Studying Chess Made Easy by Soltis book review

Thus, whatever phase of things human and divine you have apprehended, you will be wearied by the vast number of things to be answered and things to be learned. And in order that these manifold and mighty subjects may have free entertainment in your soul, you must remove therefrom all superfluous things.

Seneca, Letter to Lucilius 88

Of the Chess Life columns I used to read one of my least liked was that of GM Andrew Soltis. Probably because back then it was one of the few columns written in descriptive notation or something.  However, over the last few years I've found that he has brought out some pretty useful books to the market and now in FAN. Not being made of stone, I have bought some of these and have been quite pleased with them, the latest being Studying Chess Made Easy.

Its message in a nutshell: There must be a way to sort out all the chess material.

The problem is of course, too much of it, and too little time. To that effect, Soltis' tries to channel the reader's efforts to the areas were they'll count the most.

The title is a bit misleading, a more appropriate one would've been "Build your own study regime". Even he doesn't explicitly say so, Soltis gives pieces of a puzzle that can be rearranged in a myriad of ways according to the reader's current necessities and time constraints. Accordingly, the reader must provide her own input and figure out by herself what to tackle at any given time. Once, solved the how to, is the meat of the book.

For each phase of the game he presents the problems to study and gives advice on how to get the most the player's study time in improvement. He illustrates most points with  game fragments (that break the flow of the argument IMO). The "easy" part which the title alludes to is the less material one has to go through. However, though good, some of his recommended improvement exercises demand dedication from the student.

The software front might be the weakest area of the book. Soltis does give some advice on how to make better use of it, but doesn't go deep into it (then again, maybe it also another "unnecessary") for improvement. There is also no how to go over your games.

Now, Soltis writes from the point of view of an insider. From his bibliography one can gather he is well acquainted with the Soviet teaching methods and has along career as a writer. However , there's no explicit guarantee that what he recommends will work. No study backs what he says, meaning one is putting his faith on his words alone. There have been studies made by outsiders here and there on learning and chess, but none of their results are incorporated here. So one has to take this in account and perhaps adapt accordingly.

Also, it is not a one stop shop. Other books and material will have to be read and games to be played, but all according to an overarching approach. Might not be the ultimate solution, but as it goes, looks close and since it is readily available, why not?

Recommended for the ambitious 1400 elo and up to master.

Check out another Soltis review here

L'art du faire mat

In one of Danny Kopec's books he makes the comparison of baking a cake with a mate: first you visualize what it would look like, you follow the proper steps, and voila! you get the tasty results. To that end one must know what the fan of possible end results looks like and choose the practical ones for a given situation.  Enter  L'art du faire mat  (The Art of the Checkmate) by french champions by Renaud & Kahn which gives a whole catalog of mating patterns in a readily accessible way.

Each mating pattern is identified by number and, when present, by historical name. Isn't it much better to have these possibilities at one's fingertips, than to try to grasp in the darkness for  half-seen, half-remembered figments? This is what makes  this book  both practical and powerful. All is laid down on the table and the mechanisms laid bare.  Each pattern is also illustrated by stripped down diagram and with sample annotated games showing how each mate can be arrived at.  Interspersed there are 80 exercises of moderate difficulty. On the board the result is that you see what you have before you in a given situation and options readily pop up in your head.

When I first got this book, it was given to me by the owner of my local chess club who would assign it to newcomers as the first one to study. Yet, I'm sure it will benefit anyone who hasn't brushed up on the basics lately.

To make the most of the book, I would recommend you to get a dedicated mate solving book or software. With it you can put to practice what you just learned. One of the more popular ones is Reinfeld's 1001 brilliant ways to mate.

Reinfeld's book is categorized into different broad themes such as sacrificing the Queen, and storming the castled position and the problems themselves are well mixed enough to present a good challenge. Except for the last part, which is formed by composed problems, the book as a whole is a good companion to the Renaud & Kahn.

Here's an idea that you can try for yourself: take the 1001 and after solving each problem, try to equate the mating pattern to the Renaud & Kahn number scheme. I did, and from the start I began to feel how the patterns got a better impression on me, than if I had just read L'art , gave it the thumbs up, and stowed it away. Now I find it is easier to come up with a mating pattern with the material available on the board and call it by name. Oftentimes, the answer for a set situation pops immediately, which, I believe would be the prime objective. Be warned however, that not all Reinfeld's problems can be neatly fit into the Renaud & Kahn's scheme. Other than the regular mating sequences  described R&K, there are other sequences which ultimately result in so basic patterns that the French authors didn't think there while to describe them or that rely on a tactical motif such as a pin or a deflection of a defending piece, and mates that rely on bringing the King to the open chasing it around the board. These last ones, at least for me, are the most devilish and depend much more on the use of force than on regular set patterns. On the whole, the mix feels well balanced and can challenge ambitious lower rated players and refresh more experienced ones.

Chess books: when more isn't

My old chess teacher used to say that of all that has been written throughout history the most belongs to human health. The runner-up is chess. I'm not quite sure about the authenticity of this, but the fact is that chess literature is huge, and if one adds the software that has been published over the last couple decades, the amount of learning material is staggering.

It appears to me that there is a very strong, yet subtle, temptation to assume that drawing more from this fountain of material translates to actual improvement. If you're anything like me your eyes go wide open when you browse that chess section in your local library or online, or looking through a catalog (USCF has one). One wants to just grab a basket, make a list and pile on. Ask around and you're bound to find without too much trouble a person that can have well over a hundred books solely devoted chess. There are even some pretty impressive private chess libraries out there. The biggest in my hometown that I know of had 5000 volumes belonging to a local master. An uncorroborated story I heard is that the Polgar sisters toured it with glee when they  happened by once. (for the record my chess library currently has about two dozen volumes + 7-8 software titles)

Now the problem, as you already know, is that one cannot digest all the material. One has the pure honest intention to read each book right away or 'some day' when one is handing the cash, but somehow one never gets around to it. Sure, some titles do get completed, but the chess library grows even faster. And not to mention non-chess responsibilities have first dibs on one's time. One of the RPPR podcast hosts not long ago said something to the effect that when one buys books, one kinda thinks that one is also acquiring the time to read them. Put another way, there's a famous quote that says that life is too short for chess.

Still, even if we know or suspect that the book won't be read soon, there's an urge to own. A fuzzy feeling wells on oneself by just knowing that we have the title at hand and that their contents can be had at command. A closely related aspect is that of collecting. There's no chance in the completion of this set, but just building the library like a deck of (trading) cards gives a perhaps no small amount of pleasure.

Notable titles are also morale boosters. After playing some player on a tourney he bragged just to see my reaction that he had Dvoretsky's manual. He may have had it, but I doubt that he had actually gone through it and it certainly didn't help him on that game. Remember how in one of the Calvin & Hobbes strips Calvin tells Hobbes he wears branded shirts because it gives him the psychological advantage of believing he is sponsored? I find that likewise having chess books gives you the psychological advantage of believing you've read them (same idea with owing the Great Books).

Of course it doesn't really work that way. My high school physics teacher once told us of certain student that had the most basic of calculators and how he routinely got better grades than those who had space-age ones with all the bells and whistles.

In closing I'd like to take the opportunity and call on the Chessbase/Fritz people to aim future efforts to the enhancement of their Fritz Gui Full analysis function. The engine arms race can be considered over and now some of the only distinguishing features and value of chess guis is their natural language analysis. At their time, Fritz 4 and Fritz 5.32 came up with pretty interesting nested output. Nowadays it seems to me that Fritz 13 (the latest I own or fiddled with) just spits out single liners and has become stingy with variations, exclams and useful commentary. What's the use of having a personal GM, when he doesn't express himself as we would wish? Maybe it is my settings or my hardware, but this looks downhill. If they could bring back the old magic to just this feature, that would be pretty revolutionary once again. I'd overpay for that.

Of Moves and Men part II: actually doing it

So much for the methods. Putting them to practice is the hardest part of the equation and surprisingly so. One thing is to know what is to be done and another to actually do it.

I'll go off a tangent now. I find that when I'm in the heat of the game sooner or later I revert or devolve to the very old habits that I want to supersede. My guess is that these habits have proved their worth by getting me to my present state of development; though I can clearly see that they impede my further growth; hence, my interest in this aspect of play and in these books.

If I have decided upon a method or system in a cool and reasoned manner, then I want to follow it as it appears to be the best course of action.  Following it in a slipshod way won't do and skipping it altogether is worse still. And this is not limited to chess alone as I find it also true for some other skills. Trying not to be cheesy about it, I see chess as a microcosm or lab where one can try out mental skills in a self-contained setting that can then be useful for everyday situations. In other words, if it works in chess, then it might be adapted to some other area. And what could this skills be? Memory, patience, imagination, visualization, discipline, willpower, self-regulation… an efficient zen-like state if that is not too much of an oxymoron.

Coming back full circle, the actual integration to self is the hard part. I don't know if this happens to you or if my case is better or worse than that of others but I do have a working hypothesis based, at this point, mainly on Kahnemann's ideas found in his book Thinking Fast and Slow. What I believe  is happening at this stage is that my System 1 is still is trigger happy and that I'm slowly adapting it by the application of System 2. The trouble arises from S1 wanting to shoot from the hip while S2 is too resource intensive to sustain for long.

Ease opposes change. From what I read, continued focused effort is, at the heart of it, the key. That is what training is all about. The best example integration of a system from the ground up that I've known about is that of Mystery from Neil Strauss' book The Game . First he deconstructed his approach to his problem and put it back again. Then, he tried it repeatedly again and again in rapid succession debriefing himself after each night on all encounters. Finally, he changed what had to be changed to get to his results. It is hard to find any room for improvement on the structure of his method. Let's see what he gets right:

• Deep burning desire
• Insights from experience
• A flexible  method built from said insights
• A fail fast approach
• Debriefing
• Willingness to try new things, integrate what works and let go what doesn't

All aspects are key as none can be let go and still have great results. The aspect that beckons me the most is the fail fast  practice. Lots of experience in a short time, isn't this how bacteria thrive when subject to novel attacks? It appears to me that this where my chess training sags. Experience is needed, but I don't play that often to fully sink in my own methods.  Maybe also more focused practice is needed, that is, not wasting time on unprofitable training. For instance, I've been reading Nimzowitsch's Chess Praxis and I feel it has helped me zilch (My System is more instructive and, yes, more fun).

The debriefing aspect on the other hand is close to what great (chess) teachers emphasize: go over your games. I have been so won over with this concept, that I built the negotiation debriefing script I posted some months ago based on this very idea . This is a tangible everyday result from my chess efforts.  It is hardly necessary to point out that the process became teachable.

So, if you believe  on a given system stick relentlessly to it until it is second nature (and then some more).

If you want to know more on effortful training I'm not yet done. I'll take a closer look on books that deal with these very matters in the near future.

(Mystery's own book, The Mystery Method, feels contrived to me and I think it could benefit from some editing and rewriting)

Of Moves and Men: Chess Calculation: Soltis books + Tisdall

Lately my biggest stumbling block in chess other than endings has been miscalculation. Therefore I decided to overhaul my thinking method (or lack of thereof).  I did some research  and bought some recommended books to remedy the situation.  These are Soltis' Inner Game of Chess & How to Choose a Chess Move and Tisdall's Improve Your Chess Now! .

As I see it all three books can be read by anyone from 1400 up, but I'm dubious if players under 1800 can benefit much. Let's start with the most difficult which is Inner. To make proper use of the concepts in it, it prerequires the reader to be tactically sharp and be able to visualize many moves ahead. Here it is all about being honest with oneself: do you really know your tactics inside out? If not, you're better off and bound to make more progress honing them first. With visualization on the other hand, Soltis cuts some slack and gives some really helpful hints on how to acquire it. Still, it is probably the hardest part of the book: I can now follow a 23 move game blindfolded , but I had to give myself six months of practice before continuing reading and I'm still aiming higher. (btw, I compiled a useful visualization game collection for myself which I may post later on).

The rest of the book centers primarily on force and its use in calculation. Each concept is illustrated with positions from real games with explanatory text  and and just enough variations. Overall I found it a worthwhile read.

We now move over to Tisdall's book. It covers a wide range of topics which the author feels will benefit the aspiring reader. I just focused on the first couple of sections that deal with  calculation &  visualization. Although less exhaustive than Inner, it does supplement the concepts put forth by Soltis and both approaches meld nicely. A nice bonus is his way to calculate on the defensive. Both authors are critical of Kotov's tree scheme and offer sensible, practical alternatives. Just  100 elo points easier than Inner. 

Up to this point,  one can have a sure footing with moves that are suitable for calculation. What about quieter moves? To that purpose I also got How to Choose. This one is quite different to Inner, not only in its scope but on its outlook: It is a bit depressing. I for one hoped for a system, but instead, at least on the surface, opens more questions than it answers. It also ends in a down note with Fischer v Taimanov where Taimanov sees an opportunity, mentally does everything right and as recommended and still  loses. Way to go.

It is also more confusing in it's presentation of the material as there is no as clear progression as in Inner. Notwithstanding, How to has valuable material once the reader gets to chapters 7 to 11. Chapter 8, a reality check, is especially useful.

Most of the examples can be followed without board. I'd say it is about 50 elo points easier than Tisdall's.

In conclusion, if you have calculation issues and cover the prerequirements, do get Inner Game and if you've got some extra cash buy Tisdall's book too and compare methods. If you're hungry for more, there is How to, but be aware of its drawbacks. All these three, imo, require you to take notes to get a clearer picture.

Ps. Be sure to check The Creation of a Thinking Technique article by Silman in the August 1998 issue of Chess Life and take a (critical?) look at step 3 in de la Maza's approach at chesscafe:

www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles150.pdf . Finally, the latest wrinkle in calculation books appears to be Grandmaster Preparation: Calculation by Jacob Aagaard which I have not read. However,from what I gather from the net, it is both high level and a workbook.

Pps. A very condensed view of Soltis' view from Inner can be found in a chapter his newer book  How to Study Chess. This last one I recommend for all the wider material it covers.

More on this next time

Problemist Supplement article index: Community Service

Chess as a confrontation between two players is just a small subset of a larger chessboard and chessmen universe. Chess problems are a delightful close cousin to the board game and are mostly awfully devilish too. Newcomers frequently need some sort of guidance to enjoy them and there are some good books on chess problem solving out there. However, one great resource that has been recently made available for free is the The Problemist Supplement. Over the years it has accumulated a trove of articles related to solving, composing and enjoyment. As a community service I've decided to index the articles from issue 1 to the time of this post for easy reference.  The supplements themselves can be found here: http://www.theproblemist.org/the-problemist. A complete index on the flagship publication can be found there as well. 

Comet B68 engine for endgame training

I want today to give a shoutout to the Comet B68 chess engine. Might not be the best or perhaps not even among the top 100, but its peculiarities makes it an estimable companion for endgame training.

Nowadays top engines, will generally put an obstinate fight on endgame positions (no tablebases)  coming up with strong moves consistently. That's fine on one level, but that's also unhumanlike. Humans will try a variety of plausible moves and, if inspired, try to bamboozle or swindle.  The Comet engine , unlike the stronger engines that share too much DNA, will try approaches that may not be objectively the best, but that will still pose problems to the opponent, even more if he is mechanically playing. That is a plus for endgame training as it keeps the player on his toes. The most dangerous opponents are frequently those that are devious or who don't know better.

So far I've not been able to find another engine with similar characteristics, if you know of one,  please let us know.

According to computerchess.org.uk Comet has an estimated rating of 2396 as of August 2014 and can be downloaded for free at http://wbec-ridderkerk.nl/html/details1/Comet.html

Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual: Chessbase version

Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual could be the book to go next after mastering the material of the any of the basic endgame books (I recommend Silman's). The contents are systematic and highlight what is important and what's not. Ratingwise I would discourage anyone below 1900 to read it however as these players could profit more from focusing more on tactics and saving this one for later. I myself am enjoying Müller's and Lamprecht's Secrets of Pawn Endings at this time, but wanted to give a quick comment on Dvoretsky's anyway.

You might not be aware of this but there exists a Chessbase electronic version of the book. Today I give it a look at its pros and cons.

Pros

• Costs about the same as the printed version

• The positions are organized in standard Chessbase format. These can be studied one at a time as in the printed book, and can also be sorted, searched, edited, etc.

• Dvoretsky's "precise positions" (ie the most important ones) are given a medal for easy identification. So are exercises, piece play and others. This replicates what he does with font color and formatting in the printed version

• Engine support

• Tablebase interaction (not checked this one though)

• Ease of replay

• The text color appears to be less of an issue here. Some complain the light blue text on the printed work is hard to read.

• Each exercise is given a line of its own, which stops accidental peeking at the answers

• Chessbase Endgame and Strategy keys which help zero in the material of interest

• Has an included reader

Cons

• The material is there, sure, but feels bit forced into the chessbase format.

• The included reader (Chessbase 7.0 reader) gets the job done, but is limited in comparison with the standard Chessbase database programs; better get one of the latter

• It is not clear what edition the Manual is for this version. My guess is that it is not the latest

• Need of a screen. Probably this one the biggest one. Printed text & diagrams feel much better and portability could be an issue.

By the looks of it this version wins almost hands down. On the other hand, at least for me, a lit screen feels unnatural. On the third hand one is understandably justified in not wanting to expend double just to get the best of both worlds.

A compromise

There is a way of sorts to have your cake and eat it too. If you own the standalone Chessbase program or the light version, you can select all the positions from the games tab and send that to print. Using a virtual printer, such as DoPdf, you can convert the output into a PDF and transfer that to a e-reader. Unnumbered text lines won't print directly and must be done and sorted by hand (more on the tools here). Also, medals won't print, but you can get around this by pre-annotating each position with the proper medal info in the annotator field.

*Sidebar*

Here's how the medals correspond to the text as far I can tell:

Medal	Text
Gold	Blue text: Most important positions
Grey	Tragicomedy
Light green	Playthrough
Light green+dark green	One move at a time exercise
Dark blue	Theoretical
Dark green	Exercises
Teal	On your own exercises labeled '?'
None	Regular black text

Cblight

Reader

Wishlist for a Chessbase endgame challenge database

The people over at Chessbase have a quite nice selection of training software. These, along with the ones from other providers, such as Chess Assistant, oftentimes prove superior to printed materials because of chess engine and database support, digital organization and the occasional multimedia features such as highlights and video commentary (tiring your eyes by looking at a screen is the biggest downside, but that's off-topic).

From Dvoretsky's manual

Taking a look at their endgame software selection I cannot help but feel there is  gap in there: the lack of a proper endgame challenge database. Let's examine what they do have: there are the Karsten Müller series, now past a dozen; a couple of DVDs by Danny King; Dvoretsky's manual, which in Chessbase media might be its best embodiment; and Kasimdzhanov's Endgames for Experts; all of these, instructional. In light of this, I believe it is high time for them to prepare a database program that tests or challenges the player on the wide-ranging fields of the endgame. Here's my wishlist:

Must:

• Be at least a couple thousands big. Up to a point, the bigger the better. Would-be solvers need a room to exercise
• Be categorized, probably supported by the endgame key features
• Include all areas, not just, say, rook or pawn endings
• Resist the temptation to include studies for difficulty's or beauty's sake. Include them, by all means, only when illustrative of the theme at hand.
• Allow solving, but of course

Should:

• Be in standard *.cbh format
• Include exercises all the way to master strength and, perhaps, just a bit beyond
• Offer some sort of solving ladder such as by difficulty (good) or rating bracket (best perhaps). All the material lumped together wouldn't do
• Offer commentary and/or variations on key positions in a way that clarifies the theme, and on possible, relevant alternatives
• Allow the solver to test herself on a theme or, if possible, on a random mix of several
• Be affordable
• Not be spread over several volumes. Everything fits on a single DVD

Many of these features already exist in the competing Convekta product Chess Endgame Training by IM Alpert, which has an over a decade head start over Chessbase. What brings this one down are the clunky Convekta conventions that can be painful to use.

Go on Chessbase! Show us!

Side note: if studies are your thing, check out Harold van der Heijden's superb database at http://www.hhdbiv.nl/

Chess Endgames by Polgar review: Endgames 2

If you have been playing chess for a while, you might probably have come across Laszlo Polgar's huge volume Chess: 5333+1. At least one member of any chess team or club seems to have one at hand. Unbeknownst to many, Polgar released similarly sized volumes on the middlegame, reform chess and the endgame. When I finally found the latter in a bookstore, there was a big stack of them. I promptly bought three copies for around $20 each, and would have bought more, had I had an extra chance.

Endgames is an absolutely beautiful book. Hardcover, sewn spine, attractive dust jacket, cream-colored pages and so on. I even like the smell. Like its siblings, it has six diagrams per page and encourages solving.

It is also very large and heavy book, weighing over 3 pounds and that's its downfall. If you only want it to ogle over it, it's fine. It looks superbly on the coffee table or on a shelf. But if you really want to sit down and go over the problems, it is a hassle. The solutions are at the end of the book and you have to turn several hundred weighty pages to find the one for the problem you're working on. And the solutions are not single moves like most from 5333+1; these are full-fledged, sporting variations and sometimes sub variations, some so long, that can fill a whole column  making it also easy to lose your place. Annotations are in the universal informant sign language with no other clarifying text. In view of this, you have to set the position on a chessboard and somehow fit the book on the same table at the same time. This arrangement is not limited to this volume as it also applies to the middlegames book. An accompanying electronic version would solve many of these problems, but there isn't any; and I have checked thoroughly on the net. I had to make do with preparing my own digital versions (positions and chess engine support in Chessbase format and solutions on PDF) for the first two sections and I am plowing through these now.

The contents are diverse and range from the very basic to the odd. In fact, there are 171 themes all told. No endgame enthusiast would be disappointed in the selection. Most of the problems lean towards hard.

Nowadays, this is a rare book. I think the publisher, Könemann,  has gone under. The few copies that can be obtained at sites like Amazon or eBay start around $80 and it is not uncommon to see them over $100. As far as I can tell, no republishing is in the works. Cheaper units can still be purchased at Amazon's French site, http://www.amazon.fr/, and shipped to America (this is in fact what I did when I got the middlegames volume around 2004).

Wrapping up: As an object or as a collectible, this book is not really a must have, but it is certainly very attractive. If you happen to find it in mint condition and at a respectable price, snatch it. For challenge, look no further. For instruction, look somewhere else.

Silman's Complete Endgame Course review: Endgames 1

This is just an opinion, but I think I'm not too far off: chess endings are the most difficult phase of the game. Paraphrasing from the back cover of Polgar's Chess Endgames: "'Fewer pieces, fewer problems' Endgames are proof that this is not the case". Minefields abound, proper tempo calculation is needed, apparently few players bother. This is an opportunity! If one could master, or at least get hold of the ropes, one could confidently, safely anchored in theory, steer the game to an endgame and just watch the opponent flounder and sink.

There is yet another obstacle to be surmounted. To use the theory, one must learn it first and many of the books and software out there are beyond even reasonably rated players. I think I have found the book that can get us over the hump.

Silman's Complete Endgame Course is one of the most popular endgame books nowadays and with reason. Mr. Silman is a US player, coach and an International Master. Also, he has a clear and very agreeable writing style. His Understanding Chess  column in Chess Life was one of my favorites back in the 90s. His endgame course book is very unlike others in the field. Instead of starting with pawn endgames and then moving on to minor and major pieces endgames, he rather organizes his material according to player's strength. This is the key of this book. You only have to read when it's appropriate for your level and then move on as your strength increases. Why is this important? First, as said, endgames are very tricky. Starting off at pawn endgames, which are the trickiest of all, can demoralize the reader and even if he somewhat manages to go through the material, it is unlikely to help him much if his strength is not on par with what he just read. Second, lower rated players are the least likely to survive into an endgame. They will probably blast or get blasted in the opening or middlegame, and so need the least amount of knowledge. Better start modestly: If one perseveres, one can learn a little more, and then a little more; all according to what one may need most at any given time.

Chess is meant to be fun, and it is no fun when you have to go through reams of variations which do not relate to you. That's another aspect of this book. Only what is relevant is given. Other manuals and books seem to be easily waylaid by beautiful variations or artistic concepts, which ultimately have little practical value. All these are nixed here. The concept is explained and the main line plus two or three relevant variations are given; not more. So, at the end (wink) what must be remembered is very compact.

At the conclusion of each rating section there is a chapter summary and some problems for the reader to solve and check his grasp on the concepts. The last two sections do not have problems and are somewhat different than the rest. The first one is geared to master level players and explains some useful strategic ideas rather than concrete configurations. The other one gives chess endgames to enjoy from the greatest endgame players according to the author and some funny tactics & situations. An always useful further reading section is also included at the very last.

Having read the whole book, I can say that it really encourages progress. I find it hard to find anything wrong with it. The book size is a minor problem. Two or three positions are scarier than what the author reveals (these are #279, 287 and 291). Does the course  really work? Effort and time wise I would say it really does. You just skip all other alternatives and get directly to the juicy parts. Performance wise, in my experience, I have better results now, but still feel I need refreshers, either by rechecking the material or looking for more exercises elsewhere, but my guess is that this would also be true for other books.

Best endgame instruction I've seen so far


The Table of Contents can be found here

Chess Program: Intensive Course Tactics 1

I wonder how the great chess masters of the past got their high levels of proficiency. It isn't that their skills are duller than what we see nowadays. Say, a three-move combination looks as good now as it did back then. So how did they train? How did the Morphys and Alekhines got to be so good? Having not researched the question, I can give no definite answer, but we can be sure that they had a harder time than we have now. You see, if they wanted to find a certain game, I feel pretty sure that they had at least to go to their local library, or perhaps send letters around to see if someone had the game or book they were looking for; all with large amounts of wasted time. Practice, practice, practice must have been a pivotal piece to improve their natural abilities, whatever those might have been. Now then, we don't have to go the same way as they did, do we? The goal is still the same, but we have now the benefit of over two centuries of accumulated chess to draw upon and, best of all, the miracle of personal computers.

I'll discuss more of chess tactics in future posts, but for now let's assume they are of high importance. If you want to get better at chess, you'd better have more than a good feel for tactics. The easiest way to improve in them is to solve chess puzzles (another, may be playing lots of blitz games) and for that you need to get hold of a collection of such puzzles.

Intensive Course Tactics I by George Renko for Chessbase is such a collection. It holds over 4000 tactical exercises divided  in 104 themes. Each theme illustrates a tactical motif. The themes themselves are grouped into two parts:  1) direct methods, where the tactical motifs work directly such as a fork, pin, entrapment or skewer; and 2) support methods, where you have to prepare the position first to enable a direct method tactic, such as by interference, deflection, or decoy. The first few examples of each category illustrate the motif. Those positions that follow, typically in the dozens, are for you to solve.



On CbLight 2009



Solving relies on the Chessbase training feature, where you are given a certain amount of time and a par score for each correct move. More time and points are granted for more difficult problems. If you cannot solve the current problem correctly on the first try, you're given the opportunity to try again or to see the solution. Or, if you wish to verify or have an idea of your own you can fire up a chess engine and see what it has to say. There are some groups of exercises where all the previous motifs are mixed. In these  you're not given any hint as to what is the tactical motif. I use these separate exercises to verify my progress because these are closer to actual gameplay.



Included reader



The course has very little text, and that is a good thing because it is focused on solving. When relevant, you are given variants and symbolic evaluations. On some positions there are even graphical notations such as arrows and highlighted squares. 

To go through the exercises you do not need to have a previous Chessbase product such as the database program or Fritz, but I would recommend you do. There is an included Windows reader, but looks like something from circa 1998.

The only other downside that I can find is that the positions do not allow for alternate solutions. If you do not give Renko's intended move, you get no points, even if your solution is equal or better. My guess is that there are about 200 of these positions scattered around the course.

Rating-wise, I would recommend this to players rated 1300-2000, but higher non-titled players can also benefit.

If you can find it, it costs about $25. Highly recommended.

PS In case you master the material in this course, there are three further discs by the same author. Intensive Course Tactics 2, deals with forcing moves. Killer Moves explores multipurpose moves. Deadly Threats, looks at quiet, non-forcing moves.