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by Jeff Coakley, 307pp., Large format (2010 Chess’n Math)
 
Winning Chess Puzzles For Kids Volume 2 is a fun and instructive workbook for children ages 7 to 13. Full of imaginative drawings, it combines standard chess problems with a variety of insightful chess-related puzzles. Slightly more advanced than Volume 1, its aim is to further develop a student’s tactical skills.
 
The main part of the book consists of exercise sheets with more than 1000 positions, covering basic mates and simple tactics such as forks, pins, and discovered checks. There are also 100 pages of additional material with names like Lily’s Puzzlers, Switcheroos, Who’s The Goof, Chess Mazes, and Double Whammies.
 
This book can be studied by itself or used as a supplement to the author’s earlier works: Winning Chess Strategy For Kids and Winning Chess Exercises For Kids. Taken together, they make a complete course of instruction for the aspiring player.
 
From the author’s notes:
 
Winning Chess Puzzles For Kids Volume 2 is written for children to read on their own, but chess instructors and school teachers should find it a useful resource.

This workbook is a twin to the first volume, in form and content. There are two categories of material: tactical exercises and chess-related puzzles. They are divided evenly into 40 “chapters”, separated by the Kiril’s Kontest pages. The numbering of sheets continues from where it ended in volume 1.

The tactical exercises in volume 2 are more complex. They begin at a level equivalent to the midpoint of volume 1, and steadily increase in difficulty throughout the book. For many younger players, this material is a necessary intermediate step between the basic exercises in volume 1 and the advanced problems in Winning Chess Exercises For Kids. Students differ greatly in the amount of work required to reach each new plateau. Age, study habits, determination, and natural talent are all factors.

The puzzles are meant to be fun and challenging. Their instructional value varies, but together, they provide a wealth of insights into chess.
 
A few of Lily’s Puzzlers come from other sources. The rest of the material in the book, unless noted otherwise, is original.