I didn't think it was that good.
Polgar's 5334 Problems
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I don't know. I've never had the opportunity to look at it. I have seen a version in Chinese, but, well, it was Greek to me.
If ya got girl problems, I fill bad for ya son, I got 99 problems,
but Polgar's 5334 problems ain't one.
It's just Tactics Trainer for mate-in-twos. It really doesn't teach anyone chess.
Agreed, Dr. Spudnik.
With the online tactics training available, the book is a dinosaur. And it never was as good as The Encyclopedia of of Chess Combinations published by Astrel (Moscow) or The Encyclopedia of Chess Middlegames/Combinations published by Informant (Belgrade).
In fact, one of my favorite chess puzzle books is The Ultimate Chess Puzzle Book by John Emms.
Polgar's book was expensive and not very useful, except as a resource for mate in 2 and mate in 3 puzzles.
It makes a nice doorstop.
I have it, and I spent a lot of mornings using it about ten years ago. I went through all of the mate in ones, and about 1500 of the mate in twos. It also has mate in threes, and a nice appendix of Polgar sister's early games arranged by attacking motif.
Most interesting about this book is the authorship. Susan has been reported as claiming it is her work, but that her father's name was recorded as the author because she was still a minor when the book was first published.
You can use it for lateral raises if you don't have the weights.
I like to read chess books for the pictures!
I like Polgar's 5334. You get a lot of good puzzles for cheap. I don't know why everyone is saying that it is expensive. I bought the hardcover 15 or 16 years back at Barnes and Noble for like $7. When I saw the huge book in the discount area near the cash registers I bought it along with the jazz CDs I was buying. I never saw the paper back but the hardcover is nice, cheap and loaded with puzzles.
Of course now you can just go online to any one of a dozen sites and work on puzzles but back in the day you couldn't, I still use mine daily. If you work all day in front of a computer, it is nice to just kick back with the big Polgar book on the couch and give your eyes a break from the retina burn from staring at backlight monitors and tablets.
I stand corrected, it will be hardcover, according to Amazon. 24 bucks. Free shipping if you have prime. I'm not finding it for sale anywhere else, except at high prices that I won't pay. I don't have the premium membership here, so TT is quite limited. Also, I am a book person. I will likely get it. Is it really only mate in 2's and mate in 3's? Are there no other types of puzzles?
The title of the thread asks for a Jay-Z quote..
It's a good book, and I'm pretty sure my play improved a lot after doing most of the puzzles. The only thing I disliked about it was that some of the puzzle positions were already clearly winning whatever you played :P but overall I found it very useful.
@tfulk the puzzles include m1s, m2s, m3s, endgame puzzles, middlegame combinations and game miniatures with combinations on f3/f6, g3/g6, h3/h6, f2/f7, g2/g7 and h2/h7.
Marsalone wrote:
I like Polgar's 5334. You get a lot of good puzzles for cheap. I don't know why everyone is saying that it is expensive. I bought the hardcover 15 or 16 years back at Barnes and Noble for like $7. When I saw the huge book in the discount area near the cash registers I bought it along with the jazz CDs I was buying. I never saw the paper back but the hardcover is nice, cheap and loaded with puzzles.
Of course now you can just go online to any one of a dozen sites and work on puzzles but back in the day you couldn't, I still use mine daily. If you work all day in front of a computer, it is nice to just kick back with the big Polgar book on the couch and give your eyes a break from the retina burn from staring at backlight monitors and tablets.
That was 15-16 years ago. I saw it in the bookstore a few months ago for (i think) $50+.
That comes out to about a penny a problem, plus you get the solutions for free, but i didn't think it was worth it.
(I'll have to look again when i get the chance. I might have mixed up the price i saw in person and one i saw more recently online.)
I bought the book for about five dollars three or four years ago (used paperback). I wouldn't pay more than ten today.
It's not that the book doesn't have value. There are just better tactics books available that aren't as expensive.
SmyslovFan wrote:
It's not that the book doesn't have value. There are just better tactics books available that aren't as expensive.
I agree, this book is perfect if you want to get checkmates (mate in one, two, three, etc) into your brain by doing puzzles. If you are looking for a general tactics book then you should look elsewhere.
I have just seen a notice on Amazon that this book is being re-released in paperback on August 13th of this year. It is pretty exciting, as it is very expensive to purchase in any current form. At least, I haven't found it anywhere.