Looking for Trouble: Recognizing and Meeting Threats in Chess (Paperback)

~ Dan Heisman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This book is written to address an underemphasized area of chess training and study, the identification of and reaction to--threats. For beginner and intermediate-level players, the study of tactics is paramount. Almost all tactics books take the approach of providing a position where there is a forced win, checkmate or draw. However, Looking for Trouble takes a different tack. This book helps players to recognize threats by providing over 200 problems in which players can focus on identifying and meeting threats ranging from extremely easy to fiendishly difficult. The identification of difficult threats û and how to meet them û is discussed in a manner that accommodates players of all levels.

About the Author

Dan Heisman is an experienced instructor and author. His previous works include Everyone’s Second Chess Book and A Parent’s Guide to Chess. His monthly column Novice Nook is one of the most popular at ChessCafe.

Product Details

• Paperback: 146 pages
• Publisher: Russell Enterprises, Inc. (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888690186
• ISBN-13: 978-1888690187
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #433,945 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Instructive and fun to read, December 28, 2003

By A Customer

"Looking for Trouble" is a collection of 200+ chess positions that are mostly tactical in nature. What separates this book from other similar works are the extensive and helpful verbal annotations, and the fact that it's not "White to move and win", but instead: "Avoid the threat and find the best move". Working through this book feels more like playing a real game than playing through a normal collection of tactical problems, and is surprisingly fun.

One of the main benefits of this book is that it helps you to establish a better thinking process. After you worked through all the puzzles, your first thought while playing a game will be "What is his threat?", which is exactly how it should be.

The positions themselves are also very instructive: Taken from real games, sorted into openings, middle game and endgame sections and assigned an estimated difficulty (* to *****).

My only criticism is that the author recommends this book to players rated as low as 1200. I'm rated 1700 and found most of these puzzles to be quite challenging. I think a 1200 player would be overwhelmed by the difficulty of most positions, though he will likely still benefit from learning how to think better.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good things come in small packages, May 23, 2005

By	Sean Keys "book obsessed" (Aurora, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I almost passed this one up but I'm sure glad I didn't. As a player rated in the 1600 - 1800 range, I'm often frustrated to see a "crushing" win swept away in one careless move. I get so wrapped up in my own plans that I often ignore those of my opponent. Ugh! Although it is easy to say "always try to understand what your opponent's move was threatening before making your move", I tend to play fast and impatiently (even when not in any time trouble). Heisman's book is great because it forces you to solve the problems in 2 stages - identify the threat, then figure out the remedy.

By working on these, I found that I started to automatically look more carefully at my opponent's moves. Heisman's examples also include some very common themes so I suspect "imprinting" these "tactical images" into my brain will also do me good. Great stuff!

By the way, as an earlier reviewer pointed out, I found that even some of the so-called easy challenges were sometimes difficult.

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A chess book that's instructive and Enjoyable to read, December 8, 2003

By	Brian A. Barnett "chess nut" (effingham, illinois, united states) - See all my reviews

I'll start off by stating that I am a novice-intermediate level player who has several chess books and a training CD to boot!. (Fred Reinfeld, Complete Chess player, Chess for Dummies, Burgess Mammoth book of chess). With the exception of Chess for Dummies, they all look nice on my shelf. Everytime I pick up Burgess or Reinfeld I lose interest quickly. This book by Heisman has me hooked ! To me, it's much more useful than "Find mate in 2 " problems. It teaches you to think about what your oppenent is up to (threat) and how to (and not to ) respond. In essence, play CHESS. My copy is already worn and battered up a bit..like all my other favorite paperbacks.