Scottrf don't confuse the chess end-point sales folks with the book distributors.
Yusupov vs. Silman
Not always. When you see the same bundle available for the same discount from multiple vendors, then you are looking at a distributor's bundle.
Yep, and the distrubutor forces them to sell it? My point is that the responsibility is with the person who has the contact with the customer.
Actually, the distributor most likely does require they be sold as bundle. If the distributor has that product listed as a single sale item they would not allow it to be broken up if it has a different price point than the items individually.
Further, it is not uncommon when contracting with a vendor for them to require that if you are going to offer one of the distributor's books in a particular market sub-segment, that you have to offer all of the distributor's books in that area.
"How to reasses your chess" will definitely supply you with all the tools you need to solve a position. It's also really easy to read unlike some chess books that just complicates fundamental play.
Back to the original question:
i am just a 1500+ and i don´t find Yusupov's "orange" books that hard...of course they are not a "mate in one" serie and require hard work, but in my humble opinion that is a basic condition you will always need need to improve in chess. They are nicely arranged WORK books, mixing different aspectcs you will inevitably need in your progression: from tactics (of course) to endgame and calculation of variations.
Regarding Silman, nice fellow, but don't you get trapped thinking just because he "talks" a lot, you are really learning what he means...that learning in chess goes, necesarily, through personal, individual, HARD WORKING...so, enjoy your Yusupov's oranges....
I finished the first chapter and passed the test:-) I missed ex. 2 & 10...I had #2 but not the best moves. #10 was a little above me. So far I love the book, it's fun to sit at a real board and push pieces:-)
I finished the first chapter and passed the test:-) I missed ex. 2 & 10...I had #2 but not the best moves. #10 was a little above me. So far I love the book, it's fun to sit at a real board and push pieces:-)
How are the Yusupov books coming? I'm considering these books too and we're about the same rating...
I like the book...it is kicking my butt though:) I'm on chapter 12, but i haven't passed all the tests. I will probably have to go through some chapters again. If you're looking for a tough book, and don't mind spending 2-4 hours a chapter, go for it. I will probably supplement with a good tactics book, such as Martin Weteschnik's "Understanding Chess Tactics" or someone also mentioned one that's pretty new on amazon.
Here's another tactics book that looks like good bang for the buck. It's relatively new, so it may not be as well known as the others mentioned so far.
http://www.amazon.com/1001-Chess-Exercises-Beginners-Workbook/dp/9056913972/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1359285882&sr=1-1
Here's an excerpt to give you an idea of the difficulty level.
this may be a good tactics book, also there is chess-steps method in one of the comments. Yusupov also has several suggestions at the end of his book. One thing i do like is his books are not just tactics, but a mixture of everything. Unfortunately, i haven't seen a boost in my ratings, but i did manage to beat the grandmaster of them all, my brother:)
The supplier I was referring to is a chess book supplier.