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British Chess Federation

Chess Choice Challenge 2

Chris Ward
Batsford, £12.99

Review by James Vigus

Chris Ward, Grandmaster and highly accomplished coach, here presents 80 positions with multiple-choice questions. The format follows that of Volume One, with points being awarded for correct answers, though this is more for fun than serious assessment – Ward rightly emphasises that readers should not conclude too much from success or failure over such a small sample. He also mentions that the puzzles are harder this time round. Not having read the first volume I don’t know whether that is the case but, anyway, be warned: the level of difficulty varies considerably. The positions are generally tactical, with some straightforward but many very substantial and requiring a page or so of explanation in the solution. In his usual chatty style Ward manages to say a great deal in these solutions, so even readers who might find the general level of the book hard are likely to learn a lot. The material is well arranged too – exciting middlegames are mixed with some technical endings, so there is a fairly equal measure of entertainment and theoretical instruction. My reservation about this kind of book is that multiple-choice is not the most appropriate test method for all chess puzzles, and out of five options for each position some are likely to be superfluous. But generally Ward comes up with plenty of ideas, and overall the book is a light but worthwhile read.