Hi. i am an unrated player in my country(not the US)
in my country. chess books can be quite hard to get and as i do not have a credit card i am also unable to buy them through the internet.
i am asking here mostly on how to improve my tactics. i have the reinfeld books(1001 checkmate and 1001 sacs and combi) and i want to ask if i should get an easier book like john bain's chess tactics for students.
also i am a very defensive player and i do not dare to attack is there anyway to correct this?
lastly, i have a competition coming up in august and i hope to be able to improve substantially by then... i can only devote about 4 hours a week to chess. is it possible to improve that quickly?
thanks for your help.

Sure. Just spend your time wisely.

As for being defensive, playing more gambits and looking at middlegame material would help, but you would probably not see improvement by August.

Chess books should be abundant in thy public library .

I would recommend combining a study of Bain's book with the two Reinfeld books. If you are able to complete them from cover to cover by the end of the year, then you should see a marked improvement in your rating.

On another note, is there any reason why you cannot devote more than 4 hours a week to chess? You may be able to study chess for more than 4 hours a week by reading chess books on the bus/train, for example.

well the problem now is that i have exams coming up and i have a major exam at the end of the year. so i cannot devote too much time on chess.
also now i am unable to do many puzzles in the reinfeld books so i am thinking of purchasing the bain book. if i purchase the bain books, are there any more books worth purchasing??

Exam schedules are temporary. When exams are done, pick up the books and put in the time. Chess won't go away.

Bain is definitely one of the best to start out with.

If you're looking to expand from there, check out Dan Heisman's List.

If getting books is a problem, there are also a number of online tactics problem sites:

Chess Tactics or Chess Tactics Server

I personally much prefer books ... but to each his own.

With regard to how to utilize your study time: When it comes to tactics, consistently studying every day is the best way to spend your time (even if only for 30 minutes).

Hi,
Another approach is to play online correspondence games.You get enough time to analyse positions, try out different openings etc.I have been playing at redhotpawn.com, and it has helped me.I write down my thoughts when I am analysing a position, and compare later when the game is over.I have started playing Sicilian dragon against e4 and Gruenfeld against d4. Its fun!