Chessville - Reviews - Improve Your Attacking Chess - by Simon Williams

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Improve Your Attacking Chess
Reviewed by Rick Kennedy

by Simon Williams

Gambit (2004)

160 pages, softcover

figurine algebraic

ISBN 1904600093

Many club and tournament players, following Teichman’s dictum that “Chess is 99% tactics,” work to improve their play by solving books of chess problems or puzzles. (Reportedly master Carsten Hansen, in his recent Improve Your Positional Chess, has countered that chess is at least 90% positional. Note to self: check out that book soon…)

Some of the hardest challenges are the bare-bones positions, where it is not even mentioned which side is to move, let alone the tactic (pin, fork, skewer, etc) that is involved, and the reader has to analyze everything – kind of like a chess game, itself.

Some collections group their problems by theme, a “hint” that eases the solver’s task, but which is not usually available over-the-board – is anyone’s opponent likely to blather, say, “Here we sit, 22 moves into a Benko Gambit, and right now you have the chance to win a piece if you can discover the underlying remove-the-defender motif”? (I wish!)

As the study of tactics is recommended especially to young and improving chess players, some puzzle books group their exercises not only by theme, but also grade them by difficulty; and some include introductory bits of text that steer the reader in the general direction of the solution. On one hand, purists can protest you’re giving away the answer! while budding Alekhines and Kasparovs will be asking what should I be looking for, what’s important in this position, what do I need – beyond raw calculating power – to solve this thing? For many readers, the “hint” not only makes the difference between a discovery Aha! experience and some otherwise mind-numbing frustration (followed by book-throwing), it teases out and focuses on important factors in the position – a teaching tool in itself.

Against this background comes IM Simon Williams’ Improve Your Attacking Chess, a selection of 250 chess problems focused on attacking the King. (The 25-year old soon-to-be-GM has also written Play the Classical Dutch.) In 5 ¾ by 8 ¼ inch format, the book is a handy take-along size. Its contents are broken into: Attacking the King Caught in the Centre; Attacking the Castled King; Strike in the Center; Time is Everything!; Attacking on Opposite Sides; and Expect the Unexpected. Each chapter starts with some introductory material, including an illustrative game or a list of relevant themes. Then come the puzzles, in order from easiest to hardest. The Solutions come at the end of the chapter, and include explanatory text. Each problem has a set-up or hint or instructional bit to get the reader going. For example, an early one from the first chapter:

With the open d-file, well placed queen, and active bishop on c4 it is no wonder that White can checkmate the black king. What should White play?

I particularly liked the "Strike in the Center" chapter, as a central break-through sometimes is needed in conjunction with pressure on the king, in order to attack successfully:

The position seems to be rather unclear. With White’s next move though the situation dramatically changes. Black’s king comes under threat and another trump appears in the position for White. What did he play?

Some of the positions can be pretty challenging, at least for the average not-quite-expert. Here’s one from Expect the Unexpected:

The position looks rather dull, but that is when both sides have to be the most alert, as a false sense of security is many a player’s downfall. What should Black play?

As is the case with all Gambit books, Improve your Attacking Chess is well laid out, with good use of diagrams and space, and no noticeable typos. The chess puzzles appear four to the page. Solutions often have helpful diagrams – as well as the names of the players, date, and location of where each source game was played. Williams is a pleasant and easy-to-read writer, and it is obvious that he enjoys and is enthusiastic about attacking play. How can you not like a book that begins Chess is a strange and compelling game… ?

If you want to steam roller your way through piles of problems for pure pattern recognition, Reinfeld’s classics, 1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate and 1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations, even though they come with some errors, are inexpensive and still to be recommended. Pound for pound, even in paperback, Lazlo Polgar’s Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games is a heavy-duty choice that will keep you busy for a good long while. (One book seller recommends putting it in the bathroom – but I digress…) However, if you’re looking for something new – if you’d like a book that’s easy to take from place to place – if you appreciate some explanation in the set-up and follow-up of a problem – and if you’re ready to sharpen your attacks on the King – then William’s Improve Your Attacking Chess is likely to be an enjoyable and instructive choice.

Solutions (without Williams’ explanatory text):

15.Bxf7! Kxf7 16.Ng5+ Ke8 17.Qe6+ 1-0
27.e5!! Rxc3 28.e6! Bf3 (28...fxe6 29.Ne7+ Kg7 30.Rg6+ Kh8 31.Rh1+ Bh3 32.Rxh3#) 29.e7 Re3 30.Rxf3 Re2 31.Re6!
1...Bh3+ 2.Kxh3 Qg1 3.g4 Nc5!! 4.gxh5 Ne6 5.hxg6+ fxg6 0-1