A COURSE IN CHESS TACTICS
Authors: Dejan Bojkov & Vladimir Georgiev
Gambit (2010)
191 pages
$22.95

Reviewed by John Donaldson

A COURSE IN CHESS TACTICS by GMs Dejan Bojkov and Vladimir Georgiev differs from many of the current works on tactics – it’s not a puzzle book with hundreds of positions to solve but a primer on the subject.

 

The material in A COURSE IN CHESS TACTICS is presented in two parts with Bojkov addressing the basic themes in the first section of the book and both authors dealing with more advanced subjects in the second half.

 

This breaks down as follows:

 

Part 1: The Basics

 

1 Pin 7

2 Deflection 16

3 Overload 23

4 Decoy 28

5 Double Attack 36

6 Knight Fork 44

7 Discovered Attack 50

8 Clearance 56

9 Obstruction 64

10 Removing the Defender 71

11 The Power of the Pawn 77

12 Back-Rank Mate 85

13 Stalemate 91

14 Perpetual Check and Fortresses 96

 

Part 2: Advanced Tactics

 

15 f7: Weak by Presumption 103

16 The Vulnerable Rook’s Pawn 111

17 Attacking the Fianchetto 118

18 The Mystery of the Opposite-Colored Bishops 125

19 Chess Highways: Open Files 131

20 Trapping a Piece 141

21 Practice Makes Perfect 149

Solutions 158

Index of Players 188

Index of Composers 191

 

The authors give many practical examples to illustrate their points most of which will likely be unfamiliar to the reader as the majority are either from Bojkov’s practice (the first part of the book) or drawn from recent practice – this is definitely not a case of the same old examples being recycled.

 

One example of this can be found on pages 79-81 where the power of the pawn is discussed – in this case a queen sacrifice foe advanced passed pawns. The authors could have given the old example Hort-Biyiasas, Manila Interzonal 1976, but rightly prefer to offer something fresher – in this case Khalifman-Ermenkov, Burgas 1994 and Bojkov-V. Alexandrov, Dupnitsa 1998.

 

A COURSE IN CHESS TACTICS is primarily a textbook but Bojkov and Georgiev offer roughly 150 exercises throughout the 21 chapters and another 50 at the end of the book to give the student a chance to test what they have learned. Detailed solutions are provided at the back of the book.

 

A COURSE IN CHESS TACTICS can be recommended to players from 1600 to 2300 with those on the lower end of the spectrum likely finding the first half more helpful and the second part appealing more to those over 2000.