This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaway

Bill Harvey has published this book containing 100 chess problems and their solutions. The board is pictured with the side making the next move indicated. Solutions are in the back of the book.

First, this is not a book on how to play chess. You need to know enough about the game to follow common chess notation. There is no key in the book explaining the use of these conventions. Also a high level of expertise is needed to be able to solve the puzzles.

I found it necessary to set up my chess board since, unlike a friend, I cannot visualize moves without the setup. I expected that these puzzles would be similar to the ones in the old Games Magazine of the 80s which were challenging. These were more so. My grandsons and I spent the weekend setting up puzzles and trying to duplicate the solutions. I set up one where white mates in the next move. I couldn’t see it and neither did my older grandson. The eight year old came over, glanced at the board and moved the white queen to exactly the spot indicated in the solution. I’ll never be as good a player as the kids are but the book was a lot of fun for all three of us.

The editor has a website with a lot more chess puzzles and solutions when you’ve finished this book and need more challenges. ( )

100 Major Chess Upsets of 2010 is a book of chess puzzles, where the opponents have Elo rankings/scores with a difference of 100 or more. There is no analysis, nor is there player background information included, just the puzzles and solutions.

The format of the book is in diagrams; 100 puzzle diagrams (and at the end of the puzzle section, a solution section), detailing the players, their Elo ranking/scores and where the match took place. It was nice to see that internet matches were included, as well as showing the Elo differences between the players.

A slim volume at 52 pages, but packed full of intriguing chess puzzles. I would really only have one formatting change; that would be to present the solutions completely in their own section - as it stands, they begin on the same page as the last puzzle.

Review copy supplied by the author through LibraryThing's Member Giveaway program. ( )