Chess is 99% tactics! This well-known maxim may sound strange but is really just an exaggerated basic truth: if you want to win more games, nothing works better than training combinations. Solving many tactical puzzles is what makes the difference for beginners and casual players.

This is not just a book for kids - for ‘Dad’ read any opponent who beats you regularly! This book teaches the 50 Deadly Checkmates - basic attacking patterns that occur repeatedly in games between players of all standards. Each mating motif is carefully and simply explained, and several illustrative examples are given. A final test enables the reader to grade his pattern recognition abilities, and the last chapter explains what to do if your Dad is Garry Kasparov. Fun, instructive - and guaranteed to improve your game.

Throughout a game of chess, the players must constantly make judgements and decisions that cannot be determined simply by calculation. They must then rely on their positional judgement. Good positional skills are primarily developed by experience, but they can also be learnt.

Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner to Master