Back to Basics: Tactics by Dan Heisman - A review

Title:Back to Basics:Tactics

I am reading  Dan Heisman’s Back To Basics: Tactics about a week ago. The book aims to teach tactical concepts to “beginning players who have never played tournament chess or who possess a U.S. Chess Federation rating lower than 1500″ or online players with a rating below 1700. I believe the book is well-suited for this purpose and audience. I also think players rated 100-200 points higher might use this book for a quick “tactical tune-up” if they are a bit rusty.


There are a plethora of tactical books on the market and chess books seem to be rolling out like hotcakes. When I initially picked up this book, I thought it was a little too basic for my current playing level; however, upon further exploration of the book, I soon realized this effort was a gem. Mr. Heisman has chosen examples that are clear and uncomplicated allowing the reader to truly understand the essence of the described tactical motifs.  The most original section of the book is Chapter 1, which focuses on "counting." (Regular readers of Heisman’s Novice Nook column know that he often talks about counting as one of the most under-appreciated tactical elements, especially for players in the target audience for this book.) This is a concept taken for granted even by advanced beginners. But most players, no matter how strong, never fully cover all aspects of this art.

Counting refers to "counting" how many offensive pieces attack a square, compared to how many pieces defend that square. This "count" may move up or down, depending on which pieces get captures, moved, threatened, etc. It's not good enough to simply think "two pieces attack my pawn and two pieces defend my pawn, therefor my pawn must be safe."

With the exception of Logical Chess : Move by Move, most books are a chore to sit through. I've had a few other books on tactics, but just working through problem after problem with no explanation gets old fast. "Why is the move that I thought about a bad one?" "Doesn't this move win as well?" "What are the basic patterns of a certain mate or tactic?" These are all questions that most of the books don't answer, but Heisman's book does!

The best parts of the book are the little light blue "advice boxes," which highlight practical advice for the improving player. These little boxes are peppered throughout the book like pull-quotes in magazine articles. From these boxes, much of Heisman's practical knowledge is imparted, and much of this advice has nothing even to do with tactics. Much of it has to do with thought process, time management, and other practical matters. 

This book is good, everything is explained clearly and a lot of exercise for practice, so I highly recommended for those player just out of the beginner level to the intermediate player.

Category: Chess Reviews , Reviews