15 Nov 11
The 1001 books are classics, and aren't expensive, and every chess player should cut their teeth on them, but there are a fair amount of mistakes in the answers, and the answers are all in descriptive notation. The problem difficulty is all over the map, with problems from a simple mate in 1, to a 7 move combo.
I like Chess Tactics for Juniors by Hayes, which takes a lot of the 1001 problems, checks them with a computer, and only puts in the ones that are 2-3 moves long.
BTW - I write a free chess tactics email newsletter that I think is a great way to supplement your chess tactics study 🙂 Sign up at http://tacticstime.com for more details and to join in.
15 Nov 11
Originally posted by NorrisBSounds like the OP should buy the copy from the guy who doesn't like it.
sharpen your tactics is worth the money, if you need a hard copy, I own alot of puzzle books and that one is the best
I think "Sharpen" was the right level of difficulty for me at the time I worked through it (1700-1800 uscf) the 1 star problems were doable on the train and while often one movers they often had some unique aspect to them that made them worth seeing.
the two star problems were also train material but they took probably 2-3 min to find the answer instead of sub 1 min.
the three and four star problems were hard enough I might get stumped on the train and have to pull out a board when I got home.
Haven't looked at the book in a couple years but that was my notion of it. Since this book went OP I do think quite a few good new tactics books are out there. The key is finding the right level of difficulty etc.
By default tactics books have to be very good since they compete directly with websites and ct-art now.