Book Reviews

No Brainer
Glenn Budzinski

303 Tactical Chess Puzzles by Fred Wilson and Bruce Albertson,

2002 Sterling Publishing, Softcover, English Algebraic Notation,
221pp., $12.95

Most accomplished players will

Previous reviews are available
in The Chess Cafe Archives.
emphasize the important role that
tactics play in chess. Fred Wilson and
Bruce Alberston, in the concluding
introductory comments to their recent
work, 303 Tactical Chess Puzzles,
note that “While chess is clearly a
strategic game, 99% of the time your
success or failure will be determined
by your skill at tactics.” As the title
implies, this is a book of puzzles that
rely primarily on tactical solutions.

The 221 pages of material are

segregated into six chapters, a
separate section for the answers to the puzzles and an index of
tactics. The majority of the book is concentrated in the first three
chapters, which provide 300 diagrammed positions, 100 per
chapter, plus an additional 2 “bonus” positions at the end of each
chapter. Chapters Four, Five and Six, which are covered in less
Orders? Inquiries? You can than 30 pages, each focus on the in-depth analysis of a specific
now call toll-free: position. Thus, Chapter Four examines the concept of defense
through the detailed examination of a position in the “Fried Liver
1-866-301-CAFE Attack” played by one of the authors; Chapter Five contains
detailed notes to a game one of the authors played against a
computer, which resulted in a tactical conclusion, and Chapter Six
analyzes a tactical finish from a Philidor 18th Century game.

Of course, the heart of this book is the puzzles, which are divided
into the first three chapters according to level of difficulty.
Chapter One includes 100 positions intended for the “Advanced

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Book Reviews

Beginner”, defined by the authors as the “average chessplayer…

conversant with the moves and rules…[with] limited exposure to
the basic concepts of the opening, middlegame, and ending”. The
“Advanced Beginner” is a player who lacks “the tactical ability to
lift his game to a higher plane.” Chapter Two puzzles are meant
for the “Intermediate Player”, who is a “cut above the national
average. He’s advanced to the level where he can now crush the
random player on the block…Intermediate is a decent player who
doesn’t often beat himself. Nevertheless, something is lacking in
the play.” The third chapter offers puzzles for the “Tournament
Player”, considered by the authors to be “a different breed
altogether. He’s the serious chess player who is out to test himself
and is looking to improve even more…If he has the talent and
ability above the ordinary, then he also has aspirations of moving
up to expert or master class.” The scoring system for each chapter
is based on the authors’ estimated number of puzzles that each
category of player can be expected to answer correctly. For
example, an “Advanced Beginner” can be expected to only
possess the ability to correctly answer 15 out of the 100 Chapter
Three puzzles, the first time he tries them.

To check the appropriateness of the material for the intended

audiences, I randomly selected 25 puzzles from each of Chapters
One, Two and Three and attempted to answer them. Given my
playing level of Elo 2000+ or better for the past 20 years, I
anticipated doing well. Thus, it was no surprise that I answered all
25 correctly in Chapter One and scored 24 out of 25 each in
Chapters Two and Three.

In general, compared to other quiz books, I found the positions

given here to be somewhat less challenging. Perhaps it has
something to do with the number of the puzzle books I’ve read
over the years, but even the supposedly more difficult positions
from Chapter Three seemed, at least to me, to contain obvious
solutions. Additionally, a tactical hint is offered for each position
(e.g., Knight fork, Deflection, Overload, Trapping, etc.). The
“Advanced Beginner” puzzles usually required no more than a
quick glance, since the answer was usually only one or two plies
deep. The answers to the Intermediate puzzles of Chapter Two
also proved to require no more than a few seconds of thought and
were two or three ply in depth. “Tournament Player” positions
tended to be based on tactical themes that should be relatively
well known to a serious player. Solutions for this category of
puzzles generally ran four or five moves deep.

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Book Reviews
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Although the subject of computer checking was not addressed in
the Introduction, the several dozen solutions that I checked using
chess software proved to be in concurrence with the machine’s
recommended line.
While not a significant issue, a concern with this book is that
some alternate solutions have not always been provided. Either all
reasonable alternate lines should be included, or the directions for
solving the puzzles should be changed to indicate otherwise, i.e.,
“Find the shortest winning line”, or “Find the quickest road to
mate”, etc.
Position #212 has numerous
solutions, many of which are
within the spirit of the book,
but only two of which are
provided. White is on the
move and the hint is
“Removing the guard”. The
solution is 1 Rxd5 Qxd5 2
Nc7 Qd7 3 Bh7 “mates or
wins the queen”. If 2…Qa2,
“then 3 Bh7 f6, 4 Ne6+ gives
a winning attack.” When I
plugged this position into Fritz 6.0 software, it came up with 1
Bf5 Be6 2 Bh7 f6 3 Rxe6 Kf7 4 Nd6+ with a winning advantage,
although obviously not mate. Additionally, there is also 1 Bh7 f6
2 Rxd5 Qxd5 3 Nc7 Re8 4 Nxe8 Rxe8 5 Rxe8+ Kxe8 6 Bxg8.
Admittedly not as concise as the authors’ solution, it nonetheless
uses a tactic to create a “winning material advantage.”
Another position ripe with
multiple wins is #211.
White to move and, again,
the hint is “Removing the
guard”.. Clearly, there are
several lines which win
material, including the
book’s 1 Rf8+ Rxf8 2 Bxf8
Ne6 3 Be7 and 4 d8Q,
when Black loses his
knight. Fritz 6.0 preferred 1
Re1 Rd8 2 Re7, which also
looks good enough. I looked at 1 Be7 Ne6 2 d8=Q+ Nxd8 3
Rf8+ Kh7 4 Rxd8, when White is a piece ahead.
Book Reviews

In #206, the authors’

solution of 1 Ng5 Rc7 2
Rh3 “along with 3 Qxh7+
Nxh7, 4 Rxh7#” certainly
works fine, but I would
also like to have seen
mention of the forcing 1
Ng5 Rc7 2 Nxh7 Nxh7 3
Qxh7+ Kxh7 4 Rh3# (Fritz,
similar to what would be
expected of most computer
software, inserted the
queen “sacrifice” Qxg2+ and extended the inevitable by one
move.)

While the authors’

consideration to not
wasting the reader’s time
by “defining common
tactics such as pin, fork,
skewer, discovery, etc”
since “You already know
what these are and just
need to learn to implement
them better” is appreciated,
a definition of “tactics”
would still seem to be
essential in a book titled 303 Tactical Chess Puzzles. At the
least, it might’ve helped to clarify why Puzzle # 236, a basic
rook and knight mate is included in Chapter Three, meant for
the serious tournament competitor. White is on the move and,
as if it were needed, the hint is “Mating attack”.

But, in the final assessment of this book, the stuff that counts
wins out over the stuff that doesn’t. Although additional
alternate solutions would’ve been useful, the principal answer
for each puzzle that I checked concurred with the computer’s
solution. While these positions may not be as challenging as
those found elsewhere, the good news is that they won’t be as
difficult for the average player – for whom this book is
intended.

The two deciding factors that tip the nod in favor of 303 Tactical
Chess Puzzles are the nature of the positions and the price. The
majority of the puzzles I reviewed featured positions that could

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Book Reviews

reasonably be expected to be found in the games of the player of

average abilities. It can be quite discouraging to expend a
significant amount of brain power attempting to solve a puzzle,
only to learn that the position is from the game of a grandmaster
who was also unsuccessful in finding the solution. Such should
not be the case here.

In this day of mega-bucks chess books, price must always be a

consideration. Since most of this book’s competition is priced in
the $18~$25 range, 303 Tactical Chess Puzzles is a virtual steal at
$12.95 retail. In fact, for the intermediate player seeking a book
of puzzles that may help him improve his game, purchasing a
copy of this book is a “no brainer”.

Order 303 Tactical Chess Puzzles

by Fred Wilson and Bruce Albertson

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