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Is this book a wise purchase?

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7th June 2008, 10:50am
#1
by sconie
Virginia United States
Member Since: Jun 2007
Member Points: 53

The book is Predator at the Chessboard A Field Guide to Chess Tactics (Book 1) by Ward Farnsworth.  I am a chess novice and trying to improve my game.

7th June 2008, 11:00am
#2
by ashdown33
Mesa United States
Member Since: Apr 2008
Member Points: 10
I've never seen that book but it may be good. 2 books that really helped my game are "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess", by Bobby Fischer and "Attacking Chess", by Josh Waitzkin. You can find both on ebay or amazon for about $5.
7th June 2008, 11:11am
#3
by likesforests
United States
Member Since: May 2007
Member Points: 2981

sconie, I have gone through 50% of his course and yes it's excellent if your goal is either to learn the basic tactical motifs or improve your ability to spot them.

A couple things I particularly like about his approach is, he provides fast scanning tips and for each problem he spends a paragraph explaining what thought process(es) would have helped you find the correct solution. I've also corresponded with him and he seems like a nice fellow. Note, I took the 'online' version of his course.

I looked at your game against eshultz, and while your tactics were much stronger than your opponent, they could still use some sharpening so this book would be a reasonable choice for your chess improvement effort.


7th June 2008, 11:39am
#4
by Niven42
West Lafayette, Indiana United States
Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 271
ashdown33 wrote: I've never seen that book but it may be good. 2 books that really helped my game are "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess", by Bobby Fischer and "Attacking Chess", by Josh Waitzkin. You can find both on ebay or amazon for about $5.

I have both of those and they are really good.  I also like "The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played" by Irving Chernev and "How to Beat Your Dad at Chess" by Murray Chandler, which looks like it would be for kids, but is really geared towards helping anyone win against someone who they've never been able to beat.  It covers all the basic checkmates, many of which are obscure to beginners but masters can see them at a glance.  But all of them are really geared towards the endgame, so if you can find a decent book on tactics, it should be able to fill the gaps in your education.  The Tactics Trainer here (on Chess.com) is also quite good.  Opening theory is covered in "Modern Chess Openings" by Walter Korn/Nick DeFirmian.  Or you could spend some time on Wikipedia or YouTube.


7th June 2008, 11:48am
#5
by Clavius
Oregon United States
Member Since: Mar 2008
Member Points: 267
I like Farnsworth's material and the book has received good reviews.  There is a free on-line version of his work at http://www.chesstactics.org/  As a novice you are right to focus on tactics training above all.
7th June 2008, 10:37pm
#6
by sconie
Virginia United States
Member Since: Jun 2007
Member Points: 53
I want to thank everyone for taking the time to reply to my post.  All advise is greatly  appreciated. 
 

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