How to Calculate Chess Tactics

By Valeri Beim

Published by GAMBIT

Valeri Beim is a grandmaster who lives in Austria. He has won numerous tournaments and plays in the Austrian and German leagues. For many years he was the head trainer at the chess school in Odessa, and he was also the trainer of the Israeli Olympiad team. He has earned a reputation as an author of user-friendly instructional textbooks. This is his fifth chess book for Gambit.

Thinking methods are at the heart of the chess struggle, yet most players devote little conscious effort to improving their calculating ability. Much of the previous literature on the subject has presented idealized models that have limited relevance to the hurly-burly of practical chess, or else provide little more than ad hoc suggestions.

Here, experienced trainer Valeri Beim strikes a balance by explaining how to use intuition and logic together to solve tactical problems in a methodical way. He also offers advice on when it is best to calculate 'like a machine', and when it is better to rely on intuitive assessment.

This book is split into 2 main parts…

Part 1: Tactics in Chess

• What are Tactics and Combinations?
• Tactics in Practice
• Blow for Blow
• Logical Analysis
• Developing Tactical Skills
• Part 1 exercises

Part 2: The Technique of Calculating Variations

• Calculation and Tactics
• The Technique of Calculating Variations
• What to Do Before Starting to Calculate
• Unclear and Complex Situations
• The Role of Judgment
• When to Stop Calculating
• Calculation by Stages
• Concrete Action to Realize an Advantage
• Resulting Moves
• Summary
• Calculation Training
• Conclusion
• Part 2 Exercises

The beginning of part 1 describes and compares the differences between "Tactical Blows" and "Combinations", maybe not important to the task of calculating the tactics, but a very nice difference to know. The latter of part 1 in this book gives many examples from top play to illustrate logical analysis and to train your tactical skills. Part 1 is wrapped up with a section with 40 exercises for the reader to apply his or her new knowledge to.

Part 2 looks at the most important problem facing the practical player. The calculation of variations and the many problems associated with this complicated task. The different aspects of this topic can be found above in the list of contents for part 2. Like part 1, part 2 also is followed by another group of exercises, this time 60. With both the many examples and discussions of how to find/calculate tactics and the numerous exercises in this book, it serves as a great tool for both learning and sharpening your tactical skills!