Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games
by Laszlo Polgar
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Book Summary Information
Author: Laszlo PolgarIntroduction: Bruce Pandolfini
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-01-06
ISBN: 1579125549
Number of pages: 1104
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
Book Reviews of Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games
Book Review: A Book You Live With
Summary: 5 Stars
I own this book and like many that do I have only scratched the surface. I have done the ~300 mates in one, working on the mates in two from the combo section, and have played through about 20 of the miniatures toward the back. I am a tournament player currently rated about 1050 so my review reflects this. I am also a professional educator finishing my Masters degree so I also know good instruction when I see it.
So why should you buy this book, and if you are rated below 1600 you probably should. Mr. Polgar had three children and all three reached the top level of chess. Susan Polgar is the highest rated women's chess player in the US. Judit Polgar is the highest rated women's player in the world and a candidate for the World Championship cycle. So we know that Mr. Polgar knows how to create great chess players. The excellent number of varied problems is also fabulous. In what other book can you find hundreds of mates in one, mates in two for both colors, miniatures that focus on specific squares for mating, and endgame problems? The answer is of course: none.
This is a book were you find a theme to work on, like mates in two or attacks against the f7 square and work on it for a few months [because there are that many problems] then move onto something else. You pull out this book every night and do 12 - 24 mates in one and try to know them instead of calculate them. You set up a won position on Fritz and try to keep the advantage one afternoon. In other words you live with this book because the material helps keep you tactically sharp on every level.
One gripe about the book would be about the solutions. Having one ply [1/2 a move] for an answer is fine for mates in one and adequate for mates in two, but I find myself using software to see complete solutions to some of the problems because I still get stuck [remember I am rated 1050]. This has really not been much of an issue and the book is already so large I can barely imagine what it would look like with lots of variations in the solution section.
So buy this book, tag the different sections, work on something interesting or a weakness, and keep your homework fun. You may not need to buy another tactics book for several years.
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