Best Tactics Book

Anybody have a good book in mind for tactics? I'm looking for something that 1. has clear, large diagrams 2. has a variety of tactics, not just mate in 1,2,3's etc.
3. reflects practical play 3. something for a 1700+ player I have the Polgar Book, but it focuses on king attacks mainly and diagrams are rather small. I also have the Lev Alburt Chess Tactics for the Tournament Player, which has great explanations and good diagrams, but the content varies in quality. I also have Gary Lane's Find the Checkmate, which is a good book, but again focuses on king attack. Is there something out there which has lots of exercises on a variety of tactics?

Originally posted by buddy2
Anybody have a good book in mind for tactics? I'm looking for something that 1. has clear, large diagrams 2. has a variety of tactics, not just mate in 1,2,3's etc.
3. reflects practical play 3. something for a 1700+ player I have the Polgar Book, but it focuses on king attacks mainly and diagrams are rather small. I also have the Lev Alburt Chess Tact ...[text shortened]... ng attack. Is there something out there which has lots of exercises on a variety of tactics?

When you say "The Polgar Book" are you talking about "Chess Tactics for Champions"? Because I was about to recommend it 😀. (BTW, it doesn't only focus on king attacks at all)

You might want to check out John Nunn's "Learn Chess Tactics"...

Over 300 exercises in all areas (Forks, Discovered Attacks, Pins, Skewers, Deflection, Trapped Piece, Removing the Guard, Opening and Closing Lines, Bank Rank Mates, Pawn Promotions, In-Between Moves, Defensive Tactics, Combinations)... plus several dozen examples he gives to explain each tactic before even getting to the problems.

Big diagrams, and all solutions are fully explained... he also always references the games from which these problems are taken, which is also nice.

I referenced this book in another thread on Tactics Books...

Here is the link:

http://www.redhotpawn.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=44223


I like the example he gives on the Queen fork which victimized Judit Polgar.

the art of attack in chess by josh waitzkin. best tactics book ever written in my opinion.😀

The Ultimate Chess Puzzle Book by John Emms might be worth a look. It is sorted by difficulty, not theme, and has 1000 puzzles (it says 1001, but the last one is a bit of a joke). It has 8 diagrams per page, but the book is large and the diagrams are clear. Good luck with your search.

BLR

PS- Forgot to mention, all of the positions in the book are taken from real games, how's that for practical?!

Thanks for help. Hoping more come in. The Polgar book i was referring to is by the father, the big thick book Chess, 5335 problems, games, etc. I will certainly look into all suggestions. Thanks again!🙂

Also check out Lou Hays Tactics for Juniors then Combination Challange

I just ordered CT-ART 3.0 software, but it hasn't arrived yet. the puzzles range from 1600 to 2300, and I've heard a lot of good things about it. WGM irina mikhailova uses it to train his pupils over to IM strength.

here's an article about mikhailova's training program.
http://www.chesscentral.com/articles_chess/chess-training-ct-art.htm

Originally posted by wormwood
I just ordered CT-ART 3.0 software, but it hasn't arrived yet. the puzzles range from 1600 to 2300, and I've heard a lot of good things about it. WGM irina mikhailova uses it to train his pupils over to IM strength.

here's an article about mikhailova's training program.
http://www.chesscentral.com/articles_chess/chess-training-ct-art.htm

Good choice, CT-ART 3.0 is excellent!

CT ART has just over 1,200 problems, and you can navigate through the problems in a number of ways... you can have the problems sorted simply by level of difficulty, or you can choose to solve problems that involve a specific tactical method, or you can choose to solve problems that involve a particular combinational motif.

Well worth the money!

Killer Chess Tactics is very good and one part of it is arranged by champion so you see a variety in styles...very readable and as about as fun as studying tactics can be

Originally posted by TheBloop
Good choice, CT-ART 3.0 is excellent!

CT ART has just over 1,200 problems, and you can navigate through the problems in a number of ways... you can have the problems sorted simply by level of difficulty, or you can choose to solve problems that involve a specific tactical method, or you can choose to solve problems that involve a particular combinational motif.

Well worth the money!

I tried the demo-version. does the retail-version have different piece-sets? I don't really like any kind of pseudo-3d pieces, but I guess I'll get used to it if there's no alternatives...

I have the CT Art and did use it for quite a bit, then the chosen tactics began to annoy me. Too many were queen sacs or piece sacs to produce mate in x moves. It got to the point that you begin to look around for ways to throw your queen away--and are rewarded for it in CT Art. In real life this doesn't happen often. The tactics on the internet site Chess Tactics Server are much more realistic and it's free. You might checkmate or win a pawn or a piece or simply escape from an attack with a promising game. That's the kind of thing i'd like to see in book form with hundreds if not thousands of examples. I'm afraid some of this puzzle/software caters to the dramatic fireworks when a good, strong simple moves (sometimes not so easy to find) occur much more frequently.

You should read "The Art of the Checkmate," by Renaud and Kahn, followed by "The Art of Attack," by Vukovic. The two books demonstrate all of the useful checkmating and attacking patterns that you will encounter throughout your chess career and they do so better than all other books. Other good books on tactics include "Chess Tactics," by Kotov and "Paul Keres Chess Master Class," by Yakov Neistadt. A very technical, but erudite book on tactics is "Chess Tactics for Advanced Players" by Averbahk. These are the best of the best.

Thanks, Ritter. I've already looked at Chess Tactics for the Advanced Player, which looked promising, tho for a hefty price. Thanks for suggestions.

Originally posted by der schwarze Ritter
You should read "The Art of the Checkmate," by Renaud and Kahn, followed by "The Art of Attack," by Vukovic. The two books demonstrate all of the useful checkmating and attacking patterns that you will encounter throughout your chess career and they do so better than all other books. Other good books on tactics include "Chess Tactics," by Kotov a ...[text shortened]... s is "Chess Tactics for Advanced Players" by Averbahk. These are the best of the best.

Hey ritter, if I read Art of Attack now do you think I'd understand it and gain much from it? (Since my RHP rating is 1505)