Michael Steen wrote:
David Richerby wrote:
The first thing to sort out is tactics. Reinfeld's books of
problems (1001 checkmates and 1001 sacrifices and combinations) are
a good place to start. [...]

I wouldn't START with Reinfeld's books. Though they are the classics
for combinations, they can be maddeningly difficult, and you never
know whether you're staring at a mate in two or in eight!

To some extent, I feel that this is an advantage. In real life, you
don't even have an angel sitting on your shoulder saying ``There's a
forced mate here'', let alone, ``There's a mate in three!'' On the
other hand, I appreciate that it can be a bit frustrating when an easy
mate in one or two is followed by a subtle mate in eight with lots of
variations to consider.

The checkmates book is rather easier than the combinations book, I
think, but I've only looked at the first chapter of the checkmates.


If you want a great beginner and intermediate and master book of
brain-teasers, get "Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games"
by Polgar.

I've not looked at that book but, as I recall, most of the positions
are composed. Most of the point of tactics problems is pattern
recognition so I think it's important that the positions you work on
come from real games. Reinfeld's positions are from real games.


Dave.

--
David Richerby Old-Fashioned Sadistic Monk (TM):
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ it's like a man of God but it wants
to hurt you and it's perfect for
your grandparents!