1 comments about Evolution (Prima's Official Strategy Guide).

1. This book helped me though the toughest parts of the game. Without it I would be toast!

No comments about Adventures in Odyssey and the Treasure of the Incas: The Chase is On. Discover the Treasure. Reveal the Truth. (Adventures in Odyssey).

No comments about Light Rangers: Mending the Maniac Madness: Protect the Children of Angeltown (Light Rangers).

No comments about Adventures in Odyssey and the Great Escape: The Ultimate Test of Time Awaits You Inside! (Adventures in Odyssey).

5 comments about Winning Chess Tactics (Winning Chess).

1. It has been said that chess is 99% tactics. So studying tactics is a requirement for getting better at chess.
   
   This is the 2nd book in Yasser Seirawan's "Winning Chess" series. It discusses all of the fundamental tactical tools which should form the foundation of a solid chess player's skill. In addition Seirawan introduces readers to some of the great attacking players in chess history and their games.
   
   Overall, I think the book did a superb job explaining the different tactics and provided ample examples and exercises to drive the points home. The only problem I noticed was either a diagram was wrong (#77) or the analysis appears to be incorrect.
   
   I would highly recommend this book as a first book on tactics.



2. I used to lose almost every game I played. I never took Chess serious until I played a thirteen year old and was thoroughly beaten. I knew I needed help and fast. This book broke tactics down to a level I never got from other chess books. It was not hard to follow and I learned a lot in just the first few chapters.



3. If you are a beginner chess player, with a rating below say 1400, and you are bewildered by the array of chess material ... rest easy. This book and tactics and this entire series of chess titles are absolutely excellent, and the best presented and thought out thematic chess books aimed at lower rated players in a way people can easily digest. Seriwan and Silman have created a deceptively simple formula for articulating complex points, and present the material with succinctness and clarity.
   
   Really this series is the defacto education plan and reference set for the beginner to U1400 player. Sadly i bought many titles before this series was publised .. you can spare yourself wasted time and money.



4. If you want a good book on tactics, this is the one for the Class A player on down. There are two kinds of books on tactics; ones that are a collection of tactical problems categorized by theme and this kind which is instructional and contains just the amount of problems needed to get the point made. This book also has a great exam at the end to rate your skill level at tactics and see how much of the book you have absorbed. Couple this book with Reinfeld's Winning Chess or Combinational Challenge by Hays(for the more advanced player) and you don't need any more on the subject!



5. There are many problems with this book, and it's a shame because the book has many 4- and 5-star reviews that will most likely overshadow this one. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to write a review on this book.
   
   1. The tests in this book have several major problems. Usually there are 4-6 tests for each tactic. The first two questions are usually on par with the examples, or slightly harder. Then the questions drastically get tougher. Like one reviewer pointed out... one question will require a simple 2-move combination, and the next requires you to figure out the 100% perfect move-list for a 10-move checkmate. Sorry, I'm not a grandmaster Yassir! The problem is that the tests don't progressively get tougher. There are usually more tougher tests than easy ones too, which I think only demoralizes the reader when they realize that they can't figure more than 30% of them out.
   
   2. Sometimes the first question is actually one of the toughest! This is rare, and it happens! Great method of instruction! (sarcasm). Another problem is that none of the examples are challenging, but Yassir expects the reader to use the vague general principle taught and exercise it to master-level strength in the tests. It's like the questions were purposefully tougher than the examples, and I don't understand the reason.
   
   3. There are not enough easy tests to cement the pattern of the tactic in the reader's mind. In fact, there is often only 1 test of each pattern for the tactic being demonstrated. As we know, pattern recognition only happens with constant repetition, so the book is more or less useless on this front. Maybe the problems in "Chess Tactics for Students" were simpler, but at least I can recognize those tactics rather quickly at a glance. This book hasn't helped me at all in my games.
   
   4. Sometimes tests at the beginning also use tactics taught in later chapters. For example, there's a clearance sacrifice required to solve a problem in one of the first tests... but clearance sacrifice taught several chapters later.
   
   5. Sometimes the answers to the tests are wrong. On test 23, you are put in check by the opponent's queen and you have to decide how to get out of check. You can block with your queen, block with a pawn or move the king (it's a pin problem... so the goal is to avoid a pin). After looking at the position however, I immediately saw that 'e5' (blocking with the pawn) was the best solution. It does pin the pawn to the King, but if you look at the position, it's not a negative at all.
   
   However, Yassir says moving the King is the best answer... and doesn't even consider blocking with the pawn at all! He just ignored the possibility completely. After giving the position to Fritz and Rybka chess engines, both said 'e5' was the best solution. Moving the King was only second best.
   
   There are several other tests (even those 8-10 move complex ones!) where the lines suggested by Yassir are incorrect, or where other solutions could easily fit the bill as the 'correct' answer. Test 50 is a good example of this. Honestly, myself, Fritz and Yassir only agreed on the first 2 moves. At that point, Yassir was dreaming of this 8-move checkmate that doesn't exist. When asking Fritz and Rybka the answer, it goes on for much longer with completely different moves.
   
   As far as I can tell, this only serves to demoralize the reader like they are doing something wrong. The tests should have been worked out so that very few lines would work. As it stands, your answer is almost always going to be different than Yassir's answer for these long 10-move problems.
   
   6. There are spelling and grammar mistakes throughout the book, even in the revised edition.
   
   7. Explanations are usually very thin. Sometimes the author will say "and with these 4 moves, Black is in real big trouble!"
   
   The problem is that Yassir doesn't explain how he's in trouble (it's usually some kind of tactic that is unrelated to the concept that is being taught). Yassir should have explained everything so that it was understood by new and expert players alike, but he doesn't! This happens quite frequently in the book, where the reader is left to their own devices to see what the author means. It just interrupts with the flow and understanding.
   
   8. The example games at the back of the book are irrelevant. The games with Anderssen are completely pointless. Yes, the games feature tactics, but it's only because the opponent accepted gambits (because it's "the manly thing to do!") and accepted double-rook sacrifices (because "he wants his opponent to prove a point") without considering the compensation that the other player gets or actually formulating plans of his own.
   
   In effect, Anderssen's opponents were idiots... and by modern standards, nobody in their right mind would play the way either player would. In fact, they would get crushed. What is the point of analyzing inferior openings and inferior moves when today's games will never see them? We learn by osmosis. These are not the type of games we should be studying!
   
   9. Also, the examples are master-level games where 90% of the stuff is not explained. Honestly, much of it went over my head. I don't understand the point to learning from master-level games. Why not show some 1200-1500 level games instead? Like show really common tactics we will see on a regular basis... and common errors and how they can be exploited? Why not make this book practical? This approach would have made the game analysis useful.
   
   10. There needs to be more diagrams in the book. Many times Yassir will throw out move lists or entire games with one or two diagrams. Unless you have a chess set with you, you are sitting at a computer, or you can see all the moves in your head... these examples won't be of much benefit to you. They are just hard to follow, and makes it impossible to read on... say... a bus. This is a problem with many chess books, and I don't know why they couldn't add another 40 pages to the book to make it easier to read. I would have gladly paid the extra .50 cents.
   
   11. The book is also plagued with the problem where you have a diagram on one page, and it's explanation on another... causing the reader to flip back and forth. Was it really hard to paginate the examples properly, even if it meant having some white space?
   
   Make no mistake, I did learn things from this book. I think because so many examples did use clearance sacrifices or piece sacrifices that I can see them a little better... perhaps because the "I'm going to lose on the exchange" mentality has been changed. Still, the book is just poor instruction and there has to be better books on tactics out there than this one.

No comments about The Official Pokemon Handbook: Collectors.

No comments about Roar of Honor (Mech Warrior) (Mech Warrior).

No comments about Adventures in Odyssey and the Sword of the Spirit: A Gauntlet of Virtues Awaits You Inside! (Adventures in Odyssey).

No comments about Tex Murphy: Overseer (Prima's Official Strategy Guide).

5 comments about Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. I'm a big DBZ fan so I got the Prima print guide for Budokai 3 and the iGuide (which is a game guide on dvd) and I think that the iGuide gives you so much more. For the same money you get these really cool, funny videos and all the same info. The Prima guide says that they reveal all 500 capsules...but its just a bunch of screen captures. the prima book has an interview with the associate producer of the game, but the iguide has a video interview with the lead designer of the ENTIRE SERIES and some other cool bonus videos, too.
   
   I dont know why you can't get the iguide on amazon, but trust me, the prima book is a bad deal.



2. Okay, I was waiting for 2 weeks for this to arrive in the mail.Every day i'd get more and more frustrated because it didn't come, and it was not worth the wait. I bought this from Walmart, and it said it told you where and HOW to get each and every capsule(in those words).That was absolutley wrong , it has a generic explanation on how to collect capsules , but not individualy.It says where to get them , and in wich scenario, but not how, You're better off just looking on the internet.



3. The guide provides a very brief, uninformative overview of the different game modes, an incomplete list of individual character moves, and a compendium of the capsules available that only vaguely points to how they can be obtained.
   
   Many questions that people will have about the game go completely ignored, such as:
   
   - how to specifically unlock various characters, locations, and the dragon arena mode
   
   - how the character stats function and how points added to a stat affect performance
   
   - how to perform certain moves and techniques like fusion
   
   - where to find the dragon balls, money, capsules, and events in Dragon Universe mode
   
   This book should not be considered a "game guide", but rather a limited overview. Save your money and do a search for tips and guides on the internet instead.



4. Basically everything in this guide you can get on the Internet and more. Your not told how to get any of the important things you buy this for like How to unlock moves and characters and after an hour of toying with this you finally get up and take it back. I went on the net and got character moves, special arenas, and characters. Do yourself a favor to save cash and just get everything off a cheat and codes website.



5. recieved on time but i did not get much help from this guide