Winning Chess Tactics

This volume teaches the fundamentals of chess strategy - the plan or plans that direct a player's moves, and builds on that foundation by teaching the specifics of tactics - "the guard dog of strategy", as Seirawan puts it. Seirawan and Silman define tactics as "manoeuvres that take advantage of short-term opportunities" in a chess game. The book presents, with many examples, the manoeuvres that together constitute a well-stocked arsenal; double attacks, pins, skewers, deflections, decoys, rays and windmills. Also included are 200 diagrammed positions. Each chapter ends with helpful "quiz" examples, and the book concludes with a series of more advanced positions that test the reader's understanding of tactical themes and complex combinations. Lastly, the book offers "Great Tacticians and Their Games" - a section that analyzes the personality and play of some of the game's greatest figures. Yasser Seirawan has also written "Play Winning Chess".