Chessboard Combat

Chess students love a Puzzle Rush. And solving tactics puzzles certainly helps you improve your pattern recognition and will help you find good moves in tournament games. But there is a downside to most tactics puzzles — we always know who is supposed to win!

Chess in real life is different, not just because no one taps us on the shoulder and tells us to look for a tactic. Sometimes tactics work, and sometimes they don't. Sometimes your opponent has a few tricks up their sleeve, too.

This book shows the reality of chess tactics. It explores a chess player's challenges over the board: attack, defense, and counterattack! It exposes the actual give-and-take nature of chess tactics.

American grandmaster Joel Benjamin, a three-time U.S. Champion, was inspired by the 20th-century classic Chess Traps, Pitfalls, and Swindles by legendary chess authors Fred Reinfeld and Israel Albert Horowitz. With modern examples, Benjamin arouses the same spirit of fun and enjoyment. With a generous amount of puzzles in quiz form, this manual will help chess students sharpen their tactical skills and be ready to strike - or counterstrike.

Joel Benjamin is an American grandmaster and a three-time U.S. Champion. He became the youngest-ever U.S. chess master at age 13, beating Bobby Fischer's record. Chessboard Combat is his fifth book for New In Chess. Benjamin graduated from Yale University with a major in history.

Reviews

Fernando Offermann (Berliner Schachverband)
“The book reads like a tactics primer without the didactic impetus; it is like a chat about tactical madness and entertaining phenomena. It appeals to ambitious players and chess lovers who appreciate tactical twists and surprises on the board.”

IM John Donaldson
“Benjamin takes a realistic look at chess tactics, using complete games with deep annotations that combine explanatory prose with essential variations. The book nicely complements existing tactical training and one hopes that many amateurs will study it.”