History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games

Average customer rating:

Target practice at its best
I gave up near puzzle #1500...
Massive Monster - Some Good/Some Filler (real junk problems)
A beautiful book...
Wow!

Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games
Laszlo Polgar
Manufacturer: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1884822312

Amazon.com

If you love chess puzzles, this massive tome is for you. It's simply one chess challenge after another. With problems fit for beginner and grand master alike, Polgar's collection will feed your craving for years. Better yet, it's a major bargain. When I first pulled it off the shelf I was expecting a price tag three times higher.

Book Description

The biggest book of chess challenges ever--1,120 pages! 5334 fully diagrammed problems, games, and endgames (with easy-to-follow solutions in the back). Includes every known checkmate position. Covers a complete range of levels, from beginning to master. Offers what both serious and casual chess players want most--thousands of absorbing problems with which to hone their skills and have fun.

Customer Reviews:

Target practice at its best.......2007-02-03

I own the oversized hardbound edition. I'm still around the 678th position and counting and don't intend to stop!

Despite the terrifying title... 5,334 problems ?!, ... it's one enjoyable chess gym. The 2-D diagrams use one of the nicest modern Staunton fonts around and are clearly printed and illustrated. It contains an introduction, piece properties, mates in 1, mates in 2, mates in 3, combinations, simple endgames, combinations, critical positions in some of the Polar sister's games, and a solutions key (only the first move per problem). It's a simple and effective format for an outstanding effort in putting so much material in an organized manner. Many of the positions are implicitly aggregated by theme which does not give away any clues but allows the reader to better develop pattern recognition. No hints, just practice.

The softbound version makes a great gift; the hardbound is hard to find and more of a personal library book. Only a tactical practice database or software can improve on this book. I can only wish it were available as a database!

I gave up near puzzle #1500..........2006-12-29

I had the firm objective of solving all puzzles in this book, to improve my chess tactics skills.

As I progressed through the puzzles, I could definitely see improvements, to the point of reaching average solving times of 5 to 20 seconds.

Unfortunately, at about #1450, the book switches to puzzles that seem to be taken from newspaper columns (the author and year of publication is given for each one), and the level of difficulty rises by a huge amount. My average solving times fell to 20 to 30 minutes, if I was lucky to spot the solution at all!

Another problem I see with this book is that it contains only checkmate puzzles. It would be nice to have tactics leading to material gains, which are much more frequent in chess games.

Massive Monster - Some Good/Some Filler (real junk problems).......2005-09-08

Instead of giving a more limited number of problems to solve with the most important tactical patterns, the author set out to do "quantity instead of quality" and becomes a "compliler" instead of a teacher directing a student to learn what is most important with perhaps a limited time to study like the average chess player.
This mass compilation of problems contains a lot of junk filler along with some very nice important tactical themes to learn. So, the book refuses to show you what is important, and what should be tossed out with the garbage - the postions which would not likely occur in real games you would play.
I would like a book with 100 to 500 of the MOST IMPORTANT TACTICAL THEMES TO LEARN. Not so many that you cannot tell what is important from filler to make a book so big.

A beautiful book..........2005-06-24

5334 Chess puzzles is a lot, and there is no way anyone is going to get them all! (Well maybe Kasparov). The book itself is HUGE and leather bound and is an exquisite coffee table book. I do have one slight problem with it however. It is full of Mates in 1, 2,or 3. - and these are great. I would have liked to have seen a section on "White to move and win" or "Black to move and win" - without knowing what it is that I the reader am looking for. This is more akin to a real chess game, where one knows there is a win somewhere, but is not sure what kind to look for. Anyhow, that is a small complaint for an otherwise gorgeous book.

Four and a Half Stars.

Relic113

Wow!.......2005-04-12

This book is like going to McDonald's and saying SUPER SIZE IT! There are so many problems to work on you will not need another book on tactics ever! Buy it and you will like it!

Average customer rating:

For beginners
Four Stars * * * * not 1 star
Useful book you can enjoy anywhere
huge mating problems
Chess: 5334 Problems

Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games
Laszlo Polgar
Manufacturer: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1579125549

Book Description

This giant collection, finally available in paperback, features enough chess challenges to keep even the most avid player occupied for a long, long time.

The biggest book of chess problems ever published is now available in a paperback edition, featuring more than five thousand fully diagrammed problems, games, and end games for players at all levels. Chapters are organized by problem type, and each problem, combination, and game is keyed to an easy-to-follow solution at the back of the book, so users— whether they are beginners or highly accomplished players—can learn as they go. In all, this volume is a most extensive and thorough chess reference, sure to help hone skills while providing hours of fun. The more affordable paperback edition will give players at all levels reason to rejoice.

Customer Reviews:

For beginners.......2007-10-05

I think this book is more suitable to beginners up to Class C players. The book is indeed huge in size and contains many problems. The level of the problems is however limited to Mate in three........just not good enough.

Four Stars * * * * not 1 star.......2007-09-08

The book will serve you well, some errors pop up every so often. You start learning mate in 1, then 2 then 3. You learn a few combinations, and study some problems that were designed by the Polgar sisters. In the back are a few of their games. It is a gem, but just contains errors. And for some reason this review shows 1 star and I can't seem to change it. It's almost a perfect book, drop a star for the errors.

Useful book you can enjoy anywhere.......2007-08-29

Polgar's "Chess" is an excellent and useful book that can be enjoyed anywhere you go, from "sitting on the toilet and multitasking" to taking it to the park. It's enormous though, at 3 inches thick and 1000 pages, so I suppose it could function as an impromptu barbell too.

The book is entirely diagrammatic, which is one of its strengths. I've read through a bunch of chess books on strategy and even on combinations, and often the tactical descriptions in these books are 10 or more moves deep, with long variations that are also 10 moves deep, and lengthy descriptors of what is going on. As wonderful as it is to see Spielmann or Alekhine doing this sort of thing and having it explained point-by-point by someone like Alekhine himself, mere mortals like me can get lost, and it ends up being less useful than it sets out to be by virtue of the fact that I'm a long ways off from seeing what they did at the board, and because it's tedious to reset the board to the original position in order to go through yet another variation. I'm no grandmaster, and I never will be, so take this as you will as an example of my own inability to get much from those books. Worse, it is unlikely that I'll remember exactly what those guys saw or anything like it even a day after reading through their masterpieces.

This book is simple. It shows a picture of a position, and you get to use your own mental faculties to figure it out. You don't even need a board. Most of them are two-move mate problems (You move, opponent moves, you move and mate on the move). I can't stress enough how important it is not to cheat and peek at the answer. Look long enough, even to the point of exasperation, and you will eventually be rewarded.

It's funny because without actually going through them, a person might think a two-move problem would be easy. It's not always easy. I've agonized over a few of them for hours until I spotted the move. A few of them are sort of hokey, for lack of a better word. I was transfixed on one for something like 2 days, convinced it was faulty, until I finally realized my king and rook were still in pre-castling position. This problem (#1558) was in one of those endgames where nearly everything is obliterated save 5 pieces, and the king hasn't castled yet? I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but that kind of problem is a little less than useful, as it seems a bit gimmicky to me more than anything tactically important. Likewise, watch out for the en passant puzzles. There are a couple of those too, and plenty of "underpromotion" puzzles, which are indeed useful. There are also a few I've spotted with more than one solution (#612, for example), which isn't a big deal since you only need to see one of them to win.

In general, though, the book has improved my tactical ability to see the board tremendously, and that's half of what you want out of a great chess book, with the other half being something more on the strategy side.

One reviewer noted the preponderance of Queen sacrifice mates, and I agree. It becomes something you look for, but isn't that the point? So many times in games before getting this book, I would not even be looking at things that would get one of my big guns taken outright by a lowly pawn. I can't say that's true now.

A huge volume of the mates deal with set-ups for what are termed "Swallowtail" mates or semi-swallowtails, where the queen is in a square directly adjacent to the king, and the two squares behind him that she can't cover are covered by another piece or pieces, often the opponent's own. I now recognize this pattern almost instinctively, and I've been able to get a lot of surprising wins with it. Right there alone I can say this book has helped me in a measurable way, and Mr. Polgar has my immense gratitude for it.

My big criticism is mostly about the fact that if you know you have 2 moves to get mate, you can search for any possibility where after your move your opponent can check your own king, which would cause you (in most cases) to lose a move getting out of it. If your opponent can indeed check your king, then you know that most of the time you'll have to get a check yourself on his king at the outset, and you can pretty much toss out any idea of a waiting move or a repositioning move as the correct answer, which makes the solution much easier as it narrows the possibilities for piece movement. There are a few where getting out of the opponent's check in some way is simultaneously the checkmate move, so this point isn't written in granite or anything, but for the most part it's a fundamental dictum of the easy way to get through a problem. In a real game, you don't have the luxury to know that sort of thing outright, and so the "2 moves to win" thing doesn't apply unless you see it yourself, but that's none of it the fault of the puzzle-maker; it's the fault of chess puzzles by their very nature.

Anyway, this is my favorite chess book by far. I hate to be a product shill, but some things are worth it. Get it.

huge mating problems.......2007-06-26

Indeed this book is very thick, but it only deals with mating attacks, which isn't good to my opinion.
personally, I prefer other more assorted books.

Chess: 5334 Problems.......2007-03-31

Excellent storehouse of chess knowledge and problems for the beginner to advanced players. Thousands of mate-in-2 problems, hundreds of combinations, and 600 miniature games of masters at your fingertips. As a coach, I can almost exclusively use this book for material. The only thing lacking is graphic description of the many tactics which erupt therein.

Secrets of Chess Tactics (Batsford Chess Library Middle Game)

Average customer rating:

Secrets in another cover
Deeply profound and useful

Secrets of Chess Tactics (Batsford Chess Library Middle Game)
Mark Dvoretsky
Manufacturer: Henry Holt & Co (P)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0805026304

Customer Reviews:

Secrets in another cover.......2005-12-06

Superb book. I like books one can grow into and this is certainly one. I wish to point out that this title and the previous title, 'Secrets of Chess Training' are actually in print as Volume one and two of the four volume set School of Chess Excellance series.

Deeply profound and useful.......1998-12-04

IM Dvoretsky was known as the Soviet Union's top trainer, and this very personal and honest work presents much of his rigorous thinking on chess tactics. This book does not believe in simple divisions and guidelines; there is much to read about subjects like creating confusion to make it difficult for an opponent to press an advantage, the blurred line between theatrics and soundness, etc.

Winning Chess Combinations (Winning Chess - Everyman Chess)

Average customer rating:

Best Chess Series ever written!
Unexpected disappointment
Part of a good series
Yaz's new book is golden!
Yasser does it again!

Winning Chess Combinations (Winning Chess - Everyman Chess)
Yasser Seirawan
Manufacturer: Everyman Chess
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1857444205

Book Description

Combinations are the central element in chess; they make the game so magical and captivating. The beautiful point of sacrificing a queen, the strongest piece, in order to checkmate with a lowly pawn brings a smile of joy to all chess lovers. Virtually all chess games possess a combination, either one hidden in the shadows of analysis carefully avoided or one that provides a decisive blow.

Winning Chess Combinations is a unique work that doesn't merely repeat the wonderfully rich and vast numbers of combinations, asking readers to solve a particular diagrammed position; it is a work that is far more realistic. A combination involves a sacrifice upsetting the balance of forces, but will it work or tragically boomerang? The reader is invited to solve this critical question by identifying the advantages that a specific position holds which might make the combination successful.

Winning Chess Combinations is the seventh in Yasser Seirawan's highly acclaimed Winning Chess series - PROBABLY THE BEST-SELLING SERIES OF CHESS BOOKS EVER PUBLISHED.

Customer Reviews:

Best Chess Series ever written!.......2007-03-11

Wow; many chess players have voted this series by Yasser Seirawan as the best single series on Chess! You could spend many productive hours studying this entire series of books. The final book in the series is out this year. Seirawan's writing is designed for us "laymen" and this easy to understand book will improve your game.

Unexpected disappointment.......2007-01-11

After a series of informative, stimulating, and gratifying works on everything from openings to endgames, tactics to strategy, Seirawan blunders with this move. The text details a number of interesting games and examines the rationale and philosophy of play with each but the book provides a disappointing treatise on the topic of combinations, the ordained reason for the book's existence. The title and preface would lead the reader to expect an in-depth review of combinational ideas, examples of unique and inventive combinations, and the challenging puzzles and tests that have consistently garnished the author's prior works. This one, sadly, seems to be a hodgepodge of material thrown together as an afterthought in the endgame of what has otherwise been a brilliant match.

Part of a good series.......2006-07-08

The "Winning Chess Series" by Seirawan is one of the best series of books on chess. The "Winning Chess Combinations" book is more advanced than "Winning Chess Tactics" and "Winning Chess Traps for Juniors" so you should read these first and I personally liked them better. When you have advanced then getting this book is a good idea.

Yaz's new book is golden!.......2006-06-29

In his seventh, and final, book in his Winning Chess series GM Yasser Seirawan delivers one of his best in this very good series. In many ways this book is a follow up to his book on tactics, but taking it to a higher level. The focus is on pattern recognition and attacking ideas with many examples from recent GM games. I believe it works well as a bridge between his (or another basic) tactics book and a more advanced book like Vukovic's Art of Attack. I used his Tactics and Strategy books as the foundation for my chess study and am very pleased to add his new book to that list.

Yasser does it again!.......2006-02-20

Yasser Seirawan dazzles his Winning Chess readers for the seventh time by bringing us his latest and greatest work, Winning Chess Combinations. If you do not already own this book, rush out to the neareast bookstore, purchase it, and read it as you grasp all of the information necessary for mastering Combinations in this fantastic work.

Average customer rating:

Not as good as they say
Chapters by Kotov outstanding!
A Classic Middle Game Book!
Inexpensive but useful for intermediate players
A must read

The Art of the Middle Game
Paul Keres , and Alexander Kotov
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486261549

Book Description

Superb guide to neglected area of chess. Two formidable grandmasters cover attacking the king, defense, importance of pawn structure, analysis, much more. Authoritative introduction by Harry Golombek. Belongs in the library of every serious chess enthusiast. Indexes of players and middle-game themes.

Customer Reviews:

Not as good as they say.......2007-03-16

I ran the games in this book through Fritz and they are ripe with bad moves. There is little explanation given. Most of the information is suppose to be understood already. This isn't a good book for newcomers. I'm not new to chess and I have learned more from other books than from this one. I'm not here to tell you what books to get but there are better ones out there.

Chapters by Kotov outstanding!.......2007-02-24

Another reviewer said that the chapters by Keres are outstanding. I would, rather, emphasize the chapters by Kotov!

The chapters by the legendary Keres are good, yes. But Kotov's Chapter 2, "Strategy and Tactics of Attack on the King," is to me the most valuable chapter in the book: very clear and shows you the methods of play needed for success in these positions, ESPECIALLY in opposite-wing castling scenarios. Many authors will simply say "when the kings are castled on opposite sides, it is a race" or something to that effect. Kotov does a much better job than this!

Kotov's Chapter 4, "Various Pawn Positions in the Centre," is good for orienting advanced beginners/intermediate players on how to play with various types of pawn centers.

Overall, I don't think this is a great, great work in chess literature. It gets a ton of praise because Kotov and Keres wrote it (with a decent chapter by IM Golombek, I might add), but it is not a bad work by any stretch. I would recommend reading it.

A Classic Middle Game Book!.......2006-11-24

Written in descriptive notation (wish they would update it to algebraic, but since this book is written for Intermediate or or Advanced players, this should not be a biggie) 'Art of the Middlegame' will help you formulate a 'plan'. Actually written by several top notch Grandmasters taking on certain chapters, each one teaches what they consider to be important themes (ranging from defending a difficult position to strategy and tactics in attacking the King). Books that will go along well with this are those with complete games containing good middlegames (suggested: "Unbeatable Chess lessons for Juniors", "More Unbeatable Chess" and "Understanding Chess, move by move" - for advanced players).

Conclusion: If you are rated 1500+, want to improve your ability to plan, and don't mind descriptive notation "The Art of the Middle Game" would make an excellent choice.

Inexpensive but useful for intermediate players.......2006-03-11

The book is extremely valuable for the chapters of attacking the King by Kotov and the art of analysis by Keres respectively.It helped me a lot to understand the role of pawn strucure in the center of the board as described by Kotov.The interested reader must have a look at Dr Euwe's epic work The Middle game volume one for variuos pawn formations in the center and static features arrived from different openings.The art of middle game is an excellent treatment within its limits and a must for all players of intermediate to advanced level 1600-1800 ELO ratings.

A must read.......2005-08-22

Everyone knows that it's important to have a plan in a chess game, but most of the people play without one. If you don't know how to formulate a plan, this is the book for you. Kotov categorized 5 different positions for center pawns, and gave the ideas how to play for both sides. I think this covers most of the games. There's also a chapter discussing pawn storms on when and how.

Above all, my favorite in this book is "how to defend a difficult position" by Keres. The author quoted a few difficult positions and gave examples on how to present the toughest defense in those positions for the opponents to deal with. Text on this kind of topic is very rare.

The book does use descriptive notation, it takes only a few minutes to learn. I have read chess books in all kind of notations. I don't think it's a big deal.

Average customer rating:

Beautifully Written Compilation--But Not for Training

Great book on tactics!

A good primer on chess tactics.

Brilliant, Inexpensive, Effective History, Good Training.

This is one of THE books on chess tactics

Combinations: The Heart of Chess
Irving Chernev
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Art of Chess Combination

The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played: 62 Masterpieces of Chess Strategy

Capablanca's Best Chess Endings

The Art of Checkmate

The Art of Sacrifice in Chess

ASIN: 0486217442

Book Description

Explanations for the famous and less well-known combinations of Tarrasch, Botvinnik, Nimzovich, Steinitz, Rubinstein; the dazzling brilliancies of Morphy, Keres, and Alekhine; the deadly attacks of Marshall; the unfathomable plays of Lasker; and the matchless creations of Capablanca and many others. 356 diagrams.

Customer Reviews:

Beautifully Written Compilation--But Not for Training.......2006-11-01

This book is a pleasure to read. Chernev has a flair for description and he can really pick out beautiful examples to make his point. If your library doesn't have this book, then you don't have a complete library.

The book is organized by theme and master. The themes relate more to vague ideas of a story line than to fundamental tactical ides. Thematic chapters include titles such as "Simple and Pleasing", "Convincing the Kibitzers", or "A Blending of Themes". Masters include all the greatest combinational players from modern history: Alekhine, Morphy, Lasker, Pilsbury, Capablanca, and so on.

The Dover binding, especially considering the price, leaves little to be desired. It has taken quite a lot of abuse to get the cover off mine, and even after a few years of no cover and continued abuse, the pages are all still well attached. As others have noted, this book is in descriptive notation.

Though this book is a classic and deserves every bit of its five star rating, don't assume you are going to read this book and get better at tactics, especially if you are a weaker player. I studied and studied this book for a couple of years, visualizing every combination without a board and thinking deeply about each and every side variation. But I have never noticed any real improvement in my game. I have come back to this book again and again to enjoy Chernev's literary and analytical brilliance, but still no improvement.

I've been studying and playing chess for about 15 years and I'm here to tell you that you can waste a lot of time reading chess books of all varieties (opening, middle, positional, "combinational", calculational, etc.). I've read so many books, I can visualize a complete game without so much as looking at a chess board. I've been able to do this for about 12 years and I get better at it with each book. You might think that this ability to visualize a chess board has helped my game tremdously. I have simply not found this to be the case--even without a board, I still play the same miserable brand of chess. Thankfully, however, no one else can see the evidence of my poor play in such cases.

If you want to get better, buy this book now but wait a while before you actually read it--perhaps when you are much better than me (I'm about 1300). Instead, get the two Reinfeld 1001 books. I would estimate (or the computer estimates) I have jumped at least 100 points in less than a month just drilling exhaustively a single chapter from 1001 Brilliant Sacrifices and Combinations and the first chapter of Pandolfini's Chessercizes 2: Checkmate. I have also noticed my understanding of the board as a whole has increased phenomenally--no book I've read has been able to do that for me, no matter what it promises.

Fifteen years is a terribly long time to make such little improvement, especially when followed, at age 36, by quick and dramatic improvement studying tactical problems. I blame the lofty content and promises of most of the books I've read. Maybe they are better for 10 year-old child prodigys with fresh minds or 1800+ players looking for deeper understanding, but not for people who just want to understand, on an innate level, the "real" mechanics of chess. Despite the promises of the other reviewers, Combinations: The Heart of Chess, does not fall into this latter category. Though pleasing to ponder, most of the examples are far too complex to be of training value to weaker players, such as myself.

Great book on tactics!.......2006-04-24

Even for a kid this is an easy book to read and understand. I got with "Winning Chess Traps" that has a lot of tactics in the openings. So I am covered on all ends when it comes to tactics. Love thse two books and just felt like saying so without a long review.

A good primer on chess tactics........2002-04-02

I once walked into a used bookstore in Atlanta, and found like 12 copies of this book sitting on the shelf. They only wanted a buck or so each, so I bought them all.

I was teaching chess at that time at a private school in Pensacola, The Creative Learning Center.

I gave most of those 12 books to my students. They enjoyed them tremendously.

If a student wanted to ask me what book should be his "First" book on tactics, I would probably whole-heartedly endorse this book. 'Nuff said?

Brilliant, Inexpensive, Effective History, Good Training........2001-05-04

Chernev's classic is not simply a collection of combinations for drilling yourself on pins, forks, smothered mates, and so on - although there are plenty of combinations (300+) for that - it shows how the great players used them in their games. You get a history lesson while learning how Tarrasch, Nimzovich, Capablanca, and many other world-class players, employed combinations in their games. I like how Chernev uses extended game fragments and his own enthusiastic commentary to explain the combinations. I have several tactics books and I enjoyed Chernev's less common approach to combinations: most books just give the position as though it just "appeared" out of the blue to settle the game. Somehow with Chernev, I get the idea that you have to work to get there. Descriptive notation.

This is one of THE books on chess tactics.......1998-07-24

Learn from the examples-- good and bad -- from the masters from Anderssen to Fischer, simple and complex, short and long, how to master piece co-ordination. A classic. Check out Chess Life and Review April 1975 p. 245 col 1 wrt #69. Working through this book can add hundreds of points to an average tournament players' rating, whet his appetite and keep him off the street for days... Not just for beginners, the 356 positions on 240 pages although not their primary source nor a dry categorical treatise, will challenge delight edify and entertain an interesting reader for years...

Complete Book of Chess Strategy: Grandmaster Techniques from A to Z

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Excelent
Beginner's delight, club player's fright
More of a reference book than a deep strategy book
A good reference book.
Very useful for beginners

Complete Book of Chess Strategy: Grandmaster Techniques from A to Z
Jeremy Silman
Manufacturer: Siles Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1890085014

Customer Reviews:

Excelent.......2007-03-20

This book is ease to read and understand you dont even need a chessboard to read it.

Excelent book

Beginner's delight, club player's fright.......2006-11-26

Every review you see on this book will read the same: TONS of topics, LITTLE explanation. That is the intent of the book. Now the only question is whether or not this approach to chess authorship is appropriate.

The book is divided into four different sections: opening, middlegame, endgame, and "practical matters" (encompassing psychology, tournament play, and all the stuff that doesn't need a diagram). At the end of each section is a little quiz on the material covered previously, generally true/false. Sounds easy, and it is pretty easy.

The section on the openings gives a smorgasbord of most every conceivable opening. It covers everything from the heavily theorized openings like the Ruy Lopez and Sicilian to the less-known openings, like the Polish (1.d4 b5) and the Albin Counter Gambit. It is never in-depth on these openings (one to three pages tops) but it gives you a real vague, general summary. What use it that? Well, if you're looking to pick out a reperotoire, like many beginning players, you're in luck. You can find an opening that caters to almost any player, check the main line and see if you like it. Even a higher-rated player could use that if they wanted a new opening or two.

The middlegame section covers motifs like "blockade", "open files", and "superior minor pieces". Things that every chess player has ingrained in them. If you've never heard the terms before, they will be useful. If you know all the terms, they can still be a great refresher course for you. How many times do we read a book on the King's Indian or the Ruy, replete with blockade ideas, yet don't always remember the little intracacies? Often enough to warrant a review.

The endgame section is weak, as it would have to be (you can't really have a treatise on the many endgames included in the space provided) and doesn't really do anything for the book. The section on practical matters is pretty cool, though, and can be inspiring for someone who wants to get a routine in order for tournaments (or answer questions about things like the staredown).

Like the title of this review suggests, the club player likely will not gain rating points from this book. A lot of people won't, even beginners. However, the book plays a VERY important role in augmenting other knowledge, making networks of association, and just being an all-around good review book. It's a fun read for the bathtub, airplane, or between rounds. If you're a beginner: go for it.

So to answer the question posed at the top: if you're over 1600 and doing a little chessic soul-searching: put it in the cart. Otherwise, perhaps you would be better served by another title.

More of a reference book than a deep strategy book.......2006-09-18

If you looking for a lot of strategies defined and briefly covered then this is the perfect book. If you are looking for a book on detailed strategies, opening traps or tactics on a deep level then this is not the right book. It simply doesn't get into anything very deeply (though it covers a lot of different strategies briefly). For what it is (more of reference book) this is a good book (you just need to understand what it is!).

A good reference book........2006-06-25

This book is the best one of the market in its field, although I question the accuracy of the openings section, obviously lots of options are missed out on (I noticed the Portugese variation of the Scandinavian was a big hole) and it would be too difficult to cover such options. I would've preferred if he got rid of the openings section altogether and put a bit more information on the helpful middlegame and endgame sections. Nevertheless, the book is a helpful addition to any player's library who is rated under FIDE 2000.

Very useful for beginners.......2006-06-25

In spite of its grandiose title, Silman's book is written for beginners, and for more experienced players who want a review of the basics. It's divided into three parts - guess what - openings, middle game, and endgame. The Middle Game and End Game sections are very good, and cover important and interesting beginning-to-middle-strength player topics like basic checkmates (Morphy's Mate), pawn structure, and knights vs. bishops. The Openings section is less successful, because he just shows the first few moves and doesn't get into the really critical variations.

Silman is a great teacher, and I wish that I had read this book when I was just starting out in chess. If you are just starting out I would recommend it very highly. It will give beginning players a very solid foundation. More advanced (1500 or so) players might want to check out "The Amateur's Mind," by the same author, that covers the same ground but more in depth.

Thomas FrÃ¨re and the Brotherhood of Chess: A History of 19th Century Chess in New York City

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Thomas FrÃ¨re and the Brotherhood of Chess: A History of 19th Century Chess in New York City
Martin Frere Hillyer
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0786423277
Release Date: 2006-11-27

Product Description

The 19th century in America saw the evolution of a leisure society. Enjoying numerous technological advances, people had free time to indulge in a variety of pursuits. An assortment of board games flooded American homes. By the middle of the century, chess had surpassed all other games with its popularity. The author of three important chess texts, Thomas Frere was instrumental in the growth of chess as a significant American pastime.

This work provides an historical and chronological look at the 19th century development of chess through the writings of Thomas Frere. His books, letters, chess columns and scrapbooks chronicles the ways chess evolved over the greater part of the 1800s, and illuminates important players of the time and their games. The main text is divided into four sections covering 1827-1900. The first section looks at the early years as chess moved from private to public venues, discussing the establishment of formal chess clubs such as Frere's 1856 Brooklyn Chess Club. The second section deals with the First American Chess Congress and the advent of Paul Morphy to the world of chess. The third section focuses on Frere's part in the first formal world chess championship, a role thoroughly documented in Frere's letters. The fourth section examines the last decade of the 1800s and the steps that led chess into the 20th century.

Average customer rating:

Your most typical types of Sacrifices will be found in this book
This is not another "hacking" manual, but gives ideas about how to think about sacrificing.
There are pros and cons
A must read
Classic Book on Sacrifice...

The Art of Sacrifice in Chess
Rudolf Spielmann
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486284492

Book Description

Grandmaster shows how to win games by giving up pieces. Describes games against Réti, Tarrasch, and other masters. Introduction. 91 diagrams.

Customer Reviews:

Your most typical types of Sacrifices will be found in this book.......2006-09-28

This is a classic! Speilmann presents numerous sacrifices by theme and gives agreat examples. This book has stood the test of time and is still worthwhile to get. Perfect books to compliment this are "Art of Attack in Chess" and "Winning Chess Traps: Tactics in the Opening". All three of these books will give you exactly what you need to be fully covered when it comes to fully understanding everything to do with Attacking Chess and Sacrificing!

This is not another "hacking" manual, but gives ideas about how to think about sacrificing........2006-02-17

Rudolf Spielmann's work is not perfect, but if read in the right frame-of-mind can be an extremely rewarding read.

This is not a manual on the mechanics of kingside attacks, in the vein of Vukovic's "Art of Attack in Chess," or Znosko-Borovsky's "The Art of Chess Combination." Neither is it a tactical workbook, such as Fred Reinfeld's works or Fred Wilson's works or, for that matter, Laszlo Polgar's magnum opus "Chess: 5,334 Problems, Combinations, and Games." Every one of those books/authors mentioned is worth reading, but this is a DIFFERENT KIND of work.

The book that readily comes to mind as being in the same "family" as this work is Tal and Damsky's "Attack with Mikhail Tal," but unlike that (masterpiece!) Spielmann's work does not require a Master's Degree in Attacking Chess! :-)

Now that I've compared "The Art of Sacrifice in Chess" to other types of attacking books you may be thinking of purchasing, let me finally speak about the book itself!

Yes, Spielmann's choice of classification and terminology may be called into question, but that does not in any way detract from the book itself. What Spielmann does in this book better than any other intermediate book I can think of, is reveal HOW THE SACRIFICE AFFECTS THE REMAINING PIECES ON THE ATTACKING AND DEFENDING SIDES! For example, one of his games begins 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e5 Nfd7 and now Spielmann plays 4.e6!? After 4...fxe6, Spielmann brilliantly demonstrates (through his play and especially through the annotations!) how White was able to win the game by constricting the Black forces behind the e-pawns on e7,e6. The line of thinking runs: if there is a pawn on e6 (extra though it may be), the bishop on c8 cannot really come out, which in turn entombs the rook on a8! There are other similar examples of this thought process throughout the book. You will also notice how, for example, minor piece sacrifices in the center suddenly cause the attacking side's rooks and queen to spring to life with decisive force!

Many of the examples in the book are complex, but in nearly all cases you can see Spielmann's THOUGHT PROCESS, and you understand why he made the decisions he made. To me this book has a lot of value, and thank goodness it is a departure from all those insipid Morphy games with "sac, sac, mate" on f7 against an uncastled king.

There are pros and cons.......2005-04-12

I read this book after I finished "Art of Attack in Chess" and "Art of Chess Combination". Compared to those other two, this book is not that good. It's only a collection of Rudolf Spielmann's games, so the ideas and styles would be limited. He did explain a little bit on the sacrifices, but not enough on the conditions. For further information, you can read the other two books I mentioned above. And if you've read those two before, it's a great opportunity to examine how much you've understood in real complete games. Or you can try to analyse the games yourself and compare with the text moves.

Another thing I want to mention is that I cannot agree with the author on his categorization of the sacrifices. All sacrifices are sham sacrifices. Material is only one of the imbalances on the chess board (read Jeremy Silman's book). So the sacrifice we usually refer to is about material. We should always gain something from the wood we give up, such as time, space, initiative, position, lead in development and etc.

But the book is still not bad for its price, at least I enjoyed it.

A must read.......2003-04-14

Spielmann was a great combinative player from the first half of the 20th century. He played against Capablanca, Alekhine, Lasker, Tarrasch, Rubinstein etc. In this fabulous book he explains the foundation of combinative play: deep positional understanding, and not necessarily calculation power. In practical play it is most of the times not possible to calculate all the ramifications of a "real sacrifice" (this is Spielmann's therminology for those sacrifices which do not yield an immediate check mate or recovery of the material sacrificed). In such cases the sacrifice is based on positional understanding, not calculation power. Tal used to play like this; Shirov comes to mind as another example. A classic book. For this price do not think twice: buy it!

Classic Book on Sacrifice..........2002-05-28

This is not a book bean counters will enjoy to say the very least :)... If you like to throw caution to the wind and go for broke... This is a pretty good book to consider picking up and reading :)... It uses old descriptive notation so that might not go over well with some. Still just reading the words I found to be pretty enjoyable. I like how he talks about the Sham sac and some other things. For the price it is really worth thinking about getting with another book or order. The contents of the book are setup sorta interesting...

Part 1 deals with
The Various Types of Sacrifices

Sham Sacrifices, Positional Sacrifices, Sacrifices for gain and Mating Sacrifice... Then he gets into what he calls Real Sacrifices... They include Sacs for development, Obstructive Sacs, Preventing (or anti-castling) Sacs... Other sacs he gets into are Line-Clearance Sacs, Vacating Sacs, Deflecting or Decoy Sacs, (Castled) King's Field Sac and King-Hunt Sac...

Part II deals with Sacrificial Values :)...

This mostly consists of the Exchange Sac and the Queen Sac... A few examples are given for each of the listed type of sacs... So its pretty interesting how they break it up in the Contents page... This book is also 197 pages, so its pretty good value for the price. If this book might fit your style, I would think about picking it up...

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