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The Bain Rating Tactics Quiz
Purcha chess sh ChessC
Quote of the Month: You don't want to be able to solve easy tactical patterns; you want to be able able to recognize them!
N ov ovii ce N oo ook k Dan Heisman
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One of the first tasks of an improving player is repetitive study of easy tactics problems. The goal is to to recognize both the pattern and solution in a fairly short time. The ability to solve any easy tactic quickly is helpful, but recognition is much better. Consider the following analogy. It is nice to have the ability to add up six sevens quickly, but knowing that six times seven is forty-two is not only faster but subject to less error. One of the best books for repetitive basic tactical study is John Bain's Chess Tactics for Students (see Tactical Sets and Goals). Goals). In Bain's book almost all the problems are practical, without such fluff as too many rarely encountered queen sacrifices. The level of the material is also fairly balanced. I suggest doing these easy problems repetitively, as you would the multiplication tables, à la Michael de la Maza's "The Seven Circles" (from his book Rapid Rapid Chess Improvement ). However, setting the number of repetitions to exactly seven as he recommends is not necessary. Instead, I recommend doing the problems until you can achieve approximately a score of eighty-five percent within fifteen fifteen seconds.
The Ruy Lo by N
Many players who believe they are too good for these easy problems and would not benefit from them are misleading themselves. See the key Novice key Novice Nook s A Different Approach Approach to Studying Tactics and The Most Common and Important Use of Tactics Tactics. In A In A Tactics Quiz , I presented twelve problems, along with a formula for estimating your basic tactical "recognition" rating. This time I am also presenting twelve problems, problems, but all are from Chess Tactics for Students. Students. Use the same directions as in the earlier Novice Novice Nook quiz: Nook quiz:
Sign up to vote on this title 1. This is a timed test – the faster you do the set, the higher your score. You Useful Not useful need to time the test and record the total time taken for all twelve problems. For this reason don't record your answers during the test . That will add time and greatly distort your result. Instead, do all twelve problems
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have the first move correct. If you grant a higher score than you deserve, you are only hurting yourself. You may end up bypassing important basic tactical study that will serve you well when you play actual games! 4. "X to play and win" may only require winning a pawn with a good position, or it might be a mate. If you need more information to understand the above, please read Understanding Chess Puzzles before you take this quiz. The point of "Play and win" is to find a move sequence that will force will force a position where, if a high rated computer were playing itself, it would essentially win every game. Three of the problems are not play and win. These three are clearly marked; two are "Play and draw" and one is to find the simplest win. Once you are finished, with the amount of time taken for all twelve problems and the number of correct answers, use the following formula as a rough guide: Bain Tactical Rating ≈ 600 + (150 * Number of Problems Correct) – 2 * (Total Time – 90 seconds)
For example, if you get eight correct in 305 s econds: Approximate Bain Tactical Rating ≈ 600 + (150*8) – 2*(305-90) = 600 + 1200 – 430 = 1370 If you have to "solve" most of the problems by calculation instead of using recognition, then that will take time and your score will be rather low. However, I suspect that good players will recognize the solutions to most problems almost instantly instantly (perhaps slightly less so this this time than in the first first quiz, which was more generic). In the first quiz, I estimated that any player rated over 2400 would be able to complete the entire quiz perfectly in ninety seconds or less. This elicited the following humorous email from a highly rated reader: "I tried; ninety-three seconds for all twelve correct results, that means 2394; actually I'm 2389." The answers are provided after the twelve problems. Get your timer ready and good luck! 1. Black to play and win
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[FEN "r5k1/5ppp/5n2/6r1/p5q1/8/ P3RP2/1B2RK1Q w - - 0 1"]
3. White to play and draw
[FEN "1k1r4/pp3QRR/8/2n5/8/8/ PP1q1r1p/1K6 w - - 0 1"]
4. White to play and win
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[FEN "3r3Q/pb1qkpp1/1p2pb1p/8/3N4/ P3B3/1P3PPP/1Br1R1K1 w - - 0 1]
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[FEN "r4bkr/pppq2pp/2n5/1B1pp3/8/ 2NP4/PPP2PPP/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 1"]
7. White to play and win
[FEN "1k3r2/1pp5/pb2Q2P/4R3/ 1P6/P5BP/5P1K/5q2 w - - 0 1"]
8. Black to play and draw
Sign up to vote on this title [FEN "8/8/3p1K2/3P3k/5P2/ 2P5/3Q4/5q2 b - - 0 1"]
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[FEN "r4n1r/pn4kp/4p1p1/3p4/3P4/ 1N4P1/P3RPBP/R5K1 w - - 0 1"]
11. White to play and win
[FEN "3Q4/5knp/1nN3p1/2p5/5P2/ 1q6/1P4PP/6K1 w - - 0 1"]
12. Black to play and win
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6. (Pin) White picks off a clean pawn and ruins Black's center with 1.Nxd5 since 1…Qxd5?? allows 2.Bc4. 7. (Discovered check) Bain's intended (and easiest) solution is 1.Qxb6 and if 1 cxb6 2.Re1+ king-any 3.Rxf1 winning a piece. A student found, verified by the computer, another another winning but more more complex line: 1.Qxb6 cxb6 2.Re8 + (similar is 2.Rf5+) 2 Ka7 3.Rxf8 (or 3.Bb8+ first) when White's dual threats of Bb8+ (with possible mating threats on the dark squares) and pushing the h-pawn give give him a winning position. position. Give yourself full full credit for the more difficult solution. 1.Rf5 also wins, but is a longer, convoluted forcing line, and not an "easy tactic." …
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…
8. (Stalemate) Down two pawns, Black is happy to force a draw with 1 Qxf4 + when the double attack (check and queen) forces 2.Qxf4 with stalemate. …
9. (Removal of the guard) 1 Nd4 is a combination double attack and removal of the guard on h2. If White moves his queen anywhere aside from the hopeless 2.Qxe7+, then 2… Nxf3+ and 3…Qh2#. Instead, 2.Nxd4 allows the immediate 2…Qh2#. Finally, 2.hxg4 stops mate, but allows 2 … Nxe2+, so the White queen is lost. This well known pattern also appears in a trap in the Morra Gambit and was featured as a basic pattern in my book Back book Back to Basics: Tactics.. Tactics …
10. (Double attack) 1.Bxd5 and White has Black in trouble, as 1…exd5 2.Re7 + king-any 3.Rxb7 wins a pawn and invades with the rook. If Black does not take, the e-pawn is hanging, as White has a double attack on b7 and e6; 1… Nd8?? allows 2.Bxa8. White White has a good game after 1.Rc1, 1.Rc1, but that's not the tactic. 11. (Skewer) 1.Ne5+ Ke6 2.Qg8+ skewers the king and queen, allowing 3. Qxb3. This is perhaps the least "obvious" pattern among the twelve, so it may take a few extra seconds to find the forcing line that works. 12. (Discovered attack) 1 wins the queen.
Rxd4 snares the bishop, since if 2.Qxd4 Ng4+
…
If you scored yourself strictly and ●
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●
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achieved a Bain rating over 2000, your recognition score is very good, especially if your FIDE/USCF rating is distinctly below that. achieved a Bain rating well above your normal slow rating (USCF or FIDE equivalent), that's a sign that your tactical study is paying benefit. Sign basic up totactics vote on this title scored much lower than your rating, then additional study is likely to yield good results. Useful Not useful got more than ten of the twelve in fifteen seconds or less, you don't need to study more Bain. Instead, continue with basic problems in books, such as my Back my Back to Basics: Tactics Tactics or others mentioned in
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available in the ChessCafe.com Archives.
Dan welcomes readers' questions; he is a full-time instructor on the ICC as Phillytutor .
Yes Ye s, I have a ques question tion for Dan!
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