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Can You Be a Tactical Chess Genius?
| Our Price |
$ 15.56
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| Retail Value |
$ 19.95 |
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| You Save |
$ 4.39 (22%) |
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| Item Number |
311001 |
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Item Description...
Product Description
Grandmaster James Plaskett, a player with renowned tactical ability, has carefully assembled an abundance of tactical chess puzzles to test players of all levels.
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Item Specifications...
Pages 144
Dimensions: Length: 9.3" Width: 6.36" Height: 0.31"
Weight: 0.63 lbs.
Binding Softcover
Release Date May 1, 2002
ISBN 1857442598
EAN 9781857442595
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Availability 0 units.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | Want to be stronger at Chess tactics & Combinations Dec 15, 2005 |
I bought this book specifically to improve my middle-game play.
I wanted to improve my tactical vision and better calculate tactics. My rating is USCF 2180.
This book is excellent because
1) there aren't any long unncessary write-ups like , "Here I played White ,etc,etc". Pure mental training
2) Exercizes are gradual : simple at first, then not so simple and then really hard to see it all
3) you can progress throught the book, divided in 12 chapters. see how you rate on chapter 1 ( scoring system provided ), and on chapter 7, and compare.
Also, I like the fact that if there is a wrong move, or alternate variation, the author will explain why such move fails. Each exercize is reviewed by a strong GM with several variations detailed if needed.
I did find some isolated cases where I went to the computer to check additional defensive moves not covered , or typo in diagram/solution. This covers less than 10% of the examples though.
Finally, there are a lot of Plaskett own games which I didn't know about, or positions taken from interesting games played in opens. The selection is original but covers most tactical themes.
This is a book for someone who knows about themes ( forks,double attack, Pawn destruction, quiet moves ) but wants to get closer to International master level.
All in all, a book I recommend highly for anyone -with Elo/Rating > 1900- eager to improve in chess tactics.
| | |  | Challenging positions, good annotations, poor scoring system Aug 9, 2002 |
| I have a mixed feelings about this book. Unfortunately, the negatives slightly outweigh positive. GM Plaskett put together a series of 12 tests, each with 15 diagrams. You get points based on accuracy and depth of your analysis. There is a "hint" feature which will cost you points. Suggested readers level -
In my opinion players rated under 2000 should look for other books as majority of testing positions will be a frustrating experience. Don't get me wrong, even 1600 rated would benefit from working through author's answers to many "15 point" problems, however, the value of such a lesson is not that great. Quality of Positions and Annotations -
VERY GOOD. Mainly, the positions were unfamiliar to me. Many from GM Plaskett's own games. Been a player or a witness, he has some additional angle to the annotations. This increases value of notes and also brings some fun. Scoring system -
POOR - my biggest complain with this book - scoring is way too simplistic. In many cases I believe scores don't correspond to relative difficulties of positions. "Price" for hint is outrages, comparing to the actual help you get. For example for 15 point problem (T#3, P#15) - rook endgame - question ask how Black can use his pass pawn. Hint will cost you 6 points and you will find out that you should consider
"advancing the pawn at all costs". I would expect this to be initial thought of anyone who read the question and studied the problem. So hint doesn't bring anything new to the table, yet takes away 40% of maximum points. Finally, when you do finish the test, study the solutions and get your overall score, what are you suppose to do with it? There is no relative strength table or anything else that would help you to measure your result. Accuracy of presentation -
AVERAGE - I have only been through one test so far, but already I saw a diagram (T#1, P#9) with a "ghost" knight. I also run into the position (T#1, P#11) that specifically claimed to have only one solution - mate in 5 and asked you to find it. However, even without PC help, I found another solution (in his solution -play 3.Rf7+ and 4.Be5# or 4.Bc7#) Overall, good testing book for higher rated player 2000+. Especially, if he has several friends with similar ratings to compare results with. Lower rated players and beginners, consider something else, for example Emms' Ultimate Puzzle book or Hall's Combination Challenge. Good luck,
Copyrighted by me! | | | | An engaging book of chess puzzles Jun 8, 2002 |
| The latest in the "Everyman Chess Puzzles" series, Can You Be A Tactical Chess Genius? by chess expert James Plaskett is an engaging book of chess puzzles written to twist the minds and imaginations of even the most experienced chess wizards. Here is a compelling quiz book that stretches tactical ability to earn points and gain a final score to compare against that of family and friends. There is even an "ask a grandmaster" option, but using it will cost points! A most enjoyable book for avid chess buffs, Can You Be A Tactical Chess Genius? would make a wonderful addition to any chess enthusiast's collection. | | | Write your own review about Can You Be a Tactical Chess Genius?
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