Polgar's 5334 Problems

I saw a paperback copy at Books-A-Million here in the states at full retail price back a couple of months ago, so they are being printed again.  I've seen comments both pro and con, mostly in regard to the value, not so much the content.

5,334 problems!?!?

Well you might as well say

IT'S OVER 9,000!!!!! problems.

Tfulk,

With 5334, you get: 300 mate in 1's, 3500 mate in 2's, 700 mate in 3's, a couple hundred miniature games w/ problems, a couple hundred endgame problems, and about a hundred of the best combinations from the Polgar sister's games.

Even though I've had the book for years, I've never really gotten past the first 1000 problems. I'll work on the book enthusiastically for a few months and then usually move to something else. As such I've probably done the first 800-1000 problems about 6 of 7 times so far over the past 15 years.

Everytime I start working on the book, I start from the beginning and tell myself that this is the time that I am going to make it through all 5334. I am actually working on it now and am trying to do 6 puzzles per day. I am up to about no. 400 right now. Yes, and this time I intend to finish the whole book. The mate in two's are tough, especially the ones that look like they are composed problems. At six per day, I may be able to finish the book in a little over 3 years, but it will probably take longer if the mate in three's jump up in difficulty like the mate in two's did over the mate in one's...

If this behemoth is $24 at Amazon, it is definitely worth it. If it is $50 like Sunshiny says then maybe a couple of books like Reinfeld's 1001 stuff would be more practical as they are small and you can bring them on a plane or to the doctor's office, etc... The Polgar 5334 you ain't gonna be carryin' anywhere. It'll be forever on your desk or coffee table. It is huge and heavy.

1486 not possible in two moves?

You may want to skip the compositions (most #2 and #3) and get good instructive value from the book.

It's not really a tactic book though...

Re. #28, White moves 1. hxg6 {e.p.} and Black responds 1...Kh5 {forced}. 2.Rxh7#  Therefore: White Mate in 2. BTW, I have created a database with virtually all of the Polgar 5334 puzzles that you can download at

http://sbranch.org/chess_databases.php

I use the puzzles regularly as a volunteer coach in public schools.

Susan's book is a fun way to spend some time.

Couldnt get the pgn from sbranch place

Karma probably read your profile.

What iz wrong with my profile ?

Ah, nevermind, I was just kidding.

So, why weren't you able to download the pgn? What happened when you clicked on the pgn link?

Sorry I failed to see these three-month-old replies until now. 

I have checked and my website link seems to function properly. email me or post again if you need further help downloading the files.

The book does a good job of doing what it is supposed to do -- provide over 5000 chess problems. They're listed mostly in increasing order of difficulty.  The book does not explain anything, it is not that kind of book.  But if you want lots of convenient tactical practice, leave the book somewhere where you regularly have time to kill, and just pencil in the answers as you go, a dozen problems a day, spread out over months.  It's not supposed to compete with interactive software.  On the other hand, I can use the book in broad daylight, and it doesn't need electricity nor an internet connection.  I like books, and I like this book for what it is.

And by the way, if 5334 puzzles isn't enough to keep you busy (for free), I have another database on the same link in #30 that provides more than 128,000 mate-in-twos.  I believe I also have the answer sheet for that database somewhere on the website. At any rate, I can probably find it and post a link if somebody wants it. (Someday I intend to get organized, but at the age of 75 I'm too busy to do so right now).

Now if somebody responds that he/she has worked through those 128,000+ problems as well, I will be a little skeptical.

I bought the paperback for $25 in the late-1990s and got the Kindle version a few years ago for less than $5. Currently the Kindle version is $16.

Contrary to those that favor Puzzles (formerly Tactics Trainer) on this site, I find the sequencing of the mates in one very useful and instructive for beginning players. This morning, I did a bunch of mates in one in Puzzles on this site and the first 254 in the Polgar Brick. Polgar’s organization is vastly superior. I also did some mates in one on ChessTempo. Again, I prefer Polgar’s sequencing.

The only resource I found that competes for well-sequenced mates in one is ChessKing’s Mate in One app for iPad (I think they have it on other platforms, too). For $1.99 I was able to purchase the full set of more than 2000 mates in one.

Beginners can accelerate their progress by solving many hundreds or even thousands of mates in one. 

I said the book is a dinosaur, and I still believe that.

IM Willy Hendrix, who recently completed a book about Zukertort and Steinitz, stated that today a diligent player can do more tactics puzzles online in a day than Zukertort did in a his lifetime. 

I do find value in the organization of tactics along thematic lines, but the sheer volume of great tactics puzzles available online dwarfs even Polgar’s “brick”.

You are right about the quantity available electronically. The Polgar brick has 306 mate in one. ChessKing’s mate in one has nearly 2500.

At the back of the Polgar brick are 600 miniatures organized by the square where a sacrifice takes place. Maybe you can find something like this online, too. 

Call me old-fashioned, but for me nothing beats solving puzzles out of a book and writing the solutions underneath each one. 

But yeah online resources nowadays have way more puzzles than any book.