Rating: 
Summary: Great value
Review: An absolutely great bunch of combinations. It boosted my ELO-rating with 200 points (1494-1712) in less than 4 months! Thumbs down. Right now I'm reading it for the third time. Just to have fun and keep in shape!
Rating:
Summary: A must read book for Great Tactics!!
Review: Combination Challenge is the best book I have ever seen for studying chess tactics. I like the way the book is formatted and I use the study method described in the book. I see more tactics and win more games than I used to. I try to work on the problems every day just like the book recommends. I haven't done all of the diagrams yet, but I plan to keep going until I have finished the book. Then I plan to do it again! This is a fun and inexpensive way to learn chess.
Rating:
Summary: Some opponent responses overlooked
Review: Great material for study of positional/situational responses and combination practice. Board positions are not simply contrived but actually "feel" like real game scenarios... something that other books for beginning players lack at times. There are plenty of challenges within the pages to keep a 1400-1800 rated player joyfully busy for a long time and with good results. With that said there are a few problems with the work... One problem which I have encountered that troubles me is that there are a few "attacking" diagrams whose solutions overlook the opponents options. In one case, (diagram 13 of the July 1991 Edition) the citation for the solution leaves off with the words "4.f7 and wins." I was disturbed because it seemed that the opponent wasn't quite done in. I set up the diagram on a board and played through the given solution... and as my response to the solutions last move placed the readers king in check with Qd5+. The only response was Bg2. Qxg2# settled the matter and the reader was mated. Use of 4 PC chess programs confirmed my moves. I have the first Edition and this problem has, I am certain, long ago been corrected (the Edition listed here on eBay is dated 3 months after the one that I own). With that said... I still recommend the book (4 stars), but I encourage the reader to carefully explore the solutions given that do not end in a clear "Checkmate". This may actually have been an intentional slight in order to engage more experienced or observant players who otherwise may become bored with some of the more obvious combinations. Thus, I'd recommend it, I certainly won't throw it away... it is excellent food-for-thought when games are hard to come by or when one is preparing for tournament play.
Rating: 
Summary: Best single volume tactics review book available today!
Review: I have a chess library of approximately 100 different books covering all aspects of the game of chess. After years of playing in, and directing tournaments, as well as teaching scholastic level chess- I have concluded that tactics are the most important part of the game of chess. They are also the most exciting! The best part is, you don't have to be born with tactical ability; you can learn it. By practicing tactics through the method of diagram training you can become a much stronger player. This book is the best algebraic notation book available on the market today. It is very similar to Reinfeld's 1,001 chess sacrifices and combinations in the old descriptive notation. It is preferable to solve problems in the notation currently used by a majority of players today because it will transfer to your over the board play and help you visualize the board better. I would recommend this book strongly for players rated between 1400 and 2000 USCF. Players rated below 1400 would do better to find a more basic book, and players rated above 2000 USCF would do better to find even more advanced books. P.S. I have no relationship to the author or publisher.
Rating: 
Summary: Attaining the Master/Expert levels in chess through tactics
Review: I learned the rules of chess as a child, but I got serious and took up tournament chess only after the 1972 Fischer-Spassky match, (at the age of 25!). Needless to say, I had to struggle desperately to improve. By the time 1975 rolled around, I was still a Class C player -- rated around 1440. In January of 1975 I started taking lessons from FIDE Master John Jacobs. According to John, my obvious weakness was chess tactics. John immediately told me to buy every combination book I could find and start solving problems from diagrams in chess books. I took his advice, began improving immediately, and steadily climbed from the 1400s to 2181 in a few short years. Remember now, I was 28 years old when I STARTED to study tactics, so it is never too late to get better! A nice thing about being good tactically is that you can easily overwhelm weaker opponents, winning early and decisively instead of trying to nurse an extra pawn for 75 moves. "Combination Challenge!" was the first of twenty chess books that I have published and it has become a classic. It is the ultimate chess tactics book. With 1154 examples, you never run out of problems to solve, Once you have gone through the book, you can start over again and strengthen what you have already learned. There are a limited number of combinational themes in chess, and once you have familiarized yourself with these themes, you will begin to recognize them and USE them in your own games. The system that John Jacobs gave me worked wonders for my chess. Those lessons are incorporated into "Combination Challenge!." If you simply love reading and solving chess problems you will always keep this book handy. If your game is lacking tactically, nothing will be more beneficial to you than devouring as many of these diagrams as possible for a few months. Here is how it works: (from the introduction to "Combination Challenge!") -- Rule 1 - Try to spend SOME time every day working on the diagrams. At the rate of 20 diagrams a day, you can go through the book in two months; 15 per day will take just under three months; 10 per day around four months. Rule 2 - Solve directly from the book, not on your chessboard. This is slightly more difficult, but will help your visualization ability. Rule 3 - (and this is the most important rule!) DO NOT SPEND MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES AT A TIME ON ANY ONE DIAGRAM! Some of these solutions are long and challenging, others short and easy. If you have no idea of the solution to a diagram after five minutes, it is better to look it up and get the right idea into your head instead of becoming frustrated and wasting valuable time. The concept is to see as many diagrams and solutions as you can in the shortest period of time possible, not force yourself to endure a gruesome examination every day. Diagram training is learning by repetition, a sort of "chess osmosis." You will, after examining enough positions, begin to develop a "feel" for tactics. Do not worry about how much you are or are not learning as you go. Just continue a steady diet of diagrams and you will rapidly begin to see and use the patterns in your own games. A significant rise in strength and rating will follow. Rule 4 - Enjoy yourself. Take a firm but relaxed attitude toward learning to play tactically. Enjoy the diagrams whether you can solve them the first time through or not. They will definitely help you become a strong chess player. Chess is a long term proposition and long term fun. View it as such. It is sometimes difficult to get players to look up the answer to a diagram after five minutes, but it is vital that they do so. You learn nearly as much by looking up the answer and SEEING the pieces do their work as you do by solving it yourself. Don't waste time on any particular diagram. Get the answer in your head and move on! You will get it right the next time through. Grandmaster Reti said "FIRST you should learn to make combinations." Teichmann said, "Chess is 99% tactics." "Combination Challenge!" is divided into the following theme chapters -- 1.Back Rank mates 2.Pins 3.Queen sacrifices 4.Overloading 5.Knight forks 6.Double attack 7.Discovery 8.Diversion 9.Clearance 10.Attraction 11.Smorgasbord (various mixed themes in one chapter). Arm yourself with the various tactical devices given here and you cannot help but play with increased vigor, gaining more (crushing!) victories than ever before in the dashing combinative style. Join the 15,000+ purchasers of Combination Challenge" and start getting better at chess now.
Rating: 
Summary: not worth the money
Review: I looked forward to getting this book. Imagine my regret when I found out that most of the positions in this book come from Fred Reinfelds combination books such as 1001 combinations and sacrifices. I thought I was getting a book that would offer ORIGINAL material. If the book was original this book would be a sure classic, but its nothing of the kind. I gave the book to charity and hopefully some good will come out of it. I should have listened to the previous reviewer about saving your money. If you want combination books Reinfelds are the best. Read his chess books and you will see why he was an early inductee to the chess hall of fame. He was an original and not taking material from other writers.
Rating:
Summary: not worth the money
Review: I looked forward to getting this book. Imagine my regret when I found out that most of the positions in this book come from Fred Reinfelds combination books such as 1001 combinations and sacrifices. I thought I was getting a book that would offer ORIGINAL material. If the book was original this book would be a sure classic, but its nothing of the kind. I gave the book to charity and hopefully some good will come out of it. I should have listened to the previous reviewer about saving your money. If you want combination books Reinfelds are the best. Read his chess books and you will see why he was an early inductee to the chess hall of fame. He was an original and not taking material from other writers.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but try Winning Chess Tactics for Juniors first
Review: If your rating is below 1700, try Winning Chess Tactics for Juniors first. It's an edited version of Combination Challenge, but with just 1-3 move problems from that book. It's not in a kiddie format, althought it's a smaller book-- the problems just have fewer moves than Combination Challenge and there aren't as many problems in it. In the forward of Winning Chess Tactics for Juniors it says to do this book 3 times and not to move on to Combination Challenge until you're around USCF 1700.
Rating:
Summary: Save Your Money
Review: More than 900 of this book's 1100+ problems appear in Reinfeld's "One Thousand and One Winning Sacrifices and Combinations," also available from Amazon.com. That book is available for approximately half the price of "Combination Challenge," so unless you absolutely cannot handle descriptive notation, buy the original.
Rating:
Summary: Good non-beginner tactics book
Review: This is a book with 1100+ tactical problems, arranged by theme, with solutions provided in algebraic notation (the easiest kind to read). I've been told that a lot of the problems here are identical to those in Reinfeld's 1001 Brilliant Sacrifices and Combinations, so if you own that book, you might want to spend your money elsewhere. This is a very good book for intermediate players who want to improve their computational and pattern recognition abilities. The book presupposes that you already have a firm grasp on the fundamental tactics (pins, forks, skewers, elementary checkmates, etc.) , as many of the solutions involve the use of such simple tactics to get to the final solution. If you do not have a firm grasp on the fundamentals, don't expect to get better with this book; rather, expect to get annoyed and frustrated. As mentionned earlier, the problems of the book are divided by tactical theme, making it ideal for those who have mastered basic tactics but who want to work on specific areas of tactical study intensely or who are just not good enough to dive into random positions and figure out what the appropriate tactic is. Having said that, the book does not indicate how hard any of the problems are. A two move mate can be followed by a 7 move tactic designed to win a pawn. Thus, this book is really the opposite of Lein's "Sharpen Your Tactics", which indicates the difficulty level without telling you what type of tactic is involved. It's really a matter of the reader's preference when deciding which style of book he/she wants. The book does not get five stars because of
1)the size of the book. It's annoyingly large. In fact, it's a square. What's more, the cover, introduction and basically all the text is cheesy. Fortunately, the meat of the book is simple diagrams 2)the fact that there are errors in the book. Some of the solutions can be "busted" by a computer program (or a keen reader). In other words, if you were to play out the "winning" side of these problems according to the solution provided, your opponent would still have the resources to mate you or come out with a material advantage If your skill level is appropriate, I recommend this book.
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