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Title: This book is trying to do too much in too little space.
Review: The main problem of this book is that it is trying to cover all of the main middle game topics in one thin book. The first section deals with pattern recognition. This is a very important skill. Kosten lists about 24 basic mating patterns and recomends that someone not familiar with them should learn them. He then gives examples for about six of them. I don't think that even the author would think that anyone will learn the basic mating patterns by reading this. The book of combinations by Polgar is an excellant example of a book that will give a lot of practice in finding mating patterns. He also gives pawn play in the middle game a very short treatment.
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