Solving carefully chosen tactical exercises is a great way to develop your chess ability, and few players know more about solving than Dr John Nunn! He has drawn upon eye-catching recent games, little-known studies and games from his own playing career to produce 100 positions where there is a neat way to win or draw. In most cases, there is a tricky point to see, but few messy variations.

As with other books in this series, the first 25 exercises are ‘warm-ups’, while the final 25 are much tougher. There is something for everyone here, whether you are just looking for a few tactical ideas to help win online or club games, or if you have ambitions to become a top solver yourself.

Dr John Nunn is one of the best-respected figures in world chess. He was among the world’s leading grandmasters for nearly twenty years and won four gold medals at chess Olympiads. In 2004, 2007 and 2010, Nunn was crowned World Chess Solving Champion, ahead of many former champions. In 2011, his two-volume work Nunn’s Chess Endings won the English Chess Federation Book of the Year Award, and was highly praised by Levon Aronian (who read both books cover to cover!) when making the award presentation.

The puzzles in this monthly Gambit series are carefully vetted, so they instruct while providing hours of solving pleasure. It is known among top players that working on high-quality chess puzzles is an excellent way to stay tactically agile. Each ‘Desert Island’ book will feature 100 positions, hand-chosen by a different master or grandmaster.

Previous books in this series:
Wesley So, June 2020
Michael Adams, July 2020