The book is meant to be simple problems from amateur blitz games which show common tactical mistakes for people in this rating range. The book does exactly what it promises. For your level (1721 in blitz is very good) you would need a more difficult book like Learn Chess Tactics by John Nunn.
Lots of books get good reviews but I don't purchase them because they do not seem to be right for my level.
Why you are amazed that it got many positive review? It meet well its target audience. Its great/positive for its target audience.
@TS- If you are looking for a more challenging puzzle book, you can try The Ultimate Chess Puzzle book by GM Emms.
I think I am missing something, then. Where did the book say that it was for extremely loaw rated players? It wasn't in the introduction, when I was deciding whether to buy it. In fact, the book's pitch, in terms of novelty, is that the problems are taken from real games, and that's why I bought it. It said nothing about being taken from the games of 800-level players or some such nonsense. After digging through tons of Amazon reviews, one person said that's exactly where the games came from --extremely low-level USCF games. I can't find a source by the publisher of the book that remarks that this is the target audience. I feel as though they were intentionally vague.
I was moderately interested in learning a little about the book and/or the software version. The thing that really turned me off was that the book's web site is about 95% breathless marketing hype. (It took me forever to get any solid, detailed information on the book/software.) Why should anyone be forced to wade through that much marketing crap?
The book might be great, or maybe not, I don't know. I did finally discover that the software uses the cbv (Chessbase) format, so I was instantly no longer interested in the software.
You should have gone through some of the tactics before you actually bought the book.
This is from amazon.com's book description. It clearly states that the tactics are from amateur games.
Tactics Time!: 1001 Chess Tactics from the Games of Everyday Chess Players
This book only takes positions from amateur games and puts them out there, warts and all. Tim Brennan and Andrea Carson have assembled thousands of games by everyday players, and selected the most instructive tactical examples. If you have limited time and energy to devote to chess, you want to study positions that are happening in games you yourself might have played!
I've has a little bit of back-and-forth with the author. He correctly pointed out that the book has printed on the cover that it is for "beginners and casual players." So what's the problem, and why didn't I catch this sooner? I went to the Amazon page, as well as the seller outlet pages, and the red writing on my book, indicating the intended audience, is not on any of the marketing promotional graphics or blurbs about the book.
I am beginning to feel that the book was intentionally marketed to a general audience, even though it is not geared toward the general audience, and that this was done to increase sales. What a load of crap.
This is from amazon.com's book description. It clearly states that the tactics are from amateur games.
Tactics Time!: 1001 Chess Tactics from the Games of Everyday Chess Players
This book only takes positions from amateur games and puts them out there, warts and all. Tim Brennan and Andrea Carson have assembled thousands of games by everyday players, and selected the most instructive tactical examples. If you have limited time and energy to devote to chess, you want to study positions that are happening in games you yourself might have played!
Yep, I take "amateur" to mean "not professional," as I think most people would, which means probably U2200, but definitely U2000.
You should have gone through some of the tactics before you actually bought the book.
It's kind of said, but after purchasing almost 20 books on tactics, I never thought a book would be advertised to a general audience and contain only viable problems for U1200. I mean, I have Nunn's book, Polgar's, Reinfeld's (am just starting it), Cheng's, and so on, and I have never had this problem. The books for kids and beginners usually have cartoon-esque covers.
Most of all, the reason I didn't do some puzzles beforehand was that I had read so many blurbs, write-ups, reviews, and the description --why do any puzzles, if you have already been told what you are getting by many, many sources?
I always do puzzles if I get the book beforehand. Even reading reviews and the description, I always make sure it can be a challenge for my level and that I can't solve it within 2 seconds.
If you want the max out of tactics trainer (I am 1800 on other acct now, I dont use this one) You should shut off the timer so you dont see it, and just focus on getting the problems right, and every problem you get wrong, you need to go over it and identify what your miscalculation was or what you didnt account for. It is only by fixing these flaws can you get better. Failing a tactics puzzle HELPS you, if you let it, it shows you exactly what you need to learn.
We are talking about a book by Tim Brennan and Anthea Carson.
I think you're holding the marketing of Tactics Time to a higher standard than you would the marketing of other tactics books. You have to do a little digging to figure out the level of most books on chess tactics. We have both Tactics Time and Tactics Time 2, as well as several dozen other books on tactics, and it's rarely spelled out by the publishers who the intended audience is.
By the way, simple tactics can benefit even relatively strong players. My son is 1900+ USCF rated and he still does simple tactics (800-1200 on Tactics Trainer) periodically to help him spot things quickly, hone his pattern recognition, and strengthen his intuition. He does difficult puzzles too (2300+ rated), but hard puzzles serve a different purpose: to hone calculation skills and patience.
I've has a little bit of back-and-forth with the author. He correctly pointed out that the book has printed on the cover that it is for "beginners and casual players." So what's the problem, and why didn't I catch this sooner? I went to the Amazon page, as well as the seller outlet pages, and the red writing on my book, indicating the intended audience, is not on any of the marketing promotional graphics or blurbs about the book.
I am beginning to feel that the book was intentionally marketed to a general audience, even though it is not geared toward the general audience, and that this was done to increase sales. What a load of crap.
It is geared to a general audience. You are a lot stronger than the general audience.
I've has a little bit of back-and-forth with the author. He correctly pointed out that the book has printed on the cover that it is for "beginners and casual players." So what's the problem, and why didn't I catch this sooner? I went to the Amazon page, as well as the seller outlet pages, and the red writing on my book, indicating the intended audience, is not on any of the marketing promotional graphics or blurbs about the book.
I am beginning to feel that the book was intentionally marketed to a general audience, even though it is not geared toward the general audience, and that this was done to increase sales. What a load of crap.
It is geared to a general audience. You are a lot stronger than the general audience.
Not sure. I'm only rated 1569 (USCF), but we'll see in two months when I return to competition.
I bought the Kindle version of this book last night. I've been looking at the Kindle chess best sellers. Some of them are excellent books by titled players that should be in every chess library. many of them are self-published books.
I wrote reviews of two self-published Kindle books Sunday night and Monday morning. In the more generous of the two, I said the book had potential if the author would correct the many errors in the book (https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/RMXPUSMBYX6HF?). I might have said that neither author should write another chess book before learning the rules and getting some tournament experience.
I have been in search of good chess books for beginners that are written by non-titled players.
I know that's a weird category (but I wrote a book that is in it).
I want to write a positive review of some such book.
Tactics Time is three or four stars. This review nails it: https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/tactics-time/
My biggest qualm was that "Tactics Time!" was that "beginner" wasn't specifically in the title that the book. I didn't see it in the title, and I didn't see it in the introduction. It was pointed out to be included in the back matter, but that's not very up front about the audience. Even strong players can gain from beginner tactics books if they are highly organized into a sophisticated taxonomy. I'm still trying to fill holes in my basic pattern knowledge. I think that an author should be very clear about who the audience is.
There's nothing wrong with seeking optimal beginner books that optimize content absorption, especially for instructors.
I tore through this book ("Tactics Time!" by Brennan and Carson) in no time, and I am absolutely amazed that it's gotten so many positive reviews. Is it me, or does it seem like the problems are well below 1200 strength?
What's your experience with the book been?