Book Description
Chess is 99% tactics. So to be a good chess player, you have to spend a lot of your training time on tactics. Although basic tactics are explained in a number good books, complicated tactics - the kind that separate tournament winners from the pack - require intuition, imagination and precision. The Magic of Chess Tactics helps you develop these qualities.

Aimed primarily at aspiring chess players from club to master level who seriously want to improve their chess understanding, The Magic of Chess Tactics provides examples selected for both their entertainment and instructional value - as well as detailed explanations and exercises.

Claus Dieter Meyer, chess author and FIDE Master, is a well known analyst and professional chess trainer. Karsten Müller is an International Grandmaster and co-author, along with Frank Lamprecht, of the highly acclaimed Secrets of Pawn Endings and Fundamental Chess Endings. His popular monthly column Endgame Corner appears right here at ChessCafe.com.

"I have come to realise that there are basically two types of chess tactics. First, simple kinds of combinations you need to know when you start to play chess. I still believe they are the basis of everything. Things that computers see in a half-second. But the book is not about them. For those simple tactics, old Koblentz books are more than enough. This book is about *complicated* chess tactics, the kind you sometimes need hours of analysis just to discover the truth of the position. It's hard to see and calculate perfectly on the board; one needs intuition, imagination and precision.

"It's not easy to develop these qualities but I believe that the present book, full of examples and high quality analyses, will help you achieve that objective.

"Welcome to the magical world of tactics!" -From the Foreword by Alexei Shirov ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Almost, but not quite, completely devoid of magic...
This is a "training book for advanced players," the sub-subtitle informs us.Generally it consists of examples of extremely complex chess positions, painstakingly analyzed in depth, organized by various themes, and accompanied by exercises.The first part of the book is devoted to complex middlegame positions, while the remainder treats endgames.There are approximately 50 exercises in all.

I've had this book for a few years.Two or three times I have attempted to work through parts of it, but have given up out of profound disinterest.Now leafing through it again I can easily see why:most of its pages contain little more than direct database dumps of arid variations, subvariations, sub-subvariations, and so on (sometimes the nesting of variations reaches several layers in depth - in one case, nine!!), peppered by a few Informator symbols, and a few clever phrases in broken English.This type of deep analysis can be presented correctly, but there is a real art to it.Dvoretsky, for example, has done it successfully in his web column; there he organizes the analysis around a more human-like thought process, hanging the analytical twists and turns around intuitive and logical signposts.Without that kind of skilled guidance, there is little joy or learning in working through the bulging mass of moves and replies.

You should expect, after many such pages of skull-crushing analysis, that at least the authors will arrive at the ultimate truth about the position under examination.Not necessarily so - we are variously told "White should probably win," or "...again a clear decision is not in sight," or "The fortress can probably be taken, if our proof has no serious flaws."Fine, then what was the point of all that work??Most infuriating is the fact that occasionally this kind of sloppiness finds its way into an exercise.In 7.5, for example, we are tasked to look for a winning line for white.In the answer, we find that there is no forced win, but rather that black blundered on the next move (the saving line is also given, parenthetically).This is completely unacceptable.

To be fair, there are quite a few interesting positions, and the exercises are mostly just fine.For that, three stars.What's missing is grandmasterly insight and a level of care.

What a pitty...
Having 1800+ Elo strenght of play and still some more ambitions I search for the books getting chance to lift up my understanding of chess. Not with this book. Everybody using chess software can analyse some nice positions coming from typical themes like two bishops same colour, ... played by some recognizable players (best if champions) and pomp all the options and variations into the page adding some diagrams. Its like cook book for some new authors. Reading this book I don't feel the same fun like when reading for example Tal's "Attack". So, it is not totally bad book, but if I have been lifted then back to old evergreen books. Sorry for being so tough... ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

After the Fire... Shirov delivers a readable but disappointing 2nd
Alexei Shirov's "Fire on Board" was one of the great chess books of this generation.He told interesting stories, and most importantly, provided his chess playing audience with a book that could be devoured by almost anyone, especially serious players.

His second book, "Fire on Board Part II" fails in almost every area that his first book succeeded.GM Shirov spends a great deal of time complaining about his unfair treatment after he won his match against Vladimir Kramnik for the right to play Kasparov in a match.The story is well known, and Shirov doesn't really bring much new information to light on this travesty.

His games and his writings are weighed down by one event.He complains that he wasn't able to concentrate as well and was depressed after being refused the chance to play Kasparov, and his games show that.

Of course, Shirov is still Shirov, and he gives the reader a few truly amazing games to peruse. Unfortunately, his fire has been dimmed.If Shirov ever fully recovers from his unfair treatment, he may be able to dry the tears off his board.Until then, his use of wet wood has produced more smoke than fire.

"Fire on Board II" is still readable, but there are many other great chess books to buy.I will continue to root for Shirov, and I hope he will find some fresh kindling to rebuild the blaze that he showed us in volume I.

Incredible player
I love Shirov. He's is a younger version of Tal. Great games and analysis.

Fire on Board II - very good but not brilliant blaze like Fire I
Shirov's captivating prose deserves accolades.
The games he chose for volume II are really good, but not great. The ones in volume I are excellent, with plenty of brilliancies to boot. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Fantastic Games
Fantastic games and a good chess writer.I learned (and am learning) a lot about sacrifices and tactics from this book.

Diary of a Madman
Shirov is one of the strongest grandmasters in the world today, and this is his magnum opus.It's right up there with the collections of Tal, Fischer, Keres, and Larsen.Don't even think about passing it up!

Beginners and Intermediate players can enjoy this also
Don't believe those reviews that describe this book as suitable for advanced players only.I could enjoy this book without a board and pieces.The prose is somewhat limited.

All players deserve to be encouraged to look at his games.

Real Fire.
Please read the other reviews carefully. Like the man said, this book isNOT for beginners. Its NOT an instructional book. (Maybe an advanced manualfor GM Tactics?) It is a book for the very discriminating connoisseur ofthe Royal Game. And you should be a fairly good chess-player with an aboveaverage grasp of chess tactics to "really get" whats in thisbook!

I found a few errors in this book. I also found one instance of thesame line being analyzed twice with a different conclusion in each case!(Transposition.)

But for the most part this is an incredible chess book,crafted with great loving care by the authors. While it is probably overthe head of the average chess player, the earnest student of the game willfind much pure Gold here to mine!! Another warning: if you are the lazytype of chess player, you probably won't get much out of this book. Buy itONLY if you are looking for a real challenge!!!(Understand: I am a Master,and many times the variations left me just scratching my head!!) This isthe one chess book that, "Is looking for a few Good..." (Toborrow a phrase.)

An excellent book. Not for beginners. Not for the timid.
Certainly one of the best chess books of our time. With his imaginative style, shirov shows the reader how magic can be worked successfully on the chess board, in a way that even the world's top grandmasters can't alwayscounter. Advanced players will enjoy this book as well as benefit fromShirov's detailed explanations. Aided by Shirov's apparent need tocriticize even himself and write about the better ideas even he had missed.Beginners however, will not find much use for this book, as the basicpositional ideas are taken for granted and not explained, in order toemphasize the greatness of Shirov's great ideas and tactical play. ... Read more