This training book can help you warm up your chess brain before every game of a classic chess tournament. This collection has enough exercises for ten games: 5 x 10 exercises for White and 5 x 10 for Black.
We advise you to prepare for each game with a series of ten exercises. It will take you 20 to 30 minutes to solve these ten puzzles. All exercises will highlight several areas of the tactical spectrum.
Use ten exercises in which White has to find the best move when you will play White, to help you visualize your next game. Or use ten exercises for Black when you will be playing that side of the board.
We have prepared several collections for chess players of different strength:
ELO-rating: 1400-1600 (post-beginner, internet chess player)
ELO-rating: 1600-1800 (club player or experienced internet player)
ELO-rating: 1800-2000 (strong club player)
ELO-rating: 2000-2200 (strong tournament player)
ELO-rating: 2200+ Master level
Tactics should be an important part of your game preparation. You can build up a powerful position by strong strategical play, but one tactical oversight will cost you the game. Because tactics is such a crucial element in chess, it is necessary to train your tactical skills. Not only before a tournament, but also during a tournament. Have you ever seen a professional athlete entering a match without any warm-up exercises? Like in physical sports it is essential to make your muscles ready for action. In chess it is important to kick-start your brain before you play a game. The brain works like a muscle! It needs exercise to function properly.
Why focus on tactics? Reuben Fine, a former top ten player, once said: 'Combinations have always been the most intriguing aspect of Chess. The masters look for them, the public applauds them, the critics praise them. It is because combinations are possible that Chess is more than a lifeless mathematical exercise. They are the poetry of the game; they are to Chess what melody is to music. They represent the triumph of mind over matter'.
Good luck!
Frank Erwich, chess coach & MSc Psychology, Leiden, The NetherlandsThis training book can help you warm up your chess brain before every game of a classic chess tournament. This collection has enough exercises for ten games: 5 x 10 exercises for White and 5 x 10 for Black.
