Winning Chess Tactics for Juniors

by Lou Hays

This book is an easier version of Combination Challenge!, also by Lou Hays. It contains 535 one- two- and three-move combinations to solve and teaches a study method for learning to play combinative... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1880673932
• ISBN13: 9781880673935
• Release Date: November 1994
• Publisher: Hays Publishing
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Great Book. A MUST READ for UNDER Class A.

This book is simply amazing. This book had 534 problems-that's alot!(not even comparable to Polgar's 5334, but that's a little too much...isn't it?) Very thin and light. Easy to carry to anywhere-trains, subs, cars, etc. Diagrams are easy to see, not like some which have weird diagrams that's not even understandable. The diagrams may be a little small, but they are enough to see the combinations. Bottom Line: If you're struggling with tactics and under Class A(1800~1999).... THIS IS IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Start with this book

Excellent tactics book for beginners and improving players. Start with this one before moving on to "Combination Challenge" also by Hays or other tactics and puzzle books. Good for players up to USCF 1500.

This Practical Practice Pays Off Quickly

Ever see those chess diagrams in the newspaper? Well, essentially this book has 534 of those type of problems for you to solve. I'm going through this book for my 3rd time now, which is what Hayes recommends. My tactical ability has improved greatly--not so much being able to pull one over on others, but in being able to AVOID allowing others to pull one over on me. In the end, that is just as good for me. The book covers the major tactical themes: discovered attacks, Queen sacrifices, pins, Knight forks, double attacks, attraction, overloading, removal of the guard, and back rank mates. If you don't know what each of these is, Hayes explains it to you. Additionally, there is a section that mixes all of the above and leaves it to you to figure out which tactic is at play-just like in real over-the-board play. Each problem diagram is solved either in one, two, or three moves. Generally there are 6 diagrams to solve on each page. The print quality is not as sharp as I would like, but its not so bad as to make the book unpleasant to use. On the whole, this is a good book for those who have some basic knowledge beyond the rules, and who want to take the next step to improve their play. I often keep my copy in the car, and also take it to appointments. Is not a large book, so can fit into a large coat pocket. Its amazing how many diagrams you can go through when waiting at the physician's office or for an oil change. My copy has taken a great deal of abuse from day to day use, and I found that for a paperback it really takes a beating without losing pages.

One of my favorites

I own a pretty large collection of chess books, but I've always been partial to this one. There are some things that a reader must know first hand. Yes, it is part of the larger "Combination Challenge" and yes, it is simply a workbook, not an instruction book. But as far as helping you learn tactics, I loved it. It's full of simpler problems so it's obviously better suited to beginners or intermediates. (Maybe 1000-1600) I agree with other readers that it has very few errors and I really liked it's sense of pattern recognition. There are times when it will have 3 or 4 very similar puzzles within 2 pages so that when you don't get it the first time, by the 3rd or 4th time you think to you yourself "I see, I get it now." I've gone through it 5 times and my copy is worn and dog-eared but definitely cherished. Plus its only 8 bucks, how can you beat that? Watch out for those small diagrams though, they'll hurt your eyes after a few hours of reading.

The best thing for study, ok for entertainment as well

This book is wonderful for helping you see patterns that can occur in your games. The positions are very practical. The best thing I like about this book is that there are hardly any errors (that I can find!). Secondly, the puzzles are made so that there is usually only one correct solution, not a billion other possible ones. This is a major plus. I've heard that many of the positions in this book were taken from Combination Challenge, and many of the positions from Combination Challenge were taken from Reinfeld's 1001 book. THis makes me want to look into Reinfeld's books more. My suggestion would be that, if you are class D or C you should buy this book because it's a great value (only $10 and it has 534 problems), the organization by theme is great, the positions are very practical, there are no errors (I only found 1 and I am almost done with the book) and most puzzles have only one solution. If you are a better chess player than this, I recommend 1001 Chess Sacrafices and Combinations. This is the type of book who's patterns you would want to drill in your head because they are so practical and recurring. I've been through the book once and plan to go through it 3 or 4 or 5 times. Overall, a great book.