Predator at the Chessboard: A Field Guide to Chess Tactics (Book I)

As others have mentioned this two book series is a serious step up from the typical format for chess tactics instruction. While giving you a variety of chess positions to analyze for tactical opportunities it also gives you solutions which contain detailed analyses of the position in question and what features present lend themselves for the tactical move sequence to occur in the first place. Has wonderful, non jargon laden explanation of each example given. Gives you experience not only spotting tactical opportunities but also how to create the positional features that lend themselves to promising combination. Best two books for the average club player to become proficient in chess tactics!

The book is organized to focus on each method (e.g., knight fork) with many examples and variations. The author clearly explains each example in language well-suited to the beginner to intermediate level chess player. Highly recommended!

The author makes a great attempt to dumb down a position and dissect all the tactical elements no matter how obvious or elementary. This is great for those in the area of classes E and C. However as a player exceeds that level some of these thought processes do tend to happen AUTOMATICALLY in your head. And if that ends up happening as a result of this book, then the book has exceeded its expectations! Overall I recommend the work for Beginners (who will derive the most out of it) and up to intermediate players (they should know how to solve most of these; but will act as a great review for them especially if they are not too fond of tactics). Advanced players 1800 + ELO ,may find the explanations annoying and elementary since they automatically see the functions of each piece, and the explantions are written in such a way that it conveys the piece function as a revelation.I also endorse the idea of using this type of explanation while solving positions that you don't understand...since it definitely had an effect on my own games as well as some of my peers.

Like me, you might have sat down with one of Reinfeld's "1001 Puzzle" books. Some of the puzzles are fairly easy, but with a hard one, you might have wasted ten or fifteen minutes just staring at it. Then you might have turned to the answer section, read the solution, slapped your forehead, and moved on. The puzzles in this two-book series are mostly the same ones, but they are accompanied by excellent explanations, and the author walks you through to the solution. So, you first look at the puzzle, and if you see it right off, you skip the explanation and go on to the next one, If you don't see it right away, you read the first sentence or two, and then you might figure it out. If not, you keep reading. Rarely will you have to read the whole analysis, but if you do, you'll be spending your time learning something, not just staring at puzzles. Your progress will be much faster, and your valuable time will be well spent.

Having looked through a dozens of tactic puzzle books I see something extraordinary in this one. while many books include interesting, witty and clever puzzles with varying amounts of hints, this book actually teaches you HWO to think through the tactic. this guy works with your thought processes itself, breaking into a conversational style that I expect to be highly effective in teaching better chess. I also find the idea of increasing complexity and the very methodical size and scope of the book to be very useful at well.I'm OLD (40) and without tons of examples its just hard to learn new tricks. LOL.right so disclaimers. I've only had the book for a week, so whether this book can bring my tired class E game up is an open question. Also no One thing can do everything; since its methodical and complete- there's tons of hints. There's still a need to do better at recognizing, when to look for tactics. ,.

I'm involved in local board and card gaming groups, but recently got interested in getting into chess beyond the basics. I had always been overwhelmed by chess books and software, like 550 page books on chess openings for black.I discovered Ward Farnsworth's web page and was blown away by his statement that most of chess play is tactics. He maps out a learning plan to start with tactics and then later work on chess openings and the end game. Although his website is free, I went ahead and purchased this book.I really like his teaching style. It's just great. He gives tons of examples from real play that become progressively more difficult. So, the book is just fun as a chess puzzle book. But, he also explains what you need to be looking for and what though process you need to be using. The book is also structured so that you can choose any chapter and start working on it - so it's flexible to individual needs.

Probably the greatest value in this book (volumes I and II) is the systematic approach the author takes, which makes it easier to learn to actually see tactical options on the board during real games.

Very good book for those looking to improve their chess awareness and combinational skills. I think this book is most useful for those rated 1400 to 2000, but players of all skill levels can learn something if they're willing to the time. I recommend setting the illustrated positions up on a chessboard and trying to solve them before looking at the answers and reasoning behind them.If you are just getting into chess, spend some time getting comfortable with how the pieces move and then grab this book...it will be a huge help!

Very interesting books serie to improve you chess game.As a moderate player it really made me a better chess player.I have not finished the books completely due to lack of time to play chess. But when i have time again for chess i will start reading the predator chess books again.Recommended

I'm an old guy who likes playing chess, but was short of people to play, but now need to improve my game (I've joined an online chess club), and came across this book online. I'm working on improving my knight forks, and playing out the extensive examples in the book It's brilliant, and already winning me games, I'm moving onto the Bishop forks next.By time I have finished reading this section, not only on how to spring a knight fork, but also how to remove an opposing piece that's guarding the square my knight needs to land on, I'll be on the road to being a predator at the chessboard, myself!

Awesome volumes (both 1 and 2)!Other books on the subject just have a small section that introduces a motif and then move on to exercises--that's like talking for 1 minute about what a breast-stroke is and then pushing you into a river heading for the falls. But these volumes are on an entirely different level. In fact, this is the only work I've come across that actually explains the subject in words and makes sure the thought process as well as the patterns are burned into the reader's brain through each and every problem. Excellent for beginners, novices, and for amateurs like me! Wish I had found these resources much earlier in life, which would have taken my chess to a different level. But, as it is said, better late than never!

Finalmente un libro di scacchi comprensione anche ai neofiti. Chiaro - ricco di esempi e esercizi. Lo adoro. È in inglese ma lo si comprende molto facilmente se si possiedono le basi dell’inglese scolastico

A estas alturas ya casi había desistido de encontrar un libro de ajedrez que yo pudiera entender. Por algún motivo, siempre me ha costado seguir las explicaciones de los libros que he leído, ya que me veía incapaz de ver el sentido de los movimientos. Pero con este libro (y con el segundo volumen) me he llevado una agradable sorpresa. Entiendo perfectamente todo lo que está pasando en cada uno de los ejemplos. Tengo que decir que de momento no lo he puesto en práctica, ya que no tengo a mano gente con la que jugar, pero estoy deseando apuntarme a algún club de partidas por internet, a ver si se me nota lo que he aprendido.Los dos libros están dedicados a jugadas de táctica (o sea, a ver cómo zamparse las piezas del contrario), no de estrategia (organizar las piezas sobre el tablero para poder pasar a las jugadas de táctica), pero el autor recomienda una gran cantidad de libros con los que continuar aprendiendo.La única pega, para algunos, es que los libros están en inglés. Si no estáis muy seguros de si comprarlo o no por este motivo, los libros están escritos a partir de una página web que podéis encontrar fácilmente tecleando el título en un buscador. Así os podéis hacer una idea de qué tal lo entendéis.