Tactics books are readily available, and in many instances there isn’t a lot of difference from one to the next. This is a fun collection that helped me get through a 15-hour plane ride – anything that can make a journey of that length bearable should appeal to others as well.

The book consists of 12 tests, and each contains 15 positions. Each test has problems that increase in difficulty; there are some that are worth 5 points, others are worth 10, and the more difficult problems are worth 15 points. In every case, there is a maximum of 150 points available per test.

The book has some useful features that set it apart from similar offerings. The author is a noted tactician, and many of his games (both wins and losses) are featured. Besides the presence this brings to many of the examples, the author provides useful commentary about many of the positions.

The author has also provided useful tools to help the average player enjoy the book. There are hints available for the player who cannot solve a particular problem; these cost a portion of the points available for solving each problem. The author also provides partial credit for reasonable moves from time to time.

The problems themselves run the gamut from simple one or two movers to very challenging and deep combinations. The author gets the player started by setting the scene – the reader always knows which side is playing for the advantage, and often Plasket goes even further and tells the reader what exactly the solution will gain (i.e., wins a pawn, gains a winning attack, checkmates in three, etc.).

The author does a good job of varying the selections – there are a few opening and endgame positions as well as the usual middlegame variety. They also are taken from a variety of sources, so it is likely that most players will not have run across the vast majority of them. I would guess that I was familiar with less than 10% of the positions, although there were some notable exceptions – Fischer’s famous Rf6 against Benko in the U.S. Championship where he scored a perfect 11-0 was one, and there were several positions from Kasparov and Karpov games that I already knew.

I worked through every exercise in the book, and generally enjoyed the experience. There were certain kingside attacking formations that seemed to get more coverage than other ideas, but this is (in my case, as a positional player) probably a good thing. Of the 150 points available in each exercise, I generally scored around 110-120, with a high of 132 and a low of 85.

This is a middle of the road exercise book. The author provides interesting commentary in his solutions and doesn’t make things exceedingly difficult in setting up the problems. At the same time, the exercises (particularly those that get the full 15 points for solutions) are not easy, and the author expects some pretty deep solving to get full credit.

The author suggests that players can gauge their progress by improvement in their scores over the run of the 12 tests. In my case, I did not detect a pattern of improvement, but I am probably not the typical reader of the book either. I do believe that many players will benefit from the tactical exercises it provides, but some will be unhappy that the author does not provide a scale to help them match their score to typical rating classes.

While I generally liked the book, I did find that there were reasonable alternate solutions that were not covered in the notes. While strong players will be able to pick up on the fact that many of these are plausible methods for reaching the same or similar goals as the stated solutions, some players may be frustrated by lack of mention of their choice. In the case where an author is going to award partial credit for less than optimal solution, I think they have to spend even more time ensuring that they have not overlooked plausible alternatives.

In conclusion, this is an interesting set of tactical exercises that should prove useful for most players. The author provides plenty of extras to make the book workable, but the exercises themselves will provide a challenge for just about every level of player.

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