Winning Chess Tactics (Winning Chess - Everyman Chess)

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.

First, a disclaimer: I'm not a grandmaster. Far from it. I'd estimate my rating to be somewhere in the 1300's. Without this book, it would probably be about 600 -- scratch that, it would be zero, because I wouldn't be as hooked on chess as I am, and I probably would never get around to playing it. Simply put, Seirawan has THE GIFT. You know -- the very rare ability, among those of world-class skill in any discipline, to actually explain his knowledge clearly to a layman. And to convey not just the knowledge, but also the passion. That is his genius. And this fabulous series of book is the result. If you've got someone on your Christmas list who is getting interested in chess, but -- like most newcomers -- believes that she/he will never be any good at it, give her/him this book! Perhaps give this one and the overview "Play Winning Chess" together. But this the book that will truly change your friend/son/niece/spouse/whomever into a *competent* chess player. One strength of the book is its focus on problems. There are a lot of problems, which appear as the relevant concepts are introduced, and also in the back (so you have to discover for yourself which tactics are involved). The problems are very challenging -- or, they were for me anyway! -- yet completely solvable knowing only what's been taught. This makes them FUN. Yes, I said fun! You might eventually progress far past the level this book is at, but the book will never stop being useful to you. You can still use it as a means to drill yourself -- to see how fast you can spot the solutions, burn the lessons they illustrate into your head, and keep the fundamental patterns fresh in your mind for when you go into battle. Well, I'll stop, but really, this book is beyond excellent and I can't praise it highly enough to match the gratitude I feel toward GM Seirawan for showing me how incredibly awesome this game really is. Thanks, man.

The second installment of International Grand Master Yasser Seirawan and International Master Jeremy Silman's three part series for chess amateurs, "Winning Chess Tactics" was the easiest of the three to read. Having read "Play Winning Chess" and having a pretty solid grasp of chess fundamentals already, the learning curve for "Winning Chess Tactics" wasn't nearly as steep. All the old favorites are here: Forks, skewers, pins and discovered attacks; along with some more advanced tactics that amateurs don't usually see, like Zwischenzug. Each of them is presented, explained, dissected and incorporated into play in their own chapter with tests and puzzles liberally peppered throughout. After all the tactics are out of the way, Seirawan and Silman present selected games from some of the greatest chess tacticians of the last 150 years. Each game is presented with annotations and commentary from Seirawan and Silman to help the reader understand the tactical mind of chess masters and grand masters. The games are very illustrative of the sort of tactical ideas the top chess players use. Lastly the book finishes off with more tests and puzzles that can be used to increase the reader's understanding of the concepts detailed previously. While I thoroughly enjoyed "Winning Chess Tactics", and it was probably my favorite of the series, I was a little unhappy with the layout and writing style. I'm convinced that Seirawan is writing for children, and that can be a little off putting. Having read some of Silman's other work, I don't think that his writing style is represented in "Winning Chess Tactics" nearly as much as in the other two books in the series. Putting the solutions to the puzzles of part 1 in part 3 also threw me off a litte, because part 3 has its own series of puzzles also. I had to go back and forth between three different sections to find the solutions and see if I was right. It didn't detract from the overall book that much, it just made enjoying the book a little more difficult. Overall, though, I think "Winning Chess Tactics" is an excellent addition to the serious chess amateur and enthusiast. Players from 1000 Elo to about 1400 Elo will probably get the most out of this book. Too far below that and you probably won't understand the concepts being presented. Too far above that and you probably won't need the information this book has.

It teaches chess tactics and combinations so simply. It provides a "stepping-stone" style of building up what and how you calculate positions on the chess board. The start of a chapter will sometimes provide a position that's very puzzling. It then teaches a concept and provides exercises. By the end of the chapter, it returns to that same board position and asks you to look at it again. Even when I couldn't solve it all the way through, I was able to correctly head down the right line of reasoning and had a much better idea of the winning combination/tactic that I was looking for. There's a massive quiz/test section at the very end. It's nice having a way to measure and quantify how much progress you've made for each of the specific tactics/concepts that the book is organized into, so you know what you need to work on and what you're strong at.

Yasser Seirawan is probably the best big-time chess educator that I have yet come across -- you can see some of his lectures on Youtube if you want to see him for yourself. Pretty much all of the Grandmasters can write a coherent record of their best games or their favorite chess concepts, but when it comes to teaching most of them leave a lot to be desired. What sets Seirawan apart from the rest is that he understands what novice players need: a plain-language introduction to the mechanics of the game of chess. His writing is clear, efficient, warm, and effective. As a novice player, I have read several chess books, but this is by far the best, and has helped me immensely; about halfway through reading the book my game suddenly transformed, and I began to internalize the book's concepts. The book has a great balance of exposition, puzzles, and examinations. After reading this you can train your tactics further with online tactics trainers or chess puzzle books, but the knowledge in this book makes all that other material so much more accessible. Chess writers will definitely take your money, but I think you only need a handful of books to attain basic proficiency. A couple of Seirawan's books and a way to train with puzzles is probably all the novice needs to see big improvements.

I wanted to share some tips for the Kindle version :) Instead of using a chess board I use chess.com analysis engine to set up each position and save it as an image. This makes it easier to go back later and review problems. Just dont forget to note whose turn to move it is like I did at the start, and also label which have yes/no answers. Overall I think its a great book for people who know what tactics are but maybe lack experience in them. I'm only on chapter 3 but so far I love it..each concept seems to build on the last well. One negative is the picture for test #4 and #5 are backwards...or the descriptions are. I had to stare at problem #4 for 5 minutes trying to figure out where the Bishop it was referring to was hiding lol it wasnt there. The problems are inverted. I actually won a game today by trading Queens for a material advantage which I was hesitant to do before. If you really take the book to heart you will learn some new tricks.

This is definitely the next book to purchase in this series. After spending some time applying the principles from Seirawan's first book, look here next. His grandiose style can be a little overbearing for some but I find that it adds levity to an otherwise difficult subject. Things have not quite "come together" for me past the opening yet but I do notice that I get further along with better positions against my friends than I used to, and I am now able to predict their responses up to two moves in advance (they are 1500ish players and I am a novice). I agree with his philosophy that for beginners, boldly attacking is the best plan of action at first, and this book shows you why. If a bold attack fails against an advanced opponent, you get to see WHY and how you could have made a better move. The tactical principles outlined herein are helping me to anticipate better moves for a short term advantage, or to (hopefully less often, with time!) immediately see how a move that I just made, though good, may have been better if it were displaced by one square, taken in a different sequence, etc. Wholly recommended!

Study. Learn. Test. Granted, I've got a crapload of books on chess tactics, strategies, and so on. So I was hesitant about purchasing this one. But I like the author's style--both writing and teaching. And this one turned out to be another winner.

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

Excellent book for underated to 1700ratings

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

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!