Excelling at Combinational Play: Learn to Identify and Exploit Tactical Chances [Paperback]

Jacob Aagaard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2004 | Series: Everyman Chess

Experienced chess writer Jacob Aagaard explains how tactical intuition and ability develops and uses pattern recognition to improve the reader's tactical ammunition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Being able to solve puzzles and combinations is one of the principal components of a successful chess player. But how can one improve on such an important skill? How can one acquire combinational vision?
The answer lies within the pages of this book!
Experienced chess writer Jacob Aagaard explains how tactical intuition and ability develops and uses pattern recognition to improve the reader's tactical ammunition. It's also no secret that the continued practice of puzzles and combinations helps to sharpen the chess brain, and here there is a wealth of exercises and problems to solve accompanied by the full solutions and explanations.
This book is a must for the serious competitive player.

*Improves tactical vision
*Ideal for club and tournament players
*Written by a battle-hardened expert

About the Author

Jacob Aagaard is an International Master from Denmark who has earned himself a deserved reputation as an industrious and no-nonsense chess author.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857443454
• ISBN-13: 978-1857443455
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,242,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sicilian Combinations, July 26, 2004

By 

G. Stone (Chicago, Illinois US) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Excelling at Combinational Play: Learn to Identify and Exploit Tactical Chances (Paperback)

While it is true this book is essentially a book of 500 combinations there are a couple interesting aspects to it that previous reviewers have overlooked.

1) All combinations come from "Sicilian" openings and list ECO in the answers...while for the beginning player this might not matter, it is worthwhile to study patterns and ideas from openings that you play.

2) The problems have been checked to insure there are no ambiguous alternate answers....which is a common problem in chess tactic books...nothing worse than banging your head against a problem where your idea is equally legitimate or better. Lishvits's Test your chess comes to mind....

Aagaard has an enjoyable writing style, and aims to an audience somewhere between Silman and his excellent primers on strategy, and Dvoretsky and his world class books.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A useful book, December 9, 2004

By 

R. Torres (Worcester, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Excelling at Combinational Play: Learn to Identify and Exploit Tactical Chances (Paperback)

In addition to the other reviews, it is also important to note that the positions come from actual games (though you probably guessed that since they are all from the Sicilian) and that they are from recent praxis. This may seem a small point, but taking only from recent ECO lines increases the possibility of seeing similar tactics in your own games. There is less chance of the tactic coming from a busted or unfashionable line.

It also seems unfair to trash Aagaard's work simply because it is "another puzzle book." One doesn't throw away a Stephen King novel because it is just another horror story. Rather you should judge the work on its merit within the genre. It is a well researched and useful tactics book and will increase your tactical ability. Feel free to grab other works like Reinfield and Polgar's puzzle books, but don't overlook this collection, especially if you like to play the Sicilian.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excelant and unambigious, March 31, 2008

By 

Christopher Payne - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Excelling at Combinational Play: Learn to Identify and Exploit Tactical Chances (Paperback)

Many puzzle books struggle with accuracy issues, either in that there are many possible solutions, or that the posted solution actually has a refutation. This book on the other hand has been throughly error checked, and is of a higher quality then most of the puzzle books that I have used.

If you happen to be an e4 player, you will meet the Sicilian about half the time, and if the Sicilian is your response to e4 you will be playing it about half the time with the black pieces. In this case roughly 50% of your games will be played in this opening, so it is natural to study tactics that occur in these lines.

The only warning that I will add is that these problems are difficult. If you are looking for a puzzle book that you can move through quickly this is not it. I am rated approximately 1800 FIDE, and many of these problems took me 30 minutes or more to solve.