Manual of Chess Combinations, Vol. 1A (Chess School) (Paperback)

~ Sergey Ivashchenko (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

All in all, a very worthwhile addition to an otherwise crowded field of books on tactics for beginners. -- Eugene Manchester, Chess Cafe, February 2006

Product Description

The book is a new edition of a bestseller by an experienced coach Sergey Ivashchenko. Over 250,000 copies of his books were sold in the Soviet Union in the late 1980's. This book is intended for beginners, both children and adults. The themes are: Mate in one, Mate in two, Win a queen, Win a rook, Win a piece, etc.

The book designed for chess players with ELO 900-1200 points. Includes more than 700 tactical problems classified according to themes and difficulty.

Languages: English, German, Russian and Spanish.

Product Details

• Paperback: 142 pages
• Publisher: Russian Chess House (November 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 5946930451
• ISBN-13: 978-5946930451
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #117,465 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fire your expensive chess trainer., December 12, 2007

By	H. Faria - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Manual of Chess Combinations, Volume 2 (Chess School) (Hardcover)

I bought this book because I realised that tactical vision was my weakest link in chess. I paid $ 25 for this collection of almost 1200 great positions, all at my rating range or higher. This is great value for money.

I have just finished the first section of volume 2. Actually this is the 6th section if you start counting from volume 1.

This book is oriented for the players from 1600 to 2200 rating. As you move through the sections, you increase the complexity of the positions.

The first surprise when I got this book in my hands was that it has positions from all stages of the game. Although most of the positions are in middlegame, you also find tactics in the opening and a good amount of it in the endgame! It also has positions where is black to play.

In the beginning of the section, the positions are "4 move" mates, in most of the cases. As you go through the section, you start to find "mate or significant material loss" combinations. There are some very interesting queen sacrifices.

In the beginnig of the second section, you find mate in 5 and more complex positions. As you move trought the book the positions become more complex.

If you put efforts in each exercise, you will improve your calculation ability, combinative vision and also your endgame play.

However, to solve the positions from the endgames, in some cases, you should have some basic knowledge of theory. For example, there is an endgame exercise where you should know that K+Q agains K+P is a drawn if: pawn is one step from promoting and it's a "C" or "F" pawn. In this situation the defending side can force a draw by stalemate. If you don't know this theory, it will be more difficult to solve the exercise.

Also, in the endgame section, there are some positions where, at first glance one side is completely lost and you have to find the draw. In some cases you use the stalemate idea.

I recommend this book for players that:
a) are in the rating range 1600 to 2200
b) prefer to play over-the-board rather than on the computer screen
c) need to improve tactical skills
d) apreciate tactics in the endgame

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book! Great seller! Great service!!!, May 4, 2008

By	I. Gun "Intellibook" (Beverly Hills, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Manual of Chess Combinations, Volume 2 (Chess School) (Hardcover)

My son is very involved in chess, and this book has been one of the most useful study books for him so far. the book is great, service is great, seller is great! Thank you ver much.

0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for all want to improve their tactics or combinations!!, October 21, 2007

By	Wan Koon Yat "wankoonyat" (North Point Hong Kong) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Manual of Chess Combinations, Volume 2 (Chess School) (Hardcover)

With such low price and more than 700 high quality exercsies, do I need to say more???