Müller & Meyer's The Magic of Chess Tactics, on DVD
Some years ago (in 2002) Russell Enterprises published The Magic of Chess Tactics by GM Karsten Müller and FM Claus Dieter Meyer. It's an excellent though advanced book, presenting complicated tactical positions that offer a great deal of aesthetic pleasure as well as a great workout for the serious and strong student. (At least 2000, I'd say, if you want to most profitably use this as a for chess training.) It's a fine work, but it can be a little difficult at times checking through all the variations on a set.
And now, you don't have to. Russell was good enough to allow Müller and Lamprecht to reissue an updated version on DVD with ChessBase. It contains all the material from the book, with a few recent additions and analytical updates, plus a pretty healthy number of the exercises presented in video format. (This is not instead of having them in game files, but in addition to it.) Müller presents 37 games/excerpts in video format, which makes for a really nice bonus. What you get, therefore, is an updated version of an excellent book with some terrific extras, so if you were inclined to get the book in the first place - or if you got it but underused it due to the perceived inconvenience - I can heartily recommend this DVD.
More info here.
Reader Comments (1)
Studying tactics is one of the best and fastest ways to improve your chess strength immediately. Reinfeld quoted somebody or another as saying that chess is 95% tactics. I think that's probably right, especially at the amateur level.
[DM: It sounds like he was citing Richard Teichmann, except that the latter claimed it was 99%.]