The best way to develop tactical skills is to practise them by tackling new and challenging positions. This book provides a wealth of chess puzzles to test just about every facet of your tactical ability. It is very unlikely that even those who have read many other chess puzzle books will recognize more than a handful of these positions. Franco has searched recent events and used powerful computers to seek out previously unpublished puzzles, and has also drawn extensively upon Latin American sources that he has been scouring for brilliant examples over the last three decades.

Following the pattern of Gambit's hugely successful Ultimate Chess Puzzle Book (by John Emms), the book begins with 100 relatively easy positions suitable for novices, and ends with 100 extremely tough puzzles, which provide a mind-bending challenge even for grandmasters. There are 1001 puzzles in all, including themed sections and graded tests, all with detailed computer-verified solutions and verbal explanations of the main instructive points.

Zenon Franco is a grandmaster from Paraguay who now lives in Spain. He is an experienced chess trainer, his most notable former pupil being Paco Vallejo, now one of the world's top grandmasters.

Contents

Symbols and Notation 4

Introduction 5

1 The Most Important Tactical Themes 7

2 Elementary Puzzles 16 Answers for Chapter 2 34

3 On the Attack 41 Answers for Chapter 3 56 4 Intermediate and Compex Puzzles 67 Answers for Chapter 4 97

5 Tests 1-5 117 Answers for Chapter 5 128

6 Defence and Counterattack 139 Answers for Chapter 6 153

7 Mundo Latino 164 Answers for Chapter 7 178

8 Tests 6-10 187 Answers for Chapter 8 198

9 TheWorld of Endgames 209 Answers for Chapter 9 221

10 Tests 11-15 233 Answers for Chapter 10 244

11 The Ultimate Challenge 258 Answers for Chapter 11 270

Score-Chart 288

Figurine Notation, 288 Seiten, 2010, kartoniert, englisch.