Learning Chess: Tactics, Tactics, Tactics!

For all the deep strategic ideas in chess, nothing is more important than having a good tactical base. You may have memorized your favorite opening lines, and play the endgame like Capablanca, but none of that will help you if you drop a rook in the middlegame!

Developing your tactical vision is simply a matter of doing tactical problems - lots and lots of tactical problems. These can come from books, computer programs, or even interactive websites. The most important thing is to have a good mix of problems, of various difficulty, that you can work through several times until you have committed the patterns to memory. Only then will you consistently find these tactical problems over the board.

Here are some recommended resources to utilize in your tactical training.

Software

Chess Tactics Art 3.0 - Known in the chess world as CT-ART, this program is the single best way to train your tactical abilities. With over 1200 problems sorted by difficulty and theme, some extremely difficult, this program is appropriate for most players.

Chess Tactics for Beginners - However, if CT-ART is too advanced, Chess Tactics for Beginners may be right up your alley. By the same company that created CT-ART, this program features 1,300 problems appropriate for beginning and improving players, and makes a great way to drill basic tactical patterns.

Books

While books don't have the advantage of being interactive like software, they can serve a valuable role in your tactical development.

Beginning Chess (Pandolfini) - This book features 300 one-move tactical problems for you to solve, covering every major tactical theme, from pieces en prise to forks, pins, skewers and beyond. Pandolfini provides explanations for every problem, showing why the answer is the correct one.

Winning Chess Tactics (Seirawan/Silman) - Winning Chess Tactics explains all the most common tactical themes you'll find in chess in an easy to understand manner. Each theme is explored from basic, one-move threats to complex combinations. Completing this book is enough to eliminate your most egregious tactical errors.

Chess (Polgar) - Laszlo Polgar's famous book contains over 5,000 problems, starting with simple mate-in-ones. In fact, the vast majority of the book consists of checkmate problems, from one to three moves long. Working through the entire book would be an impressive feat, but anyone who manages it should come out with a much stronger tactical grounding.

Internet

Chess Tactics Server - This interactive website provides thousands of tactical problems without any hints - it's simply up to you to find the best moves in the position given. By making an account and playing on the site, you will be given a rating, which tailors the difficulty of the problems to your needs.

Using these resources, you should soon find yourself seeing more tactical possibilities on the board, and your rating should skyrocket along with your chess vision.