The Art of Chess Combination (Dover Chess) Paperback – Illustrated, June 17, 2010

This is a real classic of chess literature. As the title indicates, this is a book about combinations, but it is not the typical modern 'puzzle book' of isolated positions. Instead, it is in the form of an instructional textbook with very copious verbal explanations of how combinations are brought about and executed. The examples are far from elementary ones, as they are taken from the play of such luminaries of the board as Capablanca, Botvinnik, Alekhine, Nimzovich, Lasker (both Ed and Emmanuel) and Marshall. Many key combinational ideas such as line opening, line blocking, loose pieces, geometric, overworked pieces, etc are illustrated in depth. Classic methods such as the 2 Bishop sacrifice and attacks on the f7 square are covered. What sets this book apart for me are the extensive verbal explanations and the richness and central importance of the examples chosen. Yes, the writing style is old-fashioned and rather verbose, but Znosko-Borovsky does a really good job of explaining things for the non-expert player. This book has been made a bit more famous by American IM and famous author Jeremy Silman, who while a young player went through this text and added 400 points to his rating!! I can hardly think of a better recommendation. If you have mastered more elementary tactical puzzle books, this is a great way to take your tactics to the next level. Warmly recommended.

This book should be in every serious chessplayers library. No idea why anyone would not buy this because its in descriptive notation. What does it take...like 5 minutes to learn? The only complaint would be the diagram positions don't say who's move it is, only the exercises at the end of each chapter, but I'll still give it 5 stars since its not really a book on tactics per se, but combinations.Great read.

this and "the art of the checkmate" by renaud and kahn, are two of the best tactical instruction books, not just positions to solve, available.especially useful to those rated b and below by the uscf, uschess.org, this, the book cited above and "bobby fischer teaches chess" would be the three first books id give a young player to learn...it will enthrall him.i am a uscf postal master

Great content. Very difficult to read move notations and print too, too small.Challenging to use

Just to keep this short: For a few dollars you can get an older book (this uses the traditional descriptive notation) that is very humorous and insightful. The key is learning the deep principles of playing combinations--not just doing lots of puzzles. So this is primarily an instructional text that can be read in a few days and will be of value for anyone rated below expert level. Good Reading!

If you love Chess and want to get better at it... you need to study it and learn from books like this one. The best results come from playing these examples on a board or computer chess game. Apply what you learn in real live games will also help. Remember when you lose you can always learn from it so don't get discouraged. This book will show you some very important applications that you'll need to learn. It's worth the study..

A great book that lets you gain insights into various combinations. Studying it will help you to identify patterns.

A few years ago, I had been playing my electronic chess at level 3 (of 9), and consistantly losing. After reading this book, setting up my own board and following along as strongly recommended, I demolished the computer. I originally bought this book at a used book store. This Holiday I am buying it for my brother, who has lately taken more of an interest in the game. I am a little concerned and feel that I should practice for when he has finished reading it.