Originally posted by HomerJSimpsonMy only beef with it in the user-friendlieness dept. is that if it's going to play, say, Rd1-d8, I have almost, but not quite enough time to log on to FICS and play a quick blitz game before the rook arrives at it's square.
I didnt particularly care for it, its not user friendly and very annoying to try and figure the thing out.
Originally posted by YUG0slavYeah I already recommended that book in this thread, I would get both actually, winning chess tactics you get the theory from and sharpen your tactics helps you master it with 1100 puzzles to hone your tactical skills
but Winning Chess Tactics is better and is just as easy
Originally posted by HomerJSimpsonoh, yea I see your post now, I skimmed through it too fast. But I do say that winning chess tactics is enough, though having more tactics books can't hurt.
Yeah I already recommended that book in this thread, I would get both actually, winning chess tactics you get the theory from and sharpen your tactics helps you master it with 1100 puzzles to hone your tactical skills
Originally posted by tapestryIf you really are 1800 ELO, save your money and buy a strategy book.
Greetings all! I've recently taken up chess again after a long break and would like to ask if anybody could recommend any chess books on tactics?
The type of book I'm looking for is something with lots of puzzles and explanations separated into the various tactical motifs - the sort of book you could carry on a train and read without needing a chess b ...[text shortened]... what's available. Thanks.
(PS I would like to think I am currently playing at 1800 elo.)
You can study tactics for free here... http://www.chesstactics.org/
and practice tactics free here... http://chess.emrald.net/
D
In the end I picked up Paul Littlewood's book (Chess Tactics) and Chess: the Art of Logical Thinking: From the First Move to the Last by Neil McDonald. I chose Chess Tactics as it was small and split up into different tactics. It is quite short and I would've preferred more examples but it is easy to follow and I would recommend it as a smaller primer.
Thank you for your comments briancron. I agree - pattern recognition is the key. I hope that refreshing my mind on the various patterns will allow me to see more in my games and those games from the books I am reading through. I did consider John Nunn's book (Learn Chess Tactics) and may well pick this book up in the future. Paul Littlewood's book seemed to be more appropriate to what I was looking for.
I chose the Neil McDonald book because there was an explanation after every more and the text was more verbose than the alternative I looked at (Understanding Chess Move by Move by John Nunn) which seemed a bit advanced for myself at the moment. I was looking for something to explain the individual moves being made to get a feel for how best to analyse games that I come across.
Thanks for all your comments. I am interested to hear how others are trying to improve their game and their thoughts on various books or methods they've used. There are lots of good threads available and recommend anyone similarly minded to scour these fora.
Originally posted by Skorjit annoys the hell out of me when it pops out the totally irrelevant 5x5 miniproblems right in the middle of another problem. or the refutation window.
My only beef with it in the user-friendlieness dept. is that if it's going to play, say, Rd1-d8, I have almost, but not quite enough time to log on to FICS and play a quick blitz game before the rook arrives at it's square.
and why the hell didn't they computer check the problem set?? it's 3.0 and there's still some errors.
and the graphics, why can't there be at least a real 2d set instead of the single annoying pseudo-3d set?
but other than that, I really like training with it. I just can't stop wondering why everything chess related always has such a crappy interface. babaschess is the only piece of chess software done properly that I know of, and it's freeware.
Originally posted by tapestryI agree with the others that CT-Art is highly annoying and almost unusable due to the interface.
In the end I picked up Paul Littlewood's book (Chess Tactics) and Chess: the Art of Logical Thinking: From the First Move to the Last by Neil McDonald. I chose Chess Tactics as it was small and split up into different tactics. It is quite short and I would've preferred more examples but it is easy to follow and I would recommend it as a smaller primer. ...[text shortened]... e lots of good threads available and recommend anyone similarly minded to scour these fora.
The McDonald book is excellent. I most liked it for Kasparovs Scotch game and the Kasparov - Karpov Roy Lopez game. Both really helped me delve into games that I didn't really understand before. That said, a comment after every move is a bit much, especially the 15th time he says "If you're going to open a chess game, e4 is the best blah blah blah".
Originally posted by wormwood+1 on that, I dont see why ct art is popular
it annoys the hell out of me when it pops out the totally irrelevant 5x5 miniproblems right in the middle of another problem. or the refutation window.
and why the hell didn't they computer check the problem set?? it's 3.0 and there's still some errors.
and the graphics, why can't there be at least a real 2d set instead of the single annoying pseudo-3 ...[text shortened]... s the only piece of chess software done properly that I know of, and it's freeware.