by Igor Sukhin, 335pp. (2007 Mongoose Press)

1000 Combinations You Should Know

Foreword by World Champion Vladimir Kramnik

Combinations have long been considered the most creative aspect of chess. From the vast sea of chess games a thousand combinations have been chosen: the most artistic, elegant, and famous. Yet chess tactics are not only for aesthetic enjoyment: they help win games.
This book will expand your chess horizons and help you to:

• See how chess combinations have evolved over the last 1,000 years
• Learn to recognize tactical patterns from real-life examples
• Improve your chances of finishing off your opponent with a tactical blow
• Find combinations missed by grandmasters

Chess Gems is certain to sharpen your knowledge of both tactics and chess history.

From the author’s Introduction:

“In our book, the material is presented in chronological order. We begin with some examples of the combinational skills of the masters of Shatranj and end with illustrations of the tactical strikes by contemporary grandmasters. The basic material in this book samples the tactical skills of the world’s leading players from all eras, rather than fragments of games between unknown amateurs..

“The book has fourteen chapters with a consistent structure. First, we show several outstanding combinations of the period, followed by the section “How would you play?” in which readers are challenged to solve several instructive positions with the best moves. The solutions to the problems are at the end of each chapter.”

The contents are presented chronologically in 14 chapters: (1) According to the Rules of Shatranj (9^th-15^th centuries); (2) From Lucen to Greco (15^th-17^th centuries); (3) From Stamma to Philidor (18^th century); (4) From Napoleon to Staunton (the first half of the 19^th century); (5) Anderssen and Morphy (1851-1860); (6) First Unoffical World Championship Match (1861-1870); (7) Zukertort and Chigorin (1871-1880); (8) Steinitz – The First World Champion (1881-1890); (9) Lasker and Pillsbury (1891-1900); (10) Matches of the Second World Champion (1901-1920); (11) Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe (1921-1940); (12) Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal (1941-1960); (13) Petrosian, Spassky, Fischer (1961-1980); and (14) The Great Opposition:  Karpov-Kasparov (1981-2000). There are actually two addition subsections in each chapter, “How Would You Play?” and “Solutions.” The former presents positions – taken from games played during the featured era – for the reader to solve, while the latter presents the solutions, often with helpful explanatory text.