Your Absolute Favorite Chess Puzzle Books

1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate by Fred Reinfeld.

1. The perfect size - 8" x 5" x .5" approx.

2. Easy to see puzzles, six to a page.

3. Grouped by themes, I.e., Queen Sacrifices, Storming the Castled Position, etc.

What was your favorite chess puzzle book as a beginner, intermediate, advanced, Master and above?

Has it help?

My favorite beginning chess tactics book:

http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Chess-Three-Moves-Ahead/dp/0671211145

My favorite intermediate puzzle book (despite cheesy cover):

http://www.amazon.com/Chess-Training-Pocket-Book-Comprehensive/dp/1889323144

Yes. The patterns are very much like the ones I miss in my games, so, I need to learn these patterns!

Is it better than the Polgar book?

the polgar book is pretty useless. mate in ones/two/three puzzles are hugely limited in what you learn from them and that takes up the vast majority of the book.  

That's true to an extent, though it's certainly not useless, especially at less than 1400 FIDE. Also, Laszlo Polgar released two other books in the same format, dealing with middlegames and endgames. I have both 5334 and Endgames, and love them both.

Cripes man! He was looking for ways to checkmate.

The Gambit Book of Instructive Chess Puzzles by Graham Burgess

Conflagration_Planet wrote:

Is it better than the Polgar book?

I like the 1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate better, because it is a smaller book (easy for travel) and the checkmates are organized by themes, like Harrying the King. All of the patterns look to be extremely practical to learn, as they look like patterns that will come up in my games, as well as giving me attacking ideas that I had not seen before.

SwimmerGirl wrote:

The Gambit Book of Instructive Chess Puzzles by Graham Burgess

Thank you. I will take a look at that book. Please keep your absolute favorite list of puzzle books coming. Thanks!

The Polgar book is too huge to be handy.

Conflagration_Planet wrote:

Musikamole wrote:

Conflagration_Planet wrote:

Is it better than the Polgar book?

I like the 1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate better, because it is a smaller book (easy for travel) and the checkmates are organized by themes, like Harrying the King. All of the patterns look to be extremely practical to learn, as they look like patterns that will come up in my games, as well as giving me attacking ideas that I had not seen before.

The Polgar book is too huge to be handy.

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Yes. The Polgar book is too thick. I am now spoiled by my son's iPad...to watch news and check on forums. From my chess library, I now tend towards the smaller books.

I now place Silman's How to Reassess Your Chess, 4th edition as way too thick. For his middle game books, I much prefer his Amateur Mind book. It's much more fun to go through, and it fits nice in the hands.

Publishers, take note: stop making super heavy, super thick books! I won't buy them, especially with the advent of the Kindle and the iPad. I wonder when all books made of paper will disappear? I have seen vinyl records vanish from stores in my life time.

Actually, there's a thriving company that still makes vinyl records for the nostalgic. I saw it on "How it's Made." I can't remember how many they sell annually, but it's a lot. Surprised me. As for chess books, I'm not spending any more money on a game I'm obviously not wired for.

Conflagration_Planet wrote:

Actually, there's a thriving company that still makes vinyl records for the nostalgic. I saw it on "How it's Made." I can't remember how many they sell annually, but it's a lot. Surprised me. As for chess books, I'm not spending any more money on a game I'm obviously not wired for.

I am also not wired for it, but I have improved from 600 to 1000 in Live Chess Standard - and G 15/10 seems to be the sweet spot. Having those extra 10 seconds per move for the endgame makes a huge difference in my performance, since I feel confident that I can win when ahead against other 1000 players, and gain time on the clock after move 40, having all the time I need to deliver mate.

Could I get to 1400 in Live Chess? At 53, I doubt it. It took a lot of effort just to get to 1000, and it gets exponentially harder, I.e., whatever time it took to go from 800 to 1000, it would take maybe twice the time to go from 1000 to 1200. I think I know what to do to get to 1200, however, it would take more than one year of concentrated study to get there, I think.

Aw come on! 53 isn't that old.

1001 is way way harder than Polgars

Spotting some good titles here. Thank you all for sharing!