I was wondering if one of the higher rated folks on here could suggest a good tactics training regimen for beginners. Here's what I usually do:

-Go through 2-3 pages of Polgar's "Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games" daily.
Amazon.com: Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games: Laszlo Polgar, Bruce Pandolfini: Books

-Go through 50 problems on CT-ART daily. (20 on level1 difficulty, 20 on level2 difficulty, 10 on level3 difficulty.) I have a 50% accuracy rate on level3 diff, so I don't go past those yet.
CT-ART 3.0

I'm told that tactics are the heart and soul of chess for beginners like me (1250-1300), unfortunately I've been doing this for a few months now and havn't seen marketed improvement. I'm starting to get impatient. Can anyone give me advice on this matter?

Have you taken the time to figure out how you can set up these tactics you are learning? I really think that's the next step. How often are the forced checkmates you've been working on showing up naturally in your games?

I'm assuming the tactics you are learning have alot of checkmates in two, three or four. In my Personal Chess Trainer program this is the majority of tactics I've been working with. I've noticed that some of the checkmates I've been working on are very close to what I see in my white opening. I've been wanting to sit down and take specific ones that look close to board set ups that I see playing the Colle, but I haven't taken the time to do it. I think books would be easier to work with in this matter. I'm going to have to take screen shots if I want to take time to look at them.

Edit:

My rating is lower than yours, but your post got me thinking so I decided to post what was going through my mind.

That's something I've been thinking about lately. I don't ever find any of the tactics that I see often in puzzles. My teacher (a 2200 IM) says that if I set up sound positions that the tactics will naturally come about. I don't know how to set up a tactical situation otherwise, and if I'm not finding any tactics in my games It would seem logical that I'm not setting up sound positions.

Thoughts from the community?

at exodus, solve not only matting problems but tactics or combination that can win material, play e4 openings it tends to be more tactical than d4,

Sound advice, Polgars book is essentially all mating problems. CT-ART seems to be a mix of both with emphasis on mates (so far.) I already play e4: giuoco piano, evans gambit, max lange attack. These are agressive systems so you'd think I'd be finding more tactics than I am.

Perhaps he is right that it will come about naturally, but I think the "natural" part will only come after you've burned these tactics into your head in a number of different variations and have had time to let them stew in your head. This means the "natural" evolution is simply going to take time. I suppose if you are looking at this from an IM's point of view who has been studying and playing chess for quite a few years, the period of time isn't all that great.

Definitely focus on middle game tactics to win material instead. Maybe get "Winning Chess Tactics for Juniors" by Hays for that - it's 500+ puzzles of 2-3 move tactics. There are some mates, but they're not the majority.

After that, I'd say the next book to get is "How to Beat Your Dad at Chess" by Chandler. That one shows you attacking patterns, so it's longer tactics, and it helps you learn when to sacrifice for an attack. Great book, despite the silly title.

The openings you're playing should be leading to tactical positions, as long as you don't go into the boring, quiet lines. The Evans doesn't really have boring, quiet lines, though. Maybe post a couple of your games here so we can comment on how you could have played more aggressively.

--Fromper

Here are good books, that in my opinion you should read in order for you to improve your piece positioning, having a good position will always give you good chance to find tactics.

1. "Unbeatable Chess Lesson" by Robert Synder
-- while reading this book you shoud also solve tactical problems, a good start will be Susan Polgar's "Chess Tactics for Champion", if the problems are to easy for you then instead buy John Nunn's "Learn Chess Tactics."

2. After you have finished "Unbeatable Chess Lesson" a good book will be T"he Best Lesson of a Chess Coach" by Weeramantry( coach of Super GM Nakamura) -- this is great a book in my opinion!!!, not only it will improve your ability to gain the initiative(gaining the initiative will give you a good chance for tactical shots) it will also give you opening ideas

I have Chess Tactics for Juniors, but I've yet to go through it. I think now I'm going to substitute Polgar for CTforJ. I also already have HTBYDAC. As long as the topic came up, fromper, what do you think is the best way to study HTBYDAC? Is memorization by going over the book with a board the best option?


That's really funny, my teacher gave me a game of his a few weeks ago where he squared off and defeated Nakamura. I don't mean to get into a game of 'My teacher can beat your teacher' but wow! Guess I under-appreciated that one, anyone interested in my posting the game?

Also thanks to everyone thus far! One last annoying question --
How many hours a week/day do you suggest studying tactics?

I've only really skimmed through this thread, but I have noticed that when a lot of players first start they only look for tactics, and many better players exploit this by making sure that their opponent only gets a limited amount of piece activity. Many beginners fail to realize that if you put your pieces on the squares they should be on, tactics will magically appear.

I always try to do about 12 puzzles every day, just so I can have a consistent schedule that is easy to follow without over-working myself. If you want to take tactics seriously, you can't get a book that tells you that you want to sacrifice your queen for a mate in two (the Polgar book does that, doesn't it?). That would be nice if my opponent told me that I could sacrifice my queen for a forced mate in two in this position, but he would probably be lying anyway.

You could also study a lot of extremely tactical games. Look for players like Anderssen, Morphy, and Tal just to name a few. Maybe even start playing openings like the King's Gambit, Two Knight's Defence (may I recommend the Traxler Gambit for truly head-spinning tactics), Evan's Gambit, Latvian Gambit, Danish/Goring Gambit, and other swashbuckling/romantic era openings.