Practical Chess Exercises: 600... (book review #3)
Submitted by on Sun, 07/13/2008 at 7:31pm.
[Recommended USCF rating: 1400-2000]
Practical Chess Exercises: 600 Lessons from Tactics to Strategy ($12 at Amazon) is an excellent book that will keep you occupied and improve your in-game analysis. In beautiful format, the author lays out 600 exercises without any hints whatsoever. After all, in a real game no one is tapping you on the shoulder saying "hey, don't you see the double attack?". This book, with no clues, forces you to evaluate the position and decide on the best move.
I recommend you take your time to slowly go through each problem, set it up over the board and work through it. If you can cover all 600 problems and understand why/what (as opposed to just reading it in passing at the beach or commuting before moving on the next issue of Chess Life), you're likely to see a 100-200 point rating improvement (especailly if you are toward the lower end of the USCF recommended range). If you don't, re-read the book. :)
Best,
Ezra