ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZAAABAC
1
KeyMeaning
2
Good/PerfectLittle to no issues
3
Nitpick/ImperfectionMinor gripe/issue
4
PoorExercise needs to be reworked/adjusted by either Yusupov or ChessTempo staff
5
Read onlyPositions are meant for the user to scroll and pause at. ChessTempo developers need a more effective way for users to care about the diagram positions. It's very easy to not care about them.
6
7
8
Chapter #
9
Position #12345678910111213141516171819202122232425 (Poor design choice by Yusupov to label each exercise with the corresponding chapter. It's an unwelcomed hint.)25 (cont)
10
11
Diagram 1No hint please. 1...Qe3 allows 2.Rf2 when 2...Re7 is best, while 1...Qd4 2.Rf2 Re1# is gg. A notable difference that Yusupov does not cover. 2.f4 feels like a bit of a contrived move, even though it happened in Yusupov's game. 2.O-O g6 is not exactly easy for Black to find, worth adding as a clickable/trainable.No hint please.This feels a bit too open ended to solve correctly, but the spirit of the position makes it good.No hint please.2...g6 3,g5 is visually more convincing and requires less calculation.Exercise 1
12
Diagram 2No hint please. The initial text here is okay as it is not a direct hint, but it does tell the user there is a single, definite solution. Exercise is a read only section within the Diagram 1 exercise.No hint please.No hint please.Exercise 2
13
Diagram 3No hint please. Perhap minor improvements can be made on mentioning alternatives, but this exercise is excellent. No hint please.No hint please.Diagram not included as a separate subvariation puzzle. It is part of Diagram 2. Not as bad as Chapter 16's unconverted diagrams since ChessTempo doesn't have functionality (as far as I can see) to quiz users from both colors.I'm surprised Black only has one winning move and everything else loses on move 1.Exercise 3This is my only minor complaint for this chapter. White has many good queen moves if he wants to avoid queen trades. Yusupov thinks Qg5 (it's the most active move) is the only move, but Qe2 also feels natural to me.
14
Diagram 4No hint please. Solution feels powerful.This is a rare instance where a puzzle has an instructive preamble and it is well written. At the same time, the diagram is excessively lengthy. Hard to say what can be done to make this easier on the user to experience, while making the moves.No hint please.Same issue as with Diagram 1Diagram not included as a subvariation puzzle.Exercise 4
15
Diagram 5No hint please. Diagram 6-5 is hidden within Diagram 6-4's solution. I feel like this is a good opportunity to split 6-4 into 2 partsExercise is a read only section within the Diagram 5 exercise.No hint please.Exercise 5
16
Diagram 6No hint please. No hint please.Exercise 6This exercise confused me for a while because I thought White was going up and Black was going down. It wasn't obvious to me that it was Black to move, even though I could see the Black circle on the bottom right of the board.
17
Diagram 7No hint please. Exercise feels like it is above my paygrade.No hint please.ChessTempo staff did a good job making sure to make this as a puzzle within the Diagram 6 position No hint please.No hint please.Satisfying solution.Exercise 7
18
Diagram 8No hint please. No hint please. The exercise feels a bit ambiguous too, but that's more because I wasn't that satisfied with the outcome of the solution. Just kind of dissapointing Black isn't doing better. No hint please.No hint please.Diagram is viewed only in read only mode, but quizzed on. Good job to CT staff.This diagram is included within Diagram 7, a continuation within Diagram 7. I personally would rather have seen Diagram 7 and Digram 8 being separate entirely in the table of contents, than what it is now. It's lengthy currently.Exercise 8
19
Diagram 9No hint please. Well chosen position, but I would cut off exercise at move 6.Qxc5No hint please.Diagram 8 and 9 ar emerged together. It feels extremely lengthy and the book could benefit from splitting up the variations.Diagram not included as a subvariation puzzle.The full solution is awesome.No hint please. Brilliant. Exercise 9I find 1...f4 more natural (most people would disagree with me) than the text, but the text is satisfactory.
20
Diagram 10No hint please. Brilliant.No hint please.No hint please. On practical grounds, this is a good exercise.This is a missed opportunity by ChessTempo staff to quiz the user about Black's 1.Ke3 c4 resource and other subvaraiations. Instead its only viewable in read only mode.Exercise 10
21
Diagram 11No hint please.No hint please.No hint please.Exercise 11
22
Diagram 12No hint please.No hint please.Diagram, somewhat understandably, not included as a subvariation puzzle.Site interface skips over this thorugh Diagram 11. I feel like this should have been converted.Exercise 12
23
Diagram 13
24
Diagram 14
25
26
27
Exercise 1This one took me a long time to see. Nice.Hard. One of those exercises that makes me feel like I'm overmatched. 1.Bxh5 is much simpler and I doubt 1.Bd1 would be considered by anyone, but an extremely strong player. Therefore, I question Yusupov's thinking of including this as an exercise and perhaps he should have adjusted 1.Bxh5 to give the users 2 points instead of 1 point. Feels more accurate.2.Rh1 not point worthy for Yusupov?Blatantly incorrect solution by Yusupov as the engine points out 1...Nge7 is better than 1...Nf6. It's because we can immediately go Rg8 after Qxg7 when the knight is on e7, whereas it hangs on f6. This loss of time matters and the differences are complicated.Exercise 13
28
Exercise 2Classic.While 1...f4 is objectively the best move, I think 1...h4 is an almost equally good, human move too. Yusupov makes no mention of this and should give this a point. Both pawn pushes are in the spirit of what he wants in the text.Subtle, but good.Exercise should be cut off after 2.Rxc6White has many good moves on move 2, not just 2.Bxh6Exercise is exceessively lengthy. End after 22...Re4Yusupov should have noted 3....Rd1+?? 4.Kf2 Qd8 allows 5.Rd3 (this doesnt work when the rook is on d4 because of Bxe5)Despite having good alternatives along the way, the intent of this exercise/natural solution makes it good enough that we can ignore the lack of alternatives.Exercise 14Didn't even consider the solution, but i should have.
29
Exercise 3I'm always surprised how these Semi-Slav positions can turn south for White, so quickly. Excellent practical example, perhaps worth extending mainline to 7...Qc2 to illustrate Black's dominance.I question if this exercise demonstrates the themes of the chapter effectively, feels niche.Pretty.Yusupov should note 3...Bxa4 4.bxa4 d3 5.Ke3! holds for White.Completely missed the Ne6 idea, making Qh6-Bf8 idea work.I totally missed that Rxe7-Nxd5 is a check.Accurate solution.Exercise 15
30
Exercise 4No hint please. While this is a fine idea in spirit, Yusupov does not acknowledge other moves that are objectively good/equally have merit on move 1. It also feels weird to have the user find 2...Ba4The alternatives feel natural, so Yusupov does a good job crediting them with points.Same position is in Chess Tests by Dvoretsky.While the text is the best continuation, White has many other winning moves on move on move 2. I like 2.Rh4 or 2.Ng5+ Exercise is too lengthy. Should cut off at Bf5.The spirit of the exercise is good, but objectively it doesn't seem best. Not good by YusupovThe spirit of the exercise is good, but good luck finding it. It's one of the last moves you'd ever think of. Plenty of good alternatives along the way too make this a so-so exercise. I think it's okay as it is now.No hint please. Also, I think it would have been nice to show the mate on g6 in the subvariation.Exercise 16Some of the subvariation quizzes are a little lengthy, but it's good.
31
Exercise 5No hint please. Otherwise, this is a good positional exercise, even though White has many decent alternatives from move 1 onwards.Yusupov's concluding statement isn't completely correct. Bxf1 is better than Rxd7 in the variation he implies at the end. It's relatively inconsequential though.2.Be5?? Qg4! is a must include as a subvariation.I missed White's e4, good exercise.This exercise is impractical. Realistically, who plays Rfe8 over Rf7? I guess I'm not good enough to solve this. It's not like 1...Rfe8 is better objectively than 1..Rf7the text is most natural yes, but 1.Ra2 also feels automatic & is liked by the engine. Not the best point system by Yusupov here.Unsure about this one. White has many good alternatives in the exercise. I guess its okay based on the spirit of the exercise. I also don't like that Yusupov provides tons of clickable variations with no comments.Exercise 17
32
Exercise 6The solution is visually the most sensible continuation, but Yusupov makes no mention of equally good alternatives from move 1 onward.I found this to be the most challenging exercise. Despite the open file, it's difficult to believe the e-file is so bad at first, position feels a little slow.This is the most minor of nitpicks, but exercise shouldnt force user to find Bg4Tricky.I understand the intention of Yusupov here, but White has so many good alternatives here other than the text (despite it being engine approved). The plan of Kh1-Qg2-Bf1, forces Black to close the kingisde, leaving us strategically crushing.Exercise should end at 9.c4, but given the context of the next exericse, I can understand why CT staff chose to make it 3 moves long.3.Bf4 is such a hard move to find from the far. Great exercise, despite White having alternatives along the way. They are easy to overlook when grading the exericse.Good exercise. Exercise 18I like the intention of the exercise, alternatives not really covered, but the solution is best & most natural, so I'm okay without alternatives mentioned.
33
Exercise 7There is a lot of subvariation puzzles here.This exerecise is not good from an objective view (engine eval). Illustratively it makes sense (the d4 break), but it doesn't hold up to scrutiny.f4-Rf3 is challenging to find from the far. I didn't see it. It's not even forced, so I don't agree with Yusupov's grading system.The spirt of this exercise is okay, but Black has many good alternatives and Yusupov does not acknolwedge them.I have 0 chance of finding the solution. I guess this is too tough, despite it being logical.14.g4 is unnecessary (by Yusupov). White should just play 14.b3 and claim a large positional edge. ChessTempo staff correctly cut off the exercise before g4.1...b6 feels more correct because allowing Nc5 causes our position to be loose. I'd rather have c6 being loose than the LSB on e6 haiving to move & worry about b7.I don't feel that this is that conclusive. Yusupov should have included some explanations here. White is down a rook for a strong attack, but I'd have included more details.Exercise 19
34
Exercise 8White has many equally good continuations and Yusupov doesn't explain why the knight is well placed on d3 after his Ne1. 1.Nd4 feels much more natural to me and is liked by the engine. Not a good exercise.Excellent exercise to teach the user how to generate an attack.Yusupov should mention 3....Rxf7 4.Qg5+ winning material on d8Both 1....Re8 and 1.....b5 are objectively and humanly as good as the text. Yusupov doesn't acknowledge any alternatives. Exercise points not delegated fairly.I agree that the text is most accurate, but 2...Qf1 is equally good.I'm not a fan of Yusupov ending several subvariation quizzess with the opponent's move. Solution is excessively lengthy. Cut off after 15...Qe7Cut off at 3.Rd7Well designed puzzle by Yusupov and staff.Exercise 20
35
Exercise 9Exercise could continue until move 6Stylistically speaking, the mainline solution is natural. Students may question if there are alternatives along the way for White though.Stunning.Qf3 is nice.The intention of the exercise is good. Despite this, White has many good alternatives. I view pushing h4-h5 as more natural. Maybe Bb1-Qd3 thereafter. Engine suggests just playing Qd3 with bishop on e4 & push h4-h5. Black has no plan.I stopped calculating this one after Ke5. Good one.Feels like a miracle White is winning in all variations. Tough.No hint please. Exercise 21
36
Exercise 10One of my favorite puzzles in the course. I didn't get it right, but the idea is cool.Exercise is lengthy, but the whole line is not difficult for users to figure out move by move.I wonder if there is any way for the rook to sacrifice for the bishop other than via the mainline 1...Kh5 2.Rxg3 line. I was trying to chase the bishop with Re8 Bc7 Re7, but was never able to catch it. Author does not cover the critical 2.fxg4?? Kh4 3.Qxh6 Qxh6 4.Kh2 Qf8! preventing Bf2#I don't like this exercise. Numerous good alternatives at every step. It would have made a better diagram position than an exercise. None acknolwedged by Yusupov.the 3...Rf7 subvariation is next level difficult to find.Solution feels excessively lengthy. Cut off after 24....Bd5I agree with the spirit of the exercise, so despite White having good alternatives not covered along the way., it turns out okay. Maybe the point system reward could be better here.No hint please.Exercise shows a good deal of realism in it. No hint please. Exercise 22
37
Exercise 11Ng5-Nh7 is deceptively strong. No hint please.Hard.Clever.Objectively, the solution is fine. The solution feels weird to find in a game. 1.b3 feels much more natural. Exercise 23
38
Exercise 12Tough, great exercise. I did not get this right.Exercise could end after 2.Bxd5 instead of on move 3.It feels challenging to expect the user to find Qd2 by Black. Finding White's moves is easy, Black's moves aren't.The missed alternatives here aren't as egregious here, but it's still notable. The spirit of this exericse makes this good still.I would argue with Yusupov that he should have awarded 1 point for 3...Qa7 and only 1 for 1...a5 I think the exercise should end on move 6.Rf7, but the exercise is fine anyways.Solution feels excessively lengthy. Cut off after 11...c6I got this right, but for the wrong reason. I didn't see the queen trap. I was playing for 1...Qd7 2.Qxc5 Nec6 3.Qb5 Nxe5Good exerciseExercise 24
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100