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Rating: 
Summary: Best chess book I've seen for medium-ability players
Review: After working with a number of Pandolfini books (some of which were useful, some of which were not) this was my first experience with Lev Alburt, and it has been a good one. The big question when buying a chess book is "Is it at my ability level?" My tournament rating is in the 1200's. I felt that I've improved as much as I can by playing on the Internet, and needed to LEARN more about chess strategies in order to get better. The examples in this book are perfect for me. My mind is expanded again and again with new chess concepts in this book. I might not see these exact situations in real games, but probably will encounter variations on these themes. The way the book is organized, Alburt shows a picture of a board and lets you think about what you should do. Then he presents the "answer" which is usually 3 to 6 moves long. Not all are fancy checkmates; many are just ways to pick up a knight, for example. Alburt's explanations of why another line of play is not best are kept to a minimum, but when one is needed it's there. I am so glad I bought this book! For players rated 1150 to 1450 this book is ideal.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good ¿Chess Intelligence Checkup,¿ but come prepared..!
Review: Content:
Alburt selected 300 positions that represent a sample of most common and important ideas from virtually all areas of the game of Chess. Tactic/Combinations and Strategy, Opening and Middlegame, Standard Endgames and general Endgame ideas, etc.. practically everything is covered in this little book.Quality:
The book is of very decent quality - both presentation and content. Small format is very convenient for using on the go! Who will benefit:
Not for beginners, but practically for everyone from 1400 - 2200. Majority of positions are well known, but even chess experts will find some of them challenging. I have kept track of my student's score and can tell you that some positions were missed even by 2400+. Overall:
I'd like to discourage those who believe that by studding this book and memorizing the 300 positions that Alburt presents, they automatically improve their chess skills. There is very little of comments and annotations, and this book is not structured like a textbook. Yet, I am a big fan of this book and virtually all of my students own a copy. Despite not be able to learn a lot from this book, it is an excellent tool in identifying your weak areas after your have studied chess for awhile. I strongly encourage you to raise your preparation level, work on all areas of chess using other training materials (separate books on each subject - Alburt's Just the Facts, Emms 1000 combinations etc...) and then work on this book. Consider this book as an Chess Intelligence Test, and come prepared. By working through the book and testing your knowledge before you have accumulated any, you will benefit a little and won't be able to use this book later, when you are ready for your Exam. While not enough to replace an evaluation by experienced coach, this book will clearly show on which areas of chess you need to focus first. Tacky cover, high price and somewhat misleading title deserve criticism, but shouldn't diminish positives of this, otherwise very good book. Good luck!
Copyrighted by me!
Rating: 
Summary: Concise, but pricey
Review: I like Alburt's talky, cheerleading style of writing. He really makes you believe that you can be an expert player. This is, of course, abook of tactics not unlike many other books on tactics; however, Alburt does not go into long-winded explanations about themes. The approach is that repition will make you able to solve similar positions. Are these the "300" most essential positions? That would seem rather too simplistic. If even these were the "300" essential positions, most players like me (Class B) might not always be able to reach these winning lines. I am giving the book only 3 stars because it is awfully expensive for the amount of material involved.
Rating:
Summary: Careful! This book is a bit advanced.
Review: Not a beginner book. Great format. Great selection of positions to learn. But you need to be over 1500 USCF before this book will have value for you. Study simpler tactics first. Addendum:
My opinion of this book has risen steadily. I enjoy this book, and I am starting to watch for elements of the positions I have seen in it. Multiple readings are valuable, especially if you take the time to see why the key moves work. If a couple of pieces were moved, would the combination still work? A truly excellent chess book.
Rating:
Summary: Very good puzzle book.
Review: This book is all about tactics and I must say that like it even better than other famous "1000 combinations..." books. You can tell that the author took his time to select the best puzzles that present the most challenge for players. Some of the positions (not that many) in the book are very well known. Mr. Alburt ensures that you calculate ALL possible variations. Some moves that seemed so obvious at first could be a complete disaster if a player overlooks the best opponent's responses.
A beginner may find these puzzles a bit hard to solve. But the earlier one starts the better.
This is a pocket size book that you can take anywhere and have fun with. Don't let the tacky cover and the price (I admit, it is a bit pricey) stop you from buying it.
Rating:
Summary: Good Tactic Practice
Review: This little book is quite helpful to keep in good tactical shape!
The problems cover all phases of play and are not too complicated (so not discouraging!). The author tests our ability to evaluate the positions because sometimes the solution is not even a tactical shot but a patient and quiet move that answers the need of the position.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Chess Instruction Book Ever
Review: To understand what this book is about, you have to know that the famous Russian chess trainer, Mark Dvoretsky, has always had his pupils make diagrams of key positions. Next to the diagrams they put questions such as: "Recommend a move for White. Back it up with three variations. Explain." His students therefore compile their own tests, their "collection of diagram-questions," which they use to test themselves for the rest of their lives. In this way, Dvoretsky takes low-level masters and makes them grandmasters usually in about two to three years. He is the most successful chess trainer in history. This book gives you the same kind of advantage that Dvoretsky gives to his students. Lev Alburt has spent a grandmaster's competitive lifetime coming up with 300 positions that will be excellent test review for absolutely anyone. He explains the Dvoretsky method in the beginning of the book, showing you how to use this book in a variety of ways for chess training. He says you could use this book to train your intuition: simply carry it with you, and when you have a moment where you have to wait, instead of picking up PEOPLE magazine in the doctor's office, just look at one of the diagrams and see if the correct move comes to you immediately. This quick review helps your chess intuition, that is, the ability to see the right move directly and intuitively. Alburt says you could use these positions to train your chess calculative abilities: like Dvoretsky's students, take four problems, give yourself twenty minutes on the clock, and set up your board for the first problem. Write down the complete solution, with variations, without touching the pieces. Check your results, adding time for correct solutions, subtracting time for incorrect solutions. Then Alburt explains how you can use one of the computer programs on the market, and your home computer and printer, to develop your own set of supplementary diagrams. Choose key positions from your recent tournament games. Analyze the game as best you can, writing down notations. Then compare your notes with the variations Fritz suggests. See where you went wrong. Make diagrams of key positions from your own games, and in this way build up your own set of tests for review. After having tried to put together collections of diagram tests for the kids that I teach chess to, I can tell you that this collection is of unbelievably high quality. To teach tactics, Alburt gives many examples where multiple tactical themes are used for just one position (such as a combination of decoy, double attack, deflection, and x-ray). To solidify your endgame knowledge, he includes the key endgame positions for pawns, rooks, knights, bishops, and queens. To help you with mental toughness, he gives you positions where you are objectively lost and your job is to find a defense that sets your opponent great problems that he probably won't be able to solve. To keep you honest and alert, he adds some positions where you need only trade down material to reach a winning endgame. To improve your calculation abilities, he adds positions where you have to calculate ten moves deep to get it right. The real gold in this book lies in Alburt's explanations of the solutions. In clear, understandable language Alburt fills his explanations with nuggets of chess-instructional wisdom, with the occasional touch of humor to make sure you keep having fun. I have never before seen so many perfect explanasion about when to calcuate, when to stop calculating; when to make a move, and when to look deeper; when to complicate the game, and when to simplify it. Alburt has been teaching exclusively for a long time now, and this book shows his excellence. I have been trying to compile excellent chess tests for my students for many years. When I went through this book, I was flabbergasted. What excellence! This is exactly what I was trying to do! Exactly what my students needed! I require them all to buy this book and routinely review it if they want to take chess lessons from me. In short, this is the greatest chess instruction book ever. Buy this book; keep it at your bedside and in your pocket; review it constantly; follow the advice Alburt gives in the introduction for expanding your chess training. You cannot go wrong. I recommend this book without qualification.
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Summary: Sharpen your game & score with the ladies
Review: Who says you can't judge a book by it's cover? Yes, it's true: chicks dig chess masters. This book shows you how to become a tiger on the board AND in the bedroom. I've lost track of how many women I've had since I got this book.
This is a great tactics book. The analysis and descriptions are much better than Pandolfini's books. The pocket book format is great. I carry this with me on the bus and any time I'll have a free moment. A side benefit is that fellow passengers and the general public may finally understand the seductive allure of chess and the game may again enjoy it's Fisher era popularity. Many people (of both sexes!) who've seen me reading this have asked me what it is that makes chess players irresistable. Fortunately, chapter 1 provides several talking points on this subject.
Actually, I haven't seen much improvement in my rating yet, but this cover definitely increases my motivation to practice. My only criticism is that it could have used an Appendix on pick-up lines.
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