How to Become a Deadly Chess Tactician [Paperback]

David Lemoir (Author), Ken Lemoir (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2002

A guide for chess-players to help them spot unlikely-looking tactical tricks and launch cunning attacks. Readers are shown how to hunt the enemy king and how to seize the initiative with surprising sacrifices. LeMoir shows that the key factors in becoming a deadly tactician are motivation (having the willingness to sacrifice and to consider tactical ideas during play), imagination (being aware of tactical concepts that lead to ideas which other players might miss) and calculation (being able to analyse and calculate effectively).

This user-friendly and humorously written book contains many outstanding examples of seized opportunities, together with guidance on how to spot surprising tactics and handle positions of material imbalance. Throughout, there are exercises for the reader to tackle.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David LeMoir is an experienced chess player and writer. He twice won the championship of the West of England and was runner-up on four occasions. In 2000, he was Champion of the English county of Norfolk. In a successful career as a business strategy consultant, he has made good use of the strategic and decision-making skills that are developed by playing chess.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Gambit Publications (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1901983595
• ISBN-13: 978-1901983593
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,027,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A feast of examples will inspire your game, August 27, 2005

By 

Nicholas Hillestad Bird (Belgium) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Become a Deadly Chess Tactician (Paperback)

This book is, quite simply, one of the best-value I have ever seen: a tactics book you will delight in reading for the next six months. LeMoir has selected hundreds of positions, from all eras in chess history, showing amazing combinations, sacrifices and tactical themes. Anyone who reads this material will be better placed to bewilder and defeat their opponents. As well as the impressive depth and breadth of the examples used, there is plenty of explanation in the form of words. With two or three diagrams on nearly every page, and the crisp production quality invariably associated with publisher Gambit, what one is there to ask? The book finishes with 35 pages of tests and solutions. This is a stimulating and meaty read - don't miss it.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A desert-island tactics book - hundreds of positions, August 21, 2005

By 

Leonard Neely (Columbia, Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Become a Deadly Chess Tactician (Paperback)

In one of my other reviews I got my LeMoir books mixed up. I meant to refer to ESSENTIAL CHESS SACRIFICES, his awesome collection of modern sacrificial themes which I would urge any attacking player to read. But his earlier work HOW TO BECOME A DEADLY CHESS TACTICIAN is also a book I enjoyed and benefited from. So many positions from the master games were not familiar to me (and I own a lot of books), and his practical advice on finding combinations (or cunning swindles) is superb.
This is so much material crammed into these LeMoir books - months of reading material rather than weeks or days. A LeMoir trait is to give several similar examples of the same sacrificial or tactical concept, but in slightly varied settings, which is so helpful. Don't let some other ignorant reviewers put you off - this is a book of real quality, which will give you a competitive edge in games. The five stars are fully deserved.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring and stimulating work, February 20, 2005

By 

M Taylor (NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Become a Deadly Chess Tactician (Paperback)

I loved this book. For several months I have been studying it, and have found it to be an inspiring and stimulating guide that has improved my tactics. I have seen several reviews in chess magazines that have all indicated it will help you become become a more dangerous opponent, and that is certainly my experience.
HOW TO BECOME A DEADLY CHESS TACTICIAN is crammed full of well-chosen tactical positions. The commentary is engaging (this is LeMoir's second book for Gambit, after HOW TO BE LUCKY IN CHESS), and the material is well-classified. Presentation is excellent, and most pages have two or three diagrams.
The publisher has a good record of discovering authors who really understand how to communicate with the ordinary club player. $19.95 for all the above represents good value for money - highly recommended.