mindset that is essential to beautiful play. Now, I don't know how other chess puzzle books are, this being my second chess book I have read, but I imagine some could be a lot better. However, the structure of Chess Tactics for Champions makes it very easy to use as a reference book. One thing I felt was missing was pawn play. Of course, that often enters the category of strategic play, rather than tactical, but still.

More about the authors at Wikipedia: Susan Polgar and Paul Truong. They have been married since 2006.

[Sharad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot. I would say the target for this books are club players. This book is not targeted to kids like her "Learn Chess the Right Way" series. It is a set of puzzles that get progressively harder and harder. The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is because it has a handful of problems that have the wrong heading (they say it's White to move incorrectly for example). Other than that I was really happy studying this book.

[Jessada Karnjana · Rating 4 out of 5]

รวบรวมกลยุทธ์ที่น่าสนใจมาเป็นโจทย์ให้ศึกษา อาทิ forks & double attacks, pins, deflection/ removing the guard, discoveries, double-check, skewers, trapping pieces, decoys (หมากรุกไทยเรียกเข่าลอย) และ intermediate move (แก้ทีหรือแก้ลำเกม)

[Hotrats · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent explanations. Very good puzzles.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the most useful chess book I have ever read. Tactics, Tactics, Tactics!

[Hallie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Plenty of Great tactics puzzles. Help me beat my game partner.

[Paul Mamani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing!
To talk about Susan Polgar is to talking about a genius, is to talk about the impossible made possible.
Very few people went to beyond the limits, when there were myths and misconceptions about girls IQ and chess.
And most relevant in her life- I think – is her father a real educator who trained restless to his two daughters in the art of chess. How to become simple teenagers in genius.
Susan became very successful and famous winning several championships in the universe of chess.
Her life is an real inspiration for every person, a life of hard working and perseverance.
I´d like to recommend this book to every father and mom

[Dan Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic stuff for intermediate-level chess players!! I'd say my chess strength is around 1500-1600 and I found this book to be a good mix of tactical exercises that I found easy, and ones that really stretched my abilities. Kudos to Susan Polgar for this excellent (and entertaining!) book.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My rating is around 1600. I've studied the endgame a bit. This book by Susan Polgar has helped me to see attacks that otherwise I wouldn't have seen. I like that this helps me to anticipate attacks as well. I've suggested my local public library buy a copy of this book.

[Mark Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a great book. I wonder if mid level books ,like this one, are hard to find? Most chess books seem to me to be for beginners or advanced?

[Magpie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bố cục gọn gàng, nội dung thấu đáo, duyệt.