Book

Reviews 

Translate this page

Rating Chart

Awful –  

Poor –  

Uneven –  

Good –  

Great –  

Excellent –  

An Excellent Primer

by Michael McGuerty

Chess Tactics from Scratch, Martin Weteschnik, Quality Chess 2012,

Figurine Algebraic Notation, 344pp. Hardcover, $35.95 (ChessCafe Price:

$25.95); Paperback, $29.95 (ChessCafe Price: $21.95)

Chess Tactics from Scratch is the revised edition of Understanding Chess

Tactics. Compared to the previous volume, there are two new chapters, on

overloading and candidate moves; 300 new test positions have been added;

and all text and analysis is said to have been updated and improved.

In the foreword, IM Tibor Karolyi writes that his former pupil of two years

"learned chess quite late … which gives him great insight into the difficulties

of improving." He describes Weteschnik's advice as "useful" and the selected

examples as "instructive" and "entertaining."

The aim of the book is to help the reader "recognize elementary patterns" and

to show "how to accurately find the elements of tactic, and work with them

creatively."

The contents are divided as follows:

●  Becoming Familiar with the Pieces!

●  The Pin

●  The Discovered Attack 

●  The Reloader 

●  The Double Attack 

●  Overloading

●  Mate

●  Gain of Tempo/Intermediate Move

●  The X-ray Attack 

●  Opening and Closing Lines of Communication

●  Status Examination

●  Candidate Moves

●  300 Test Positions

In the introduction, Weteschnik notes the overriding theme of the book:

"Tactics can be broken down into basic elements and systematically analysed.

Therefore everybody should be able to understand tactics and use tactics

successfully in his or her games." He asserts, "tactics consist of basic

elements that can be learned like a language or mathematics."

The book grew out of the notes Weteschnik kept as a student. This "seemingly

unconnected information" eventually coalesced "into a coherent concept"; and

many of the positions in the book are from Weteschnik's original notes. He

writes that the book will teach two things:

1) "It will systematically introduce you to all the elementary patterns in

tactical formations.

2) "It will teach you how to create and use them in your games."

Weteschnik points out that "most amateur games are decided tactically" and

that "the quickest way to improve your chess is to study tactics." As evidence

of the need for amateurs to study tactics, he provides the following examples:

Black to move

 

 Endgames 

 by Martin Weteschnik 

 

 Positional Chess Sacrifices 

 by Mihai Suba

 

The Fundamentals Series 

 by Artur Yusupov

 

 [FEN "4r1k1/p2bn1rp/1p1q2p1/2ppR1N1/

3P1Q2/P1P3P1/1P2R1KP/8"]

"White is a piece down but has just played Qh4-f4 … Black obviously did not

know what was going on, as he now played:

1...Bc6?!

"Now I was expecting White to win back his piece. Surprisingly the player

from my future club moved his queen back to h4. … After studying this book,

you will immediately realize the combinative idea of the solution to the

diagram position.

2.Rxe7 Qxf4 3.Rxe8+ Bxe8 4.Rxe8+ Qf8 5.Rxf8+ Kxf8 6.Ne6+

"Forking king and rook. From being a piece down at the beginning of the

combination, White could have forced an equal pawn endgame."

Witt –  Hoellwarth, Germany 2004

 [FEN "3r2k1/pp1q1pp1/2pr3p/6bQ/3P4/

1BP5/PP2R1PP/4R1K1"]

White to move

"In this position there are three ways to win material." These are 1.Re7, 1.Bxf7

+, and 1.Qxf7+. However, "Holger Witt, the translator of this book, brooded

over the board for half an hour and found an 'ingenious' fourth possibility:

losing the game..."

Weteschnik adds the caveat that "solving tactical puzzles without fully

understanding the underlying mechanisms is not the most efficient way to

learn. Instead you must first understand  the elements of combinations." He

writes that the players he coached who followed this program "improved by

 between one hundred to two hundred rating points."

He also recommends that one "read  through everything once and then go back

and study certain themes more closely." Then, perhaps, you will be able to

find the way to save the game from the following position; a task at which

White failed:

White to move

 

 [FEN "3r1rk1/2p2ppp/p1N5/3pP3/1p6/

2P2bq1/PPB3P1/RNQ3RK"]

"Black is threatening mate with ...Qh3 or ...Qh4. Obviously White is

desperately looking for a good reply. … Based on this basic pattern of a pin,

White could have found the answer:"

1.Qh6!!

Weteschnik more than meets his aim with Chess Tactics from Scratch and it is

reasonable that lower-rated players could indeed improve by hundreds of

rating points after studying this book in detail. Club and tournament players

will also benefit a great deal. This book distinguishes itself as one of the best

tactical primers available.

My assessment of this product:

Order Chess Tactics from Scratch 

 by Martin Weteschnik

Order Chess Tactics from Scratch (Hardcover)

 by Martin Weteschnik

A PDF file of this week's review, along with all previous product reviews, is

available in the ChessCafe.com Archives.

Comment on this week's column via our Contact Page! Pertinent responses

will be posted below daily.

 

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists]

[

 

Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [ChessCafe Archives]

[ChessCafe Links] [Online Bookstore] [About ChessCafe.com]

[

 

Contact ChessCafe.com] [Advertising]

© 2012 BrainGamz, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

"ChessCafe.com®" is a registered trademark of BrainGamz, Inc.