Welcome to the 14 new subscribers who have joined this week. The newsletter now goes out to 2,774 chess fans. Also a special thanks to those who support Say Chess as paid subscribers!
I've recently been working on a new chess book containing 3000 checkmate puzzles. I’m sure I will be able to gain several rating points by improving and mastering checkmating. Here is an example from a recent game where I missed a checkmate.
I played Raf1 instead of Rxg6+! leading to checkmate after fxg6 Qxg6 Kf8 Rf1+ and you can try to visualize the rest. In short, I could benefit from ingraining checkmate patterns into my memory. And it is good calculation practice as well.
I have sorted out 3000 of the highest user-rated checkmate puzzles in the Lichess puzzle database and arranged them in a gradually increasing difficulty. Starting with a 2100 Lichess puzzle rating and ending at 2600. If we transform this to the guidelines I used for The Tactics Ladder it will be for 1700 FIDE to 2200 FIDE level. However, I think it decreases the difficulty that there is a mate on the board and you know it, so the range is probably 1500 to 2000 FIDE.
To give you a taste of what's in store, I've included page one with solutions provided at the bottom.
I have also designed a nice cover, at least I like it myself. The idea behind the cover is to create a simple and minimalistic-looking book in Black and White. The cover art I have created with Midjourney.
The paperback version of the book will be 557 pages and available soon for purchase on Amazon. It will be a bit more costly than my other books due to its larger size, with a price of $19.95.
As a thank you for supporting my newsletter, I am offering all paid subscribers a digital version of the book at the start of next week. To take advantage of this offer and receive a 10% discount on your subscription for the next year, be sure to sign up for the newsletter by the end of this week.
Have a nice weekend!
/Martin
Solutions
<< I have sorted out 3000 of the highest user-rated checkmate puzzles in the Lichess puzzle database and arranged them in a gradually increasing difficulty. >>
Lol why would people pay for content that’s free on Lichess?