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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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Truly Useful
The 1st word in the title is key, this book is _very_ practical.
I suppose there aren't many chess books that will actually weaken your game, but I haven't come across any other that should really help an intermediate player more than this one. It's based on a novel, but seemingly obvious, concept that the answer to chess problem shouldn't be telegraphed in any way beforehand. Also, the positions shown are not simply of the white/black "to play and win" variety - you could just be trying get a draw from behind. You aren't told whether there's a mate hiding in there or simply a positional improvement. The key may be in noticing your opponent's threat, not yours. In other words, the problems represent challenges very much like those real players find themselves faced with on a regular basis.
It just seems obvious that preparing with real-life problems with real-life solutions is a better use of your time than pondering over where's the mate in 3 when you know there's a mate in 3, etc.
In short, a great book for intermediate-to-advanced chess players. It's a whole bunch of chess brain-teasers of the best variety. It's extremely handy when you want something very portable to keep you entertained for an indeterminate amount of time - like waiting at an airport. It's also handy if you just want to wake your brain up for a few minutes before you do something else. I'm sure I'll be sorry when I've finished this. I hope Mr. Cheng comes up with a volume 2 by then!
There are a few minor points I could complain about. I think the arrangement of the illustrations s/h/b somewhat different (left/right before top/bottom) and it seems like the difficulty levels shown are occasionally a little off. A further break with tradition by showing "black to move" problems from the black side would have been welcome also. But, REALLY these are insignificant issues compared to the power of the concept and the excellent problems in this book.
I'll just add that, for what it's worth, I was recently playing blitz against an A-level friend and I came up with a winning move in a complex position that stunned both of us. It was the kind of thing I would have probably missed in a long tournament game and I came up with it in seconds. I don't think I would've seen that move if I hadn't been exercising my brain with this book - and I'm not even halfway through.
For a combination of originality, usefulness and just plain fun, this book definitely deserves 5 stars.
Rating: -
not a problem/puzzle book
First of all, I'd like to say that this is not a problem or puzzle book. As Cheng points out, if you rely on problem books, your mind channels into that mind set and you are constantly looking for mates in four or queen sacs which rarely occur. This book presents positions from amateur games (with a few master's games sprinkled in). They are typical positions which present simple tactics or strategic decisions or defensive moves, in other words you are not given anything to look for beforehand (as in your own games) so you have to think for yourself and scan the board for the best move in this particular situation. He doesn't even rate the difficulty until after you have made your choice. I had previously worked on CT-Arts problem series software and realized after finding five queen sacs leading to mate, that this wasn't real chess. Mr. Cheng's book is as close to real chess as I have seen. I was thinking he should create something on cd or dvd software based on this book or even more examples. But the book, as it is, is logically arranged. No more flipping to the back for the solution to the position. It's on the facing page and all you have to do is cover it up. Minor comments: slightly larger diagrams would help. Numbering left to right, as someone mentioned. Also, putting the color to move at the bottom of the diagram, rather than have all whites at bottom. I'm not sure if this would be a typographical issue, but there you are. I have only gone through about ten percent of problems, but have already learned a lot and have been kicking myself for stupid decisions, just as i do in real games. Congratulations to Mr. Cheng for this book, and perhaps he will expand into the software field in the future.
Rating: -
an extremely practical offering
This is definitely a 5 star item. I agree with all the above positive comments, so I won't repeat them here. Basically you see a board position from real life games and you have to figure out the best move, which may be just a positional move, such as putting your rook behind a passed pawn, or you may have to avoid a trap or a mate three moves ahead. There are absolutely no hints on what may be the issue. I photocopy a few pages of problems, not the solutions, and carry them in my pocket to evaluate when I am somewhere where I have time to spare. The ability to have folded sheet(s) of paper in my pocket, rather than a full book, makes this an extremely practical offering.
Rating: 
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great book
This is a great book. I think every chess player should get as much information as possible on chess. Thats what I think. I've been playing for a long time. But slacked off a bit. So I recently got back into it. I play every day on my computer. And lose the majority of the time. Out of about 2,3oo games I won a little over 500. So I got a little tired of that and said to myself that you shoul get a couple of books. Thats why I purchased this book. I'm still reading it but It's helping me out.
Rating: -
Good Problems
Good book as chess coach. Good instruction material as well as useful lessons for myself.
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