“The study of chess tactics is the single most beneficial activity for most chess-players. From beginner to grandmaster level, players are confronted with tactical decisions on almost every move of every game. I have spent the past five months reviewing games played within the past year between players with a rating of 2200 and above with the goal of selecting 1001 of the most instructive tactical puzzles.” – James Rizzitano

This is a true tactics assault course, where you will learn by solving: the lessons are contained in the puzzles themselves, and taught by your own effort in solving them. The first four chapters include a test section, where the positions are a little simpler, to check what you have learned. They are also designed as revision exercises, to return to periodically after you have finished reading the book.

Rizzitano’s puzzles are not just a case of ‘spot the tactic and move on’. That isn’t good training for practical play, where you have no idea if a tactic works until you have analysed it carefully. In some cases it is better to reject the idea and play a quiet move, while many puzzles require a good defensive move. Decision-making skills are vital in competitive chess. And you will definitely need them right away for the book’s final chapters, ‘Advanced Puzzles’ and ‘Deadly Puzzles’. Full solutions are provided.

International Master James Rizzitano dominated New England chess from 1976 to 1989, winning 157 of 336 events in which he competed. Career highlights include victories over Alburt, Benjamin, Benko, Christiansen, Dlugy, I.Gurevich and Wolff. He has written seven books for Gambit, including How to Beat 1 d4 and Modern Chess Opening Repertoire for White.

Download a pdf file with a sample from the book.

Watch a YouTube video in which GM John Nunn presents a sample from this book.

“A lovely book … a good fit for you if you like solving challenging chess puzzles” – Alexei Root, SparkChess

“A book on tactics that will improve your positional evaluation as well” – Miguel Ararat, Florida Chess Magazine

“A good puzzle book will ideally have several things going for it. The positions to solve should be new to the student, they should be challenging and full solutions should be provided. This latest book by the Boston area based International Master checks all these boxes and a few more. Recommended” – IM John Donaldson

“An excellent book with many tactical puzzles and therefore superb practice material. If the reader solves six or so of them every day he will almost certainly become a better chess player” – Michel Hoetmer, www.schaaksite.nl

“With this selection of tactical exercises we will not lack puzzles for Christmas! Structured by difficulty level, it will be very useful for the student and the chess teacher. And, of course, for anyone who wants to enjoy opening it to any page and exercising their neurons. By the way, these are examples taken from very recent games, so the book is a compendium of tactical finishes in current chess.” – FM Luis Fernández Siles @capakhine