If you are looking for your second chess book, I may have just the thing. Murray Chandler's How to Beat Your Dad at Chess provides a very useful introduction to chess tactics.
The Fischer trap: Bxf7+ and Ne6
If you are looking for your second chess book, I may have just the thing. Murray Chandler's How to Beat Your Dad at Chess provides a very useful introduction to chess tactics.
When I first saw the book, I had three reactions. I wished I'd come up with that title. Second, my kids know that it will take more than that book to beat their dad. And third, the title doesn't really express that the book is mostly about 50 specific tactical themes. It does its job so well that the title might well have been, "50 cool tactical shots that will beat your Dad."
The book includes 50 short chapters, each about a different tactical theme. You'll find most of the basic mating combinations such as Legall's mate, Domiano's mate, and Boden's mate. There are also chapters on key sacrifices (eg Bxh7+, Bxh6) and key manoeuvers.
Here are two positions from the book, as well as a few other similar games that I found with a simple database search. I think that you will find these surprisingly useful.
Diagram
More than just the mating pattern, the book provides examples. Here's a famous one:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3 Na5 9.e5 Ne8 Diagram
And here are two more that I found:
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d6 9.h3 a5 10.a4 b4 11.d4 bxc3 12.bxc3 exd4 13.Nxd4 Nb8 14.Nd2 Nfd7 Diagram
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Nd7?! 10.0-0-0 Na5 Diagram
Morphy's Games of Chess, Philip Sergeant. A wonderful book for a student interested in playing through these magnificant games.
