Chess Tactics for Champions: A step-by-step guide to using tactics and combinations the Polgar way
- Downloads：8939
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-09-04 09:55:31
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Susan Polgar
- ISBN：081293671X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
Susan Polgar became the first female Grandmaster at age 15—and it wasn't luck that got her there。 Her use of tactics， combinations， and strategy during her games gave her the critical advantage she needed against her opponents。 In Chess Tactics for Champions， Polgar gives insight into the kind of thinking that chess champions rely on while playing the game， specifically the ability to recognize patterns and combinations。 With coauthor Paul Truong， Susan Polgar teaches the tactics she learned from her father， Laszlo Polgar， one of the world's best chess coaches。
• Teaches players how to calculate the effect of a move in order to gain an edge over an opponent
• For intermediate to advanced chess players of all ages
• Teaches players how to calculate the effect of a move in order to gain an edge over an opponent
• For intermediate to advanced chess players of all ages
Reviews
Caroline
，
I bought this book a while ago， when I was quite new to chess， and was frustrated because I couldn’t solve any of the problems in it。 Since it bothers to explain how each tactical technique works， e。g。 forking is attacking two pieces at once， I thought the exercises would start with simple applications of those techniques。 Instead they are all at least “two-step” problems。 e。g。 a straightforward fork would be one step， but the problems are something like decoy sacrifice and then fork， or check t I bought this book a while ago， when I was quite new to chess， and was frustrated because I couldn’t solve any of the problems in it。 Since it bothers to explain how each tactical technique works， e。g。 forking is attacking two pieces at once， I thought the exercises would start with simple applications of those techniques。 Instead they are all at least “two-step” problems。 e。g。 a straightforward fork would be one step， but the problems are something like decoy sacrifice and then fork， or check to get to a square with tempo and then fork。 Although two steps isn’t a lot， it was beyond my ability to see a few years ago。It was super gratifying， then， to pick up this book again and find that I can solve many of the problems in it quickly， and most within a few minutes。 They are pretty much the perfect difficulty for me now， since I still get enough wrong to feel like I’m learning。 For reference， my tactics rating on chess。com is about 1700。 Only the chapter "Twenty-Five Famous Combinations" was too much for me。 I couldn't follow most of those examples。Like most tactics books， I wish the problems had been all mixed together rather than separated out by theme。 It's more satisfying to try to find the best move rather than trying to find e。g。 perpetual check in particular。I liked the inclusion of more defensive problems than I’ve seen in other tactics sets。 The last problem set I worked through had perpetual checks and stalemates， which are also present here。 But this book had two chapters with more general defensive thinking - “Game-Saving Combinations” and “Traps and Counter-Traps。”There were a few problems marked “White to move” that should have been “Black to move”: Problem 25 in “Double Check，” Problem 17 in "Trapping Pieces，” Problem 18 in “Mixed Checkmates in Three Moves，” and Problem 14 in “Perpetual Check。” Also the solution for Problem 3 in “Game-Saving Combinations” was wrong。 It seemed to refer to some other problem。Update: After going through these problems a few times， my chess。com tactics rating shot up from about 1700 to about 1850。 I definitely think the book helped。 :） 。。。more
Hallie
，
Excellent book。 Plenty of Great tactics puzzles。 Help me beat my game partner。
Costin Manda
，
I've had some changes in my life lately and more are coming so I took a break from chess， but I found a bit of time to finish this chess puzzle book that I started reading a few months ago， but never quite got around to complete。 Chess Tactics for Champions is not really for champions， but for beginner to intermediate level， or at least this is what it felt like to me。 Susan Polgar chose to structure the book into chapters of about 25 puzzles or examples， each covering some important aspect of c I've had some changes in my life lately and more are coming so I took a break from chess， but I found a bit of time to finish this chess puzzle book that I started reading a few months ago， but never quite got around to complete。 Chess Tactics for Champions is not really for champions， but for beginner to intermediate level， or at least this is what it felt like to me。 Susan Polgar chose to structure the book into chapters of about 25 puzzles or examples， each covering some important aspect of chess tactics。 Here is a list of those chapters:01 - Forks and double attacks02 - Pins03 - Deflection/removing the guard04 - Discoveries05 - Double check06 - Skewers07 - Trapping pieces08 - Decoys09 - Intermediate moves10 - Pawn promotion11 - The back-rank problem12 - Destroying the castled king's protection13 - King chase14 - Mixed checkmates in two moves15 - Mixed checkmates in three moves16 - Mixed checkmates in four moves17 - Game-saving combinations18 - Perpetual check19 - Stalemate20 - Traps and counter traps21 - Sibling positions22 - Twenty-five famous combinationsThe last two chapters are presentational only， but the first 20 contain puzzles that the reader must solve， with solutions at the end of the chapter。 The authors tried to order the chapters by complexity， so that beginners could understand and solve the first chapters and then move over to the more advanced positions， but it is not always so。 It seemed to me that， for most of the chapters， the last two puzzles are especially chosen for the "wow！" factor。The bottom line is that the book is not just something you read。 You solve the puzzles， some are frustrating， some are beautiful， most can be "seen" without a board in front of you - for the last chapter I would advise a board， though - but one can return to this book again and again。 For example myself， once I get around to chess again， I might go through the book， just to get into the solving mindset that is essential to beautiful play。 Now， I don't know how other chess puzzle books are， this being my second chess book I have read， but I imagine some could be a lot better。 However， the structure of Chess Tactics for Champions makes it very easy to use as a reference book。 One thing I felt was missing was pawn play。 Of course， that often enters the category of strategic play， rather than tactical， but still。More about the authors at Wikipedia: Susan Polgar and Paul Truong。 They have been married since 2006。 。。。more
Dave
，
By far the most useful chess book I have ever read。 Tactics， Tactics， Tactics！
Steve Kohn
，
For intermediate players， not beginners or masters。The approach is different from every other book on chess I've seen。 We're introduced to a topic - forks， for example， or "the back-rank problem" - and then given from 25 to 50 challenges - pieces set up in the middle of a game - and tasked to come up with the right next move。 These little mental challenges （which， so depressing， I too often fail） make my brain feel like it's just spent a few minutes on the mat with an Olympic wrestler。I LOVE thi For intermediate players， not beginners or masters。The approach is different from every other book on chess I've seen。 We're introduced to a topic - forks， for example， or "the back-rank problem" - and then given from 25 to 50 challenges - pieces set up in the middle of a game - and tasked to come up with the right next move。 These little mental challenges （which， so depressing， I too often fail） make my brain feel like it's just spent a few minutes on the mat with an Olympic wrestler。I LOVE this book。 Can see now I've never had ANY idea what I was doing all my life when playing chess。 （Sometime have me tell you what happened when I played， in 1976， the 1975 All Services chess champion。 Hint: it wasn't pretty， and it was very quick。） One thing I clearly see now is that I used to play a foolish game of trapping pieces， of defense， instead of aggressively looking for checkmates through skewers， pins， etc。This book opened my eyes to how chess can be played at a higher level。 It breaks the game down so that strategies can be studied and practiced。 Not mastered; very few of us will ever be able to say that。 But， without a doubt， improved。Edit， 8 October 2017。 Not to compare the books， but one I'm reading now is also excellent for beginner-to-intermediate level players: "Chess for the Gifted & Busy，" by Lev Alburt and Al Lawrence。 Believe it's the one to start with， then to go to Susan Polgar's book。 。。。more
Hotrats
，
Excellent explanations。 Very good puzzles。
Mark Dunn
，
I thought this was a great book。 I wonder if mid level books ，like this one， are hard to find？ Most chess books seem to me to be for beginners or advanced？
Paul Mamani
，
Amazing！To talk about Susan Polgar is to talking about a genius， is to talk about the impossible made possible。Very few people went to beyond the limits， when there were myths and misconceptions about girls IQ and chess。And most relevant in her life- I think – is her father a real educator who trained restless to his two daughters in the art of chess。 How to become simple teenagers in genius。Susan became very successful and famous winning several championships in the universe of chess。Her life i Amazing！To talk about Susan Polgar is to talking about a genius， is to talk about the impossible made possible。Very few people went to beyond the limits， when there were myths and misconceptions about girls IQ and chess。And most relevant in her life- I think – is her father a real educator who trained restless to his two daughters in the art of chess。 How to become simple teenagers in genius。Susan became very successful and famous winning several championships in the universe of chess。Her life is an real inspiration for every person， a life of hard working and perseverance。I´d like to recommend this book to every father and mom 。。。more
Jerry
，
To be honest I am a weak player。 This book was tough。 Very challenging。 I will probably go through this book a few times。 I believe this book would help out a weaker player tremendously。 I have heard stronger players think this a pretty good chess tactics book。
Corey
，
I like the fact that the tactical themes are explained in the beginning of each chapter。 The exercises are good， but there are not enough of them， and there are occasional mistakes-- such as which side is to move。 I would recommend this book for beginners to intermediate players， and Reinfeld's "1001 Combinations" for intermediate to more advanced players。 I like the fact that the tactical themes are explained in the beginning of each chapter。 The exercises are good， but there are not enough of them， and there are occasional mistakes-- such as which side is to move。 I would recommend this book for beginners to intermediate players， and Reinfeld's "1001 Combinations" for intermediate to more advanced players。 。。。more
Andy
，
My rating is around 1600。 I've studied the endgame a bit。 This book by Susan Polgar has helped me to see attacks that otherwise I wouldn't have seen。 I like that this helps me to anticipate attacks as well。 I've suggested my local public library buy a copy of this book。 My rating is around 1600。 I've studied the endgame a bit。 This book by Susan Polgar has helped me to see attacks that otherwise I wouldn't have seen。 I like that this helps me to anticipate attacks as well。 I've suggested my local public library buy a copy of this book。 。。。more
Dan Warren
，
Fantastic stuff for intermediate-level chess players！！ I'd say my chess strength is around 1500-1600 and I found this book to be a good mix of tactical exercises that I found easy， and ones that really stretched my abilities。 Kudos to Susan Polgar for this excellent （and entertaining！） book。 Fantastic stuff for intermediate-level chess players！！ I'd say my chess strength is around 1500-1600 and I found this book to be a good mix of tactical exercises that I found easy， and ones that really stretched my abilities。 Kudos to Susan Polgar for this excellent （and entertaining！） book。 。。。more
Mark
，