skeleton
- preface
- 5. imagination in chess by paata gaprindashvili
- 4. jon speelman chess puzzle book by jon speelman
- 3. desert island chess puzzle by so, adams, nunn and burgess
- 2. perfect your chess with volokitin and grabinsky
- 1. azerbaijani pearls from djakhangir agaragimov
to the preface,
You are reading: Best chess puzzle books
Solving puzzles is one of the most efficient ways to get better at chess at almost any level. why? First of all, the results of most games are decided by tactics. second, tactics always have an absolute truth, while philosophy and strategy are sometimes more abstract with no right or wrong answers. It’s not uncommon for a player rated, say, 1500, to go out 20 moves with an equal position against a grandmaster, and then lose because the grandmaster takes advantage of a deeply researched method of strategy that puts a lot of pressure on the position, causing the weaker side makes tactical mistakes.
There are many puzzle servers, but also puzzle books and other media where puzzles can be solved.
but how do you decide where or with what means to solve the puzzles? And what makes some puzzles more useful to solve than others?
there are several factors. for example, how realistic it is, how appropriate it is for your skill level, how original it is, and how common it is in practice.
That’s why I’m presenting the top 5 puzzle books!
5. imagination in chess by paata gaprindashvili
score: 2000+
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this is a batsford classic, and rightly so. many examples are fresh, intuitive and instructive. having worked out a few examples myself, I felt like I learned a lot of “transferable” tactical skills. the only downside to this book is that there are several bogus examples, or examples with literally as many as 8, 9, or 10 solutions. I rate this book a 9.5/10.
4. jon speelman chess puzzle book by jon speelman
score: 1000-2100
This book is the perfect compendium for teaching the basics of tactics and tactical motives. all examples are accurate and instructive. titled players can probably finish the whole book in a day, but it will plug all the holes in one’s tactical education. I rate this book a 10/10.
3. desert island omnibus chess puzzle from so, adams, nunn and burgess
score: almost all
This monstrous puzzle book came out very recently. I rate this book 10/10, with many worthwhile examples to solve, as well as perfect analytical precision.
2. perfect your chess by volokitin and grabinsky
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score: 2300+
one of the most difficult puzzle books ever written in chess literature. all the examples are precise and very instructive. most puzzles consist of intertwining deep calculations with a “fluid understanding” of theoretical endgames, strategic evaluations, and the like. The format of the book is innovative and logical, with an FM, IM, and GM section for the level of difficulty. 10/10
1. azerbaijan pearls by djakhangir agaragimov
score: all
a puzzle/story book in which each puzzle features at least one Azeri player
wow, just wow… where do I start? everything about this book is so amazing but it has never been covered by the mainstream western media as far as i’m concerned. For this reason, it is an honor for me to expose this book to English speakers.
first of all, azerbaijan (or armenia, if filtered by proportional wealth) is the most chess-dense country in the world, yet there is hardly any literature written about it in english to my knowledge. Among my class it is considered trivial that Garry Kasparov was an Azeri, but I’m sure many didn’t know that. even darker is that alireza firouzja is about 20% azeri or something like that. Chess is a very popular sport in Azerbaijan and has a profound impact on the art of mastering the improvement process in chess.
Secondly, this is the only puzzle book I’ve ever seen use a “smiley face” caption. a smiley face holds up two fingers to indicate there are two solutions. a smiley face has a “shh” sign for quiet tactics. a smiley face is wearing sunglasses to indicate that you have to use your intuition and believe in your ideas. finally, a smiley face has a “curious expression” with an exclamation point, to indicate deep calculations. this legend is very good, because it allows you to sort the puzzles by chronological order, level of difficulty and theme, all at the same time!
finally, the examples are absolutely beautiful. there aren’t too many duplicates of them in other puzzle books, but the examples are very classic. this is probably explained by the fact that many of these azerbaijani players are like “second rate players” (besides kasparov), but most people obsess only with “the best”.
I rate this book 10/10, and all solutions are 100% accurate. By having an easy, medium, and hard section, anyone can learn something from it.
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