ChessEdu.org Step by Step: Mate Workbook 1: Improve your Checkmate Pattern and Visualization Skills

By Mark Donlan

Step by Step: Mate is designed to improve your checkmate pattern and visualization skills. The premise is simple: solve the mate-in-one puzzle, then, while visualizing the mating pattern, solve step-by-step for mate-in-two and mate-in-three. It is recommended to try to solve the mate-in-three position first before following the step-by step method.

You can utilize the puzzles as exercises or lessons in a classroom setting in conjunction with the ChessEdu.org curriculum. Spaces are provided for answers to be written. The answers are given at the end of the book, along with the complete game scores.

Game examples are taken from the golden age of chess play from as far back as 1830 right up to the present day. While there are some classic brilliancies of chess play, including examples from world champions Anand, Karpov, and Kasparov, there are also many examples from regional competitions in the North East area of the United States featuring local international masters. Correspondence play is represented among the puzzles as well. In a few examples, the checkmate is based on a missed opportunity that was overlooked during the game.

In all, forty-three opening systems are featured in the 150 complete games. Readers are encouraged to play through the entire game to see how the final positions arose and to try to find an improvement for the defender. An index for reading algebraic notation is provided, as well as indices of players and openings.

Nearly everyone can find a mate-in-one, but visualizing three moves ahead is exponentially harder to a surprising degree. Working through these examples will help you memorize common mating patterns and sharpen your intuition as to when a mating attack is warranted, even when it involves sacrificing material. You will learn to combine multiple tactical themes to create crushing mating attacks. There are a total of 150 exercises with 450 puzzle challenges. Here's wishing you the best in chess

This title was updated in October 2024 to conform with the format of the ChessEdu.org Curriculum series.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1709940123
• ISBN13: 9781709940125
• Release Date: November 2019
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 188 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.0" x 10.0"