Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games by Laszlo Polgar
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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.
Book Review: Great piece cooperation manual!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a scholastic chess coach, teaching kids from how the pieces move all the way up to about 1500-rated. I now require every student to have his or her own copy of this book! This school year, my students (cumulatively) completed more than 5000 of these puzzles, some more than 500 individually.
Polgar doesn't have a lot of text here to read, just tons of puzzles, most of which are game-likely situations. One of the hardest things to teach students is often board vision and cooperation of pieces into attacks and mating attacks. Through repetition, this book helps players learn the patterns that will present them opportunities in their tournament games. My players that are serious about their improvement have, without exception, found that this book has bumped their ratings at least 200 points (some 400 points!) in less than a year!
As a coach, I have found that offering internal club recognition for completing puzzles such as these also improved club-wide interest. Additionally, many of the puzzles you find elsewhere, whether in a book or on-line, will have escape possibilities from the stated "mate-in-two" or other move numbers. Of the 5334 puzzles in this book, my students and I have only found ONE with such a problem!
I would not hesitate to give this book the highest possible review rating as a teaching manual - you don't need to re-write the book when Lazlo has already done it for you
Book Review: Real Understanding
Summary: 5 Stars
To become a virtuoso in anything, the key is practice. Scarlatti wrote piano studies that were challenging, taught the basics of music theory through the composition, and sounded beautiful at the same time. Not all of the puzzles in this book are beautiful, but then neither are the positions I sometimes seem to find myself in when playing a 1300+ player. The thing I noticed about these puzzles is that they are very carefully organized, showing you every way a particular piece can mate with just a pawn companion, for example. In other words, variations. I have found myself beginning to understand the power and limitations of the pieces and pawns in a much deeper way. My latest tournament games were 30 minute games lost only because my opponents were able to avoid the inevitable mate by playing for time instead of any real equality. I need to speed up my calculation a bit, but my tactics are sound. This book will remain within reach as long as I am playing competitve chess.Book Review: My "desert island" chess book
Summary: 5 Stars
This thing is awesome. I bought it just to put my order over the free shipping limit, and it's huge! Guess I should have guessed that of a book with 5334 chess problems. Unlike many books of this sort, I have not yet found a single error after working many problems, which totally undermines the value of the books that harbor them. It has a great variety of problems for all levels and moods. Sometimes I just want a quick-paced workout, going from one tactical problem to the next. The mate in one and mate in two problems are wonderful for that. When I feel particularly well-focused, I can attempt the games. Should I ever actually complete all the puzzles in this book - which I seriously doubt - by that time I'm sure I can start over and they'll all be perfectly fresh again. A book of truly inexhaustible value.Book Review: Excellent!
Summary: 5 Stars
Board visualization can be achieved and mastered through daily use of this book. When you have gone through the examples in a progressive manner, mate-in-ones, twos, threes, etc, you start to develop an appreciation for and realize the necessity to analyze moves out beyond one or two steps. If you are going to get good, you simply must be able to do this. Sometimes my head literally gets hot from racking my brains trying to figure out some of the solutions, but it is necessary. The problems WILL get easier with time and your game WILL improve. No one said 'good' Chess was easy; but this book, taken with the right attitude and realization that it will take years to finish it, will certainly improve your game and your ability to focus.