Catalogue text:

It is generally agreed that one of the best ways for a chess-player to improve is by studying tactics - and the best way to do that is by practising. This book provides a wealth of puzzle positions to test just about every facet of the reader´s tactical skills. The puzzles in this book have been selected by analysing games new and old in search of original puzzle positions (rather than simply trawling through previous puzzle books, as is all too often the case). It is therefore very unlikely that even seasoned solvers will recognize many of these positions.
The book begins with 100 relatively easy positions suitable for novices, and ends with 100 extremely tough puzzles, which will provide a mind-bending challenge even for top-class players. The remainder of the book - 801 puzzles - contains just about everything between these two extremes, including selections of puzzles based around particular tactical themes, and graded tests, where no clues are given as to the type of ideas involved. Every now an then, there are positions where the correct solution is a positional move, rather than a tempting but unsound combination. Emms, by allying his skills with those of powerful computers, has also made every effort to ensure that the solutions are sound, and that there are no unmentioned alternative solutions.