Forget puzzles, get better at chess strategy

I don’t know about you, but when we hear the word “puzzle” our mind tends to go slightly hazy.

Aren’t puzzles about relaxing? Isn’t doing puzzles about freewheeling and having a good time?

Perfectly all right occupations of course, unless you are actually trying to achieve something, like getting better at chess.

Believe us: the title of the book we’re recommending to you today is 100% wrong! “The Chess Cafe Puzzle Book 2″ is no kid’s stuff, but is probably the best strategic training course available in chess today.

In 14 short chapters German GM Karsten Müller introduces all major strategic themes, from “Good Bishops” to “Weak Color Complexes”, by explaining a couple of instructive examples, followed by exercises.

This part of the book takes up only 72 pages! It will be hard to find a better short primer on chess strategy, anywhere. The next 200 pages are filled with tests and extremely well explained solutions

So our advice is: ignore the boring title of this book and buy it (for only € 21.95) if you wish to improve your positional understanding rapidly.