In our club there is a great book collection of chess. No matter their age - from any years to more than a century, it is needed to be care in some cases -, language maybe a temporal problem to translate the comments (I don't understand german, for example), but these books are a great treasure, no doubt! 
Mmm... really they are? Is licit to ask ourselves a critical question... some of these books - any of them from XIX century! - are really a "practical" option for a training, for example? 
In other words: it will be more appropiate turn on the computer and databases or take an insight to modern publications? They are a lot of magazines of various languages too...
Last week, seeing the vaste library in a free-time between trainings, I feel an odd sensation... I have learned - and advanced - in chess thanks to many of these books!
Yes, I spent my time solving tactic positions, reading about openings, seeing the best tournaments of chess history, maybe even I have read about any people who is here today... with some of them 
As anyone knows there are always interesting things inside a book. So, in his calm silence, my computer agrees with me to pay tribute to these fellow team members...
And what was at the beginning? No, please, no order... choose freely! Ok, anyway in my beginnig I had... Modern chess tactics (I and II), written by Czeschoslovakian grandmaster Ludek Pachman.
We will see any position which refresh my "historic" memory. Even today I find these tactical resources really valuables 
Ok, come on inside!
This position appears in page 18 of the above cited book.
White want to play Be3-d4, taking the great diagonal, in a good opportunity. But first they must defend d5 pawn. It is no possible with c3-c4 because Rb8 could take b4 pawn. So, Bb3 and after Be3-d4 is the idea.
Black hound this pawn with
21... Qf7! 22.Be3 Nf6! 23.Bb3 Bb7 Just in time! Now the game continued 24.Rd1 and, after a little tactic tricks, black eventually won. But Pachman comments an interesting variation:
24.c4 Bc8! (menacing b4 pawn) 25.Bd2 Ne4 26.Be1 Qf6, and black pieces have returned to their initial position! 
At this moment Pachman ends the analysis, saying a great true: white bishop have not reached d4 square...
We will see this variation, and possible best moves, with comments:
First time I saw next position was in this book and I got very surprised.
An incredible position, which remembers a wild Alekhine opening in "the match of the century" - the World's championship Spasski-Fischer - in 1972. It is black turn, what's the correct move?
Fischer played 24... Qg1+? and after 25.Kd2 black queen could be taken... with check! So, after any moves black resigned...
Pachman comments an interesting possibility. 24... Rf4! and other piece is participating in the attack, menacing:
1) 25... Rxe4+ or the real idea
2) 25... Rg4-g1+.
But what if 25.Bf1 Qg1, threating to take the bishop with check with Qxf1+, because the queen can not be eaten (Rh1 will be chekmate)?
Well... the wonderful solution that Pachman found is... to ignore it!!
In a "crazy" way, white turn your face to the queenside - and that knight - playing "with relax" 26.dxc6!! and now:
a) 26... Qxf1+ 27.Kd2! Rxf2+ 28.Ke3!, winning. If someone make you a check, to take this piece is not the single alternative! :-)
b) On the other hand 26... Rxe4+ gives to white a great compensation for the queen: 27.Kd2 Rxf2+ 28.Kc3 Rxc2+ 29.Kxc2.
Obviously Pachman have not an engine inside a computer... and logically he made mistakes. He was human, after all! Merit is even more great, I think.
Ok, but how a lot of combinations reveal, any details show many steps to the solution! We know that:
a) white survives because they have enough compensation for the queen and
b) it occurs because the Nc6 is taken... so...
24... exd5! 25.exd5 Ne7! 26.Bf1 Qg1! was the correct way, to take the Bf1, and black will win the game.
After this first move white could play 25.Qxc6, but Qg1+ 26.Kd2 Qxf2+, and the bishop on b2 will be out of the board...
We can see the analysis:
Next diagram - page 76 - shows a beautiful ending for a tactical position, using the "stair" (as I think is naming it).
A task which is not easy to make, because one great move (very difficult to see, or it was for me in that time...
) may get that black draws!
As he said before, this book was recommended for training our tactics - me and my brother -. So, finishing the chapter about a topic - columns and seven rank, for example - we found games in relation with it and exercises.
Any exercises are difficult, sure, but always was possible to see the solutions, no? Well, the answer is noooooo!!
If any analysis had mistakes and a solution requires it... bufff At any moments, it could be surrealistic. For example, let see one of them:
- Mmm... white play and win, George!
- Ok, give me a while...
- a while...
- a while...
- a while
I was not a great tactician - now neither - but, after take a "deep" insight to 1.Rg7+ Kh8 2.Nf8
black don't capture the rook, playing to the counter-attack:
2... Te1+ and now:
a) 3.Kf2 Re2+ may be terrible if white goes with 4.Kf3?? Ra3+ 5.Kf4 Rf2 checkmate! If not checks until the eternity...
b) 3.Kg2 Rxa2+ 4.Kf3 Bd5+ 5.Kf4 Rf2++
So,
if the problem was the lateral checks with Ra8 I found an excellent move - or I think so -, treating really Rg7+ and Nf8!! After it, it will be a play to make checkmate with two rooks...
This move was
1.a4!! ,closing the a-column if black capture with b-pawn
, but I found that white was not winning yet! Unhappy, I ran to the solution... but it only have the final of the game!
Jeje, the game ended with
1.a4!! bxa3?? 2.Rg7+ Kh8 3.Nf8! and black resigned.
But 1... Rae8! or even 1... f4! must be more strong moves. Playing very careful white could achieve a draw... and thanks.
Finally, in my "openings preparation" - if it was a sort of this - a saw in other book by Pachman - the sicilian opening - a cute line to play with black. I was about to play when... agggggg
there was an intermediate-devastating move!
You can see the line:
Now the book comment
9.f3 Qxa8!, with any compensation for the exchange(no problem with it, Topalov forgot a lot of rooks at this way!
) or
9.Bf3 Nxf3+ 10.Nxf3 Qa8! with similar results.
But it is not gold all that sparkle, and fortunately I found
9.Bc6+!! and black are completely losing. Uff!!
Ok, I hope you like this article, and maybe even is possible you can read this book, which before, now and after this article will continue being a jewel.
Thanks for your time, have a nice week!