Best apps and programs for tactics training

[h1a8]

I'm looking for the best app for android AND ipad to work on my chess tactics. Anywhere between 1400 and 2000 elo level tactics are fine.

Also what is the best program for the PC for tactics training?

I have a tournament coming up and I haven't played chess competitively in a long time. I need to study my tactics.

If you know a few then rank them.

Thanks!

[rreagan]

This is the best I've ever used, from GM Rashid Ziatdinov.

http://rashidchess.com/quiz/quizEng.htm

It's not the best interface. To save you some time, you click the destination square of the best move only. You go through problems 1-10, and it will repeat, then change it to 11-20, and continue cycling through 10 problems until you get them right without any mistakes. There are 3477 problems.

Here is how GM Ziatdinov says to study tactics.

To study tactics, I recommend my timed tactical software program, or similar software programs. A good book of combinations is beneficial too, but less efficient and not as fun. Basically, set up a cycle of ten positions, go through them until you get a perfect score, then set a cycle from 10-20, get a 100% score, then go through problems 1-20, repeating this cycle until you can go through 1000 problems "by hand" (not mind) without any mistakes. If you try this method with my tactics program and complete it, you will have the tactical ability of a Grandmaster. I have had more than a hundred students and nobody had enough will power to finish this tactical training method. Is it my students or is it me? Well, take only thirty minutes a day and slowly memorize 1000 problems; take a year or two if you have to. It comes down to will power, and that I cannot provide.

When he says "by hand (not mind)", he means just memorize the solution if you can't figure it out quickly, don't spend 10 minutes trying to figure it out. He is a big proponent of instant pattern recognition. The goal is not to be able to figure this stuff out on your own. The goal is, when you're at the board, your brain says, "I've seen this before", or "I've seen something similar to this", and you are able to recognize the tactic.

He takes the same approach with memorizing important games and positions for non-tactical knowledge. He has a book, GM-RAM, that is basically nothing but 253 positions and games, no analysis. He says to learn them and memorize them to the point where you recognize them the same way you walk or talk, i.e. without thinking, and when you can do that, you will be a master level player. It's a lot harder than it sounds. To know even one key position or full game that well takes many hours of difficult work.

[kaissa]

Chessimo for Ios comes to my mind. Renko CDs and Convekta's tactic CDs for Windows are really great but no app version for either is out yet :(

[gbtami]

http://chesstempo.com/

[Ponti]

I did not know Rashid's approach, seems extremely efficient, if you take the time to work on it.

From a neurologic point of view, I think that automitizing your tactic awereness is _the_ way to go. That's why GMs play is much stronger at tactics than amateur's.

I wish someone could help him improve the web page layout, though...
the board is tiny, and interface is not pleasant to my eyes!

[Albert Silver]

I did not know Rashid's approach, seems extremely efficient, if you take the time to work on it.

From a neurologic point of view, I think that automitizing your tactic awereness is _the_ way to go. That's why GMs play is much stronger at tactics than amateur's.

I wish someone could help him improve the web page layout, though...
the board is tiny, and interface is not pleasant to my eyes!

I think it is completely flawed. Guessing a one-move idea is easy. The hard part is calculating the consequences properly, and refutations. That requires training the brain to see ahead, visualize, and organize. There is no magic bullet around this.

[Albert Silver]

This is the best I've ever used, from GM Rashid Ziatdinov.

http://rashidchess.com/quiz/quizEng.htm

It's not the best interface. To save you some time, you click the destination square of the best move only. You go through problems 1-10, and it will repeat, then change it to 11-20, and continue cycling through 10 problems until you get them right without any mistakes. There are 3477 problems.

Here is how GM Ziatdinov says to study tactics.

To study tactics, I recommend my timed tactical software program, or similar software programs. A good book of combinations is beneficial too, but less efficient and not as fun. Basically, set up a cycle of ten positions, go through them until you get a perfect score, then set a cycle from 10-20, get a 100% score, then go through problems 1-20, repeating this cycle until you can go through 1000 problems "by hand" (not mind) without any mistakes. If you try this method with my tactics program and complete it, you will have the tactical ability of a Grandmaster. I have had more than a hundred students and nobody had enough will power to finish this tactical training method. Is it my students or is it me? Well, take only thirty minutes a day and slowly memorize 1000 problems; take a year or two if you have to. It comes down to will power, and that I cannot provide.

When he says "by hand (not mind)", he means just memorize the solution if you can't figure it out quickly, don't spend 10 minutes trying to figure it out. He is a big proponent of instant pattern recognition. The goal is not to be able to figure this stuff out on your own. The goal is, when you're at the board, your brain says, "I've seen this before", or "I've seen something similar to this", and you are able to recognize the tactic.

He takes the same approach with memorizing important games and positions for non-tactical knowledge. He has a book, GM-RAM, that is basically nothing but 253 positions and games, no analysis. He says to learn them and memorize them to the point where you recognize them the same way you walk or talk, i.e. without thinking, and when you can do that, you will be a master level player. It's a lot harder than it sounds. To know even one key position or full game that well takes many hours of difficult work.

While I agree it is vital to master key themes and positions, the idea that just doing that will transform you into a master player is ridiculous. Yes, you need to be able to instantly or quickly identify themes and use them, but that is only one part of the puzzle. Calculation, visualization, conceptual planning must all be well developed to use those patterns.

I think it is pretty funny that he blames his students for being unable to use his system to become masters. It isn't his system that is flawed, it is the students....

For what it's worth, the best system I ever saw was the three-volume work by Livshitz called Test Your Chess IQ.

[Dr.Wael Deeb]

This is the best I've ever used, from GM Rashid Ziatdinov.

http://rashidchess.com/quiz/quizEng.htm

It's not the best interface. To save you some time, you click the destination square of the best move only. You go through problems 1-10, and it will repeat, then change it to 11-20, and continue cycling through 10 problems until you get them right without any mistakes. There are 3477 problems.

Here is how GM Ziatdinov says to study tactics.

To study tactics, I recommend my timed tactical software program, or similar software programs. A good book of combinations is beneficial too, but less efficient and not as fun. Basically, set up a cycle of ten positions, go through them until you get a perfect score, then set a cycle from 10-20, get a 100% score, then go through problems 1-20, repeating this cycle until you can go through 1000 problems "by hand" (not mind) without any mistakes. If you try this method with my tactics program and complete it, you will have the tactical ability of a Grandmaster. I have had more than a hundred students and nobody had enough will power to finish this tactical training method. Is it my students or is it me? Well, take only thirty minutes a day and slowly memorize 1000 problems; take a year or two if you have to. It comes down to will power, and that I cannot provide.

When he says "by hand (not mind)", he means just memorize the solution if you can't figure it out quickly, don't spend 10 minutes trying to figure it out. He is a big proponent of instant pattern recognition. The goal is not to be able to figure this stuff out on your own. The goal is, when you're at the board, your brain says, "I've seen this before", or "I've seen something similar to this", and you are able to recognize the tactic.

He takes the same approach with memorizing important games and positions for non-tactical knowledge. He has a book, GM-RAM, that is basically nothing but 253 positions and games, no analysis. He says to learn them and memorize them to the point where you recognize them the same way you walk or talk, i.e. without thinking, and when you can do that, you will be a master level player. It's a lot harder than it sounds. To know even one key position or full game that well takes many hours of difficult work.

While I agree it is vital to master key themes and positions, the idea that just doing that will transform you into a master player is ridiculous. Yes, you need to be able to instantly or quickly identify themes and use them, but that is only one part of the puzzle. Calculation, visualization, conceptual planning must all be well developed to use those patterns.

I think it is pretty funny that he blames his students for being unable to use his system to become masters. It isn't his system that is flawed, it is the students....

For what it's worth, the best system I ever saw was the three-volume work by Livshitz called Test Your Chess IQ.

Precisely