This book teaches basic tactical ideas such as the fork, pin, and discovered attack, and introduces general ideas such as elimination, immobilization and compulsion. A basic knowledge of simple tactics will enable a novice to start winning games, by giving checkmate or capturing material. As the player progresses, his tactical arsenal will broaden, and he will start to play sacrifices and combinations, and develop a deeper understanding of the game. Players who fail to study tactics systematically tend to suffer from tactical blind-spots that plague them throughout their playing career, and thus they fail to realize their full potential.
About the Author
John Nunn is a grandmaster from England who has won four individual gold medals and three team silver medals at Chess Olympiads. In the Chess World Cup of 1988/89, he finished sixth overall, ahead of several former World Champions. He is arguably the most highly acclaimed chess writer in the world, with two of his books receiving the prestigious British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award.
Reviews
“One of the most important skills for a chess player to develop is tactical ability. There have been numerous books written on this subject but rarely with such a clear and well presented approach as Nunn offers here. The fourteen chapters explore different tactical themes, starting with an examples and then moving on to exercises for the reader to try. There is also a good choice of material, the positions given having been culled from recent tournament practice.” — Nigel Davies
“When I was a junior, I learnt from the classic tactics book Winning Chess by Chernev and Reinfeld. I have been waiting for a long time for a modern equivalent that I could recommend to my students. I strongly suspect that this is it.” — Phil Adams, 3Cs website
“When the great All Black coach Fred Allen was asked why all the teams that he coached did well, his answer was, ‘Teach and practice the basics as often as you can, and then the rest will fit together.’ To this end, John Nunn has written his book that will not only appeal to beginners but also to players of most levels who would like to brush up on their tactical skills….By far the best book available on learning tactics to be found anywhere at the moment!” — Michael Stevenson, New Zealand Chess
“This is the kind of chess literature that the world needs if we are going to continue to grow chess among youngsters and adults who want to improve. Chess, while a very difficult game to master is not a hard game to learn. Half the battle is stripping away the mystique to reveal that getting better is a matter of learning some fundamental principles. This book does that and does it really well. I would highly recommend this book to novice and intermediates looking to improve their tactics without going bankrupt in the process.” — Bill Whited, Chess Country