Test Your Chess IQ: Master Challenge [Paperback]

August Livshitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1997

A chess handbook which contains over 450 test positions and a course on how to develop combinational skills, based on the recognition of key themes.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Is the ability to make combinations something you are born with or can it be acquired by practice? Russian chess trainer Livshitz, who has had extensive experience teaching a wide range of players from novices to masters, presents here a course for developing your combinational skill, based on the recognition of tactical motifs. As you work your way through this carefully graced series of tests, themes such as 'diversion,' 'interference,' 'X-Ray,' and many more will become an integral part of your chess armoury, to be employed in your own games. Solving these positions will not only provide many hours of pleasure but will also enable you to test - and improve! - your chess IQ. This is book two in a three-volume series. Also available are: 'Test Your Chess IQ: First Challenge' and 'Test Your Chess IQ: Grandmaster Challenge.' (6 3/4' X 9 3/4', 122 pages, illustrations)

Product Details

• Paperback: 122 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (May 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857441443
• ISBN-13: 978-1857441444
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #856,071 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Moderately Useful, May 22, 2008

By 

Gordon Ritchie "Woodpusher" (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Test Your Chess IQ: Master Challenge (Paperback)

It has long been accepted that the best way for a player below master level to improve his/her chess is through the study of selected game positions to ingrain patterns of tactical solutions. This is yet another of a bumper crop of publications atimed to help in this process. It is one of three volumes that purport to be calibrated to different levels of expertise---novice, grandmaster and, in this case, master. The classifications are rather generous: these "master" level problems should be quite manageable for anyone with a CFC/USCF rating of 1800-2200. The problems are grouped by themes, which detracts from the realism of game situations. They are solved against the clock with times allotted for each group of 8 positions according to degree of difficulty---the time allotments are quite long (e.g. 70 or 75 minutes for the first few sets) which can be difficult to accommodate. The problems themselves are taken from actual games, though these are often very obscure and not to be found in most databases. Regrettably, there are some sloppy errors in the editing of the position diagrams which would completely confuse the solver. In sum, aspiring players will benefit from the study of these or virtually any other positions but this is far from the best of such books available.

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Test Your Chess IQ: Master Challenge by August Livshitz, June 25, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Test Your Chess IQ: Master Challenge (Paperback)

I reckon this book is very convenient and entertaining. One specific thing I like about it is that the answer is on the very next page instead of having to go to the back and trying to find the puzzle number, etc. I am very impressed with this book and haven't found a single mistake regarding the solutions yet.

This is a great book!