A tactics and strategy primer that builds on 170 tactical positions from the games of Bobby Fischer with 170 Reversing and 420 Forwarding variations
All that matters on the chessboard is good moves. - Bobby Fischer
This is far more than a course of tactical puzzles. Yes, the course does include 170 tactics from the games of Bobby Fischer, but for each tactic the strategic pre-moves leading up to the tactic are also explored of which 125 are trainable. In addition, and at the heart of this course, the challenge is to then play forward from that tactic and find the right moves in response to an opponent's possible replies (all 420 lines!)
Why is this form of teaching so important? Because every chess player knows what it is to at least once find a game winning tactic and then fail to press home the advantage and to either draw or lose what should have been a won game.
The hardest game to win is a won game. - Emanuel Lasker
This course will help develop the recognition of tactics, explore how to create opportunities for tactics, and then to play correctly from the tactic onwards.
To achieve this there are three learning parts to this course, the ABCs.
The ABCs of this course
A - The Tactics
All the
A variations contain one key move for a tactic. This is a move that forces a tactic or pounces on an opponent's weak move. In 1959, Reuben Fine, in "The Middle Game in Chess", wrote these words,
Among players of equal strength, it is always the last blunder, and the ability to see it, that determines who will win. – Reuben Fine
Can you find that one move that will secure your advantage?
B - The Reversing Variations
This is chess in Reverse! The Reversing Method describes the process in which we work with the
A variation pattern and then plan for the correct series of moves to reach that pattern. These variations are strategic in nature and explore how to set up the tactic. Sometimes the moves are forcing, sometimes the moves create an opportunity and invite an opponent into the tactic via a weak move. Either way it is extremely valuable to gain an insight into how Fischer reached the tactical position.
C - The Forwarding Variations
In addition to solving a key move for the
A tactic, and then playing from a few moves back to set up the decisive move (the Reversing
B variation), the Forwarding variation plays it forward from the
A position through a number of possible opponent replies. As a result, many of these Forwarding variations are several plies in length to ensure that the player knows how to correctly build upon the foundation of the
A tactic.
Bobby Fischer claimed in his article on the King's Gambit,
White can always play differently, in which case he merely loses differently. – Bobby Fischer
For each Forwarding variation, in whichever way your opponent replies, can you play the right move to press home your advantage?
The Test Sections
In addition to the ABC learning chapters, in which the A-B-C sequence of variations flow from one to the next, there is a Test section in which all the ABC variations are repeated in their own separate chapters: Test A (the one-move tactic), Test B (setting up the tactic), and Test C (playing through an opponent's replies). These are the chapters to review and drill.
The Database of Games
When you play Bobby, it is not a question if you win or lose. It is a question if you survive. – Boris Spassky
Every full game (1956-1992) referenced in this course is included in a reference database and can be accessed from the learning or review screen.
About the Author
Dr Alan Bester (PhD) resides on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast of South Africa. Alan is passionate about chess and while playing league chess in the mid-1990s was invited to give chess lessons to a group of scholars in the local school. The Chessable platform has enabled him to now share his chess learning experiences with a wider and an international community.
Alan is also the author of the highly rated The Unexpected Mate, and the Reversing Mate and On the Attack series which have together attracted thousands of students.
As Chessable staff, we'd also like to remind you that the high quality of Dr Bester's chess work has led to endorsements from leading coaches and players such as GM Alex Colovic.
