Description

Prepare to be challenged.

200 chess puzzles taken from real games, drawn from some of the hardest positions in the collection.

There is no theme to guide you and nothing to tell you what to look for. Some positions will be short, while many will require deep calculation. Some may even leave you stumped. Welcome to the challenge.

Each puzzle has its own page, with ruled space underneath to write out your move and your opponent’s reply in pencil. Working through the full line on paper teaches you to see the board from your opponent’s perspective too. It’s also great training for writing your moves in over the board tournaments.

The solutions identify the tactical motifs involved using labelled tags, and the terminology is explained in the glossary. At this level, the patterns can be harder to spot – and one tactical idea may set up another. Building this pattern recognition can make the difference between spotting the winning idea or missing it completely.

Answers come after every nine puzzles, so they are always close at hand. The difficulty is shown with the answer, not the puzzle, because no one tells you over the board how hard a position is supposed to be. This extra challenge will help train your evaluation skills alongside your tactics. Every solution has been checked with Stockfish, a powerful chess engine.

The toughest book in the series, small enough to take anywhere.