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Dear Reader!
In this book we've collected typical positions and situations frequently seen on the board. If you know these, you can avoid a lot of typical mistakes. Or, even better, you can exploit your opponent's mistakes.
We have a main topic for most of the months, e.g. pin and overload, 7th or 8th rank, different kinds of pieces and their actions, endgame etc. At least half the month shows exercises on the topic, the others are mixed for variety's sake. At the beginning you can probably solve the exercises from the diagrams. Later this will not do and it's highly advisable to set up the position on your board. This already helps you to understand as, while we set up a position, we get familiar with the details.
In some positions we ask you to set them up on your board and play them to the end. That's fora good reason. Analyses of hundreds of games of class players (players between rating 1000/class E to 1800/class B, see next page) has shown that a lot of good positions with a clear advantage are not won - and in the worst case even got lost. Learning how to bring superior positions to a winning end is important for your improvement.
Look fora time of the day that you can nearly always look at one of our examples. It need not be long; 10-20 minutes should do. The important thing is, to work a little bit on your chess nearly every day. If you do so, your bra in will adapt to chess, making it easier for you to find the right plan or move. Our brain can adapt for every task required regularly; be it multiplication or finding chess moves. lf you do not have the time or are not in the right mood to work on a larger exercise, jump to an easier one and look at the ones you skipped another day.
Always have a good look at the diagram first at the beginning of your little training session. What can you find out about the position? Are there acute threats? Is there something you should keep in mind? Who has the advantage or is the position about equal? After finding out as much as possible, start with the given task of the example or find the answer to the question.
If you have the answer (or at least think so) look at the solution. Follow the moves of the solution carefully on the diagram. Ifyou are not sure - especially after a few months, when the exercises are more complicated - set up the position on a real board and look again.
We start with easy exercises to enable all readers to have a good start. If you already have some practical experience, you can solve the examples at the beginning quickly until you reach your individual level. But don't skip them. Sometimes there may be something you really must know. In the last months of our year you will find the puzzles hard nuts to crack. We trust that until then you have learned from our book and gained more experience from practical play in this time.
If you after can not solve exercises - especially, if you area class E or class D player - don't worry or be disappointed. The intention of this book is not to make it easy for you to solve most exercises. That would probably give you a good feeling but won't make you stronger. From every exercise you cannot solve, you learn something new, while everything you solve is to some part only repetition of already accumulated knowledge. Be brave and patient and endure some frustration! Don't forget that the way to improvement has its price
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