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Chessville
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Chess is a complex game, I doubt there is much of an argument about that. I have less certainty as to whether we play because of that complexity or in spite of it. Progressing through chess is a tidal effect of emotion as we improve and find accomplishment, then run into barriers that cause us to feel failure. The complexity is more than just a puzzle that perplexes us until we find a solution that turns out to be fairly simple. Yes, we have all found those kinds of situations in chess, the solution seems simple once we know it. Yet, the maze of chess is not solved with a simple algorithm of any sort, at least not for humans. In reality, it is a number of complexities that exist in chess. As improving players it seems that we have barely conquered one idea or concept and another appears. The number of terms used in chess spans generations or players and the languages they speak. Opening, middlegame, endgame, zugzwang, en passant, fianchetto, tabiya, prophylaxis, doubled pawns, passed pawns, strongpoint, bad bishop, good knight,... it seems endless. Still, in the end there we are sitting at the board with our heads in our hands trying to find the right move. Perhaps the right concept will give us some clue, but it doesn't matter as the clock ticks away. How do we prepare for this setting? "Practical Chess Exercises" aims to help us with such situations. The author, Ray Cheng, relates that he had been working at chess and found the problem solving books to have an inherent problem. Problem books start out telling the reader what to expect. If you get an endgame problem book, it is not likely to have rook sacrifices and conversely if you have a tactics book there isn't much chance of solving a queen-and-pawn versus queen ending. This book presents 600 "problems" that could potentially fall into any category. There aren't any groupings or specific arrangement to the problems, endgames in with tactics in with defense and even opening positions. This is quite a good idea as it introduces the bite of uncertainty to solving the problems. In other words, the reader is deprived of the little bit of extra info that most of us lazy players lean on when we are going through problem books. Diminishing the complacency that can become standard for improving players is worth reading this book alone. Aiming to contend with most aspects of the game lends an extra value to solving the problems. More than a couple of times I concluded that I didn't understand what was expected in a problem and would settle for some "improve my position" move, only to find that either my move was the solution or on the right track without being the most efficient. This is very good for improving players (I guess I am one) because it will go a long way to establishing self confidence in the ability to judge positions. I can't say that this is the first time that I have run into this sensation, but I think this might be the first book that was trying to do that. The quality of the problems themselves is quite good and I want to thank the author for putting the solutions on the opposite page from the problems. I would have preferred the solutions on the back of the page, I kept sneaking a peek across the book to see if I was close. Still, much better than having 100 pages between the problem and the solution.
A friend of mine who was a very
strong player once said that "... winning in chess comes down to finding
tough moves in tough positions...". During the conversation we didn't delve
into what it takes to get to such positions and that would be the subject
for another book, or probably it already has. The ability to find such
moves is a very valuable tool to any player and this book goes quite a long
way toward honing that tool. I would recommend this book to any player
under 2200 USCF without hesitation.
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