EMMS - The Ultimate Chess Puzzle Book

It is not the quality of your best moves that wins you games; it is the quality of your worst moves. The quickest way to improve your chess skills is to raise the bar.The Spanish grandmaster and coach Jesus de la Villa has proven with his best-seller 100 Endgames You Must Know that he understands exactly what a chess student needs. Building on his experience as a writer and as a coach for juniors, he has carefully selected the 50 Mistakes every player should be aware of - so the mistake can be avoided. De la Villa loves this quote from the American First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt: 'Learn from the errors of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.' For over a decade, De la Villa has closely observed the Spanish junior championships, noting the recurring errors that players make. He has taken notes, classified these errors, and created training tasks based on them. From this wealth of chess exercises, he has selected the most impactful and has added recommendations how to correct the error.Your performance will improve dramatically because this book offers you: -50 important chess lessons-detailed and lively explanations-clear summaries and recommendations-dozens of tests. 351 pages

This approach is intended to enable the reader to assign himself to one of the player types and find out whether he belongs to the activists or rather to the pragmatists, theorists or reflectors. The result allows to draw conclusions in order to further expand the individual strengths or to develop a more universal playing style overall.

Because even if you usually win thanks to your strengths, it makes sense to work on your own weaknesses as well. Of course, if there is only one move in a position, you should be able to find it. Playstyles are especially important in positions where you have a great choice. However, they also play a role when you choose the type of position, which you should strive for based on your style.

Interestingly, a playstyle can also be imitated, which may even be the appropriate strategy against certain opponents. For example, certain characteristics stand out clearly in activists, and being able to adjust to them as an opponent is of course very valuable. A good example is Kramnik's win over activist Kasparov (at the London 2000 world championship match). Since Kramnik always managed to steer the game in the direction appropriate to his style, his big opponent never had the chance to demonstrate his own strengths in positions with attack and initiative.

While 'The Human Factor' was about a clear distinction of the four playing styles, this book aims to emphasize the universality of each player. After solving the tasks tailored to the four player types, it becomes clear how your own competencies are distributed. Accordingly, GM Vincent Keymer states in his foreword:
"Even if the further development of one's own player personality to a universal player who unites all player types may remain a utopia, it's still worth pursuing."