I love all the computer options for chess learning these days. However, books still have their virtures, especially a chess tactics book.

I carry one around with me much of the time and in spare moments, I can flip the book open to a problem and start work on it within seconds.

Its tactics software.  Very good sofware

It's enlightening to go over a lot of chess.com games and see how often straightforward tactics are missed by class players even at slow time controls.

Very good indeed. I have it since January (together with other 2 of their products) and my tactical vision is already boosted.

This should get you on your way

http://home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Events_Books/General_Book_Guide.htm

i also have ct-art 4.0. Listening to you'll,  i may have to download it back on my laptopand start back studying it. but as mentioned, i just may have to take my master game book to work for spare time studying.

Wow, thanks for all the help. This is exactly what I needed. I can only follow simple directions :)

Regards,

Lou

CT-ART 5.0. Complete Chess Tactics - Training Software

This? Right?

Yes, I spent some time on that  site. But I really have to study it before purchasing.

I'm in a bind. I'm serious about improving, so I'm willing to spend some bucks. But I don't have enough bucks to buy the wrong stuff. So I need to be picky.

You guys are a great help, thanks again.

Regards,

Lou

Combination challenge hays and hall great book will raise your rating

USCF A player that didnt start studying tactics til about 3 months ago.  So yea tactics arent everything.

Back in the sixties and seventies and before, no USCF players studied tactics beyond looking at a monthly puzzle page or picking up an occasional book on combinations.

You can pick up tactics without drilling on them. It's just slower.

What you gon' do with all that junk?
All that junk inside your trunk?
I'ma get, get, get, get, you drunk,
Get you love drunk off my hump.
My hump, my hump, my hump, my hump, my hump,
My hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely little lumps (Check it out)

Ain't no gittin over a hump with chess.

raspberry_ yoghurt- ---- hump, slump, call it whatever. since you're a little slow, we are discussing the point where you stop improving for whatever reason.

Who are you calling slow, Mr "makes a snail look like a leopard" ?

Yes.This is what I said in my comment 20 hours ago.

the fred reinfeld 1001 winning chess sacrifices and combinations 21st century edition in algebraic notations arrived. do yall think its better to go over problems 1 time and move to another book or just go over it several times. now i know that its good to go over simple tactics several times for pattern recognition. but some of the problems in this book are 5 to 7 moves deep. theres no way to recognize a 5 move combo.

I think it's better to go over problems multiple times. I'm not sure what the most optimum reps and scheduling would be. It's an excelleent question and I would hope there would be studies on it.

I'm gone over Lev Albut's Pocketbook, Susan Polgar's Tactics, and Raymond Cheng's "Pracical Chess Exercises" twice each. I hope to get through them again.

Judit Polgar says she went through her father's massive "5334 Problems" four times.

Axel Smith in "Pump Up Your Rating" makes the case for repetition and careful measurement of times and results. He cites cases for 2000+ players making rating gains of 100+ points this way.

ipcress12--- i love reading material about players that gain rating points after doing certain chess exercises. thats why micheal de la maza 400 points in 400 days is the article that started me to training that way. he started with ct-art on his desktop which was easy for him since he was not working. i also bought ct-art but wasnt motivated since i dont have a ton of time to work in front of a DESK TOP. lol, i have a wife and 3 kids that demands some of my time when i get off work. i have the kind of job where its gets busy and gets slow so when it gets slow i get a lot of training in . as mention earlier, i bought a laptop to put ct-art on while at work but it was also too big to carry every where. then i tried to fnd a tablet or i pad since they were the perfect size i needed , but was heart broken to find they have no external hard drive and could not download software on them. so now im trying to do it with books and that process gets frustrating since its hard to find those sweet spot books that PERFECT for my level. i may just study simple by going over 20 tatics daily from chess tempo and 2 master games and see how that goes for a year.

All what has been already sayed except tim brennan's book tactics time, is a waste of paper