Rating: 
Summary: THE tactics book for players rated 1500+
Review: (I'm about 1900 ELO)For books on combinations/tactics I look for a couple things: 1) Do the positions in the book resemble those that occur in actual play?
2) Are the positions varied enough, even within a theme?
3) Are the puzzles challenging enough?
4) Are there enough puzzles to justify the price tag? In the case of this book, the answer to all of these questions is a resounding yes. I believe that one of the main lessons that one can learn from this book is that tactics very often make surprising appearances in the most tedious looking of positions. Players with ratings of 1500 and upwards will benefit most from 1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations. The puzzles are varied and challenging enough for most. For the beginner unfamiliar with the various tactical themes, I would recommend reading Winning Chess Tactics by Yasser Seirawan first, then progressing to this book. The main reason for this is that Reinfeld does not really do much in-depth explaining of tactics in this book. Seirawan on the other hand walks you through the basics quite competently. I firmly believe that these two books are all the average chessplayer needs in the realm of tactics. As noted by others, the main disadvantages of 1001 WCC&S book are the descriptive notation and the occasional solution error. This doesn't really bug me but if you're expecting a book free from these nuances, be forewarned. I don't see the absence of a hint section as a problem, since in an actual over the board game, you can't ask for a hint. All in all this book met (and to an extent surpassed) my expectations. A combinations book is only as good as the positions selected, and I think that in the current case the positions selected are an asset rather than a liability. Strongly recommended for 1500+ players wanting to sharpen their tactical skill and for those with a love of solving puzzles (especially handy in the airport, or on a plane.)
Rating: 
Summary: Effective, Inexpensive, And Fun
Review: An effective presentation of what we must all do: find the winning moves. Excellent for improving visualization of future moves and awareness of tactical possibilities. Possibly the single best book on chess around: tactical strength makes up for a multitude of other weaknesses. You can't be effective positionally if you're hanging your rooks.
Rating:
Summary: Bugspot
Review: As a player rated 2000+, if there are only 10 books I will hold onto, this will be one of them. Carve these themes in stone! I believe anyone who is moderately intelligent can reach the 2000 rating and this book had shown me how. When I first started using this book, I was given a suggestion by a player stronger than me to first use the ideas that most often come up in my own personal games and prioritize on that (instead of chronologically 1-1001). The patterns, the themes, the ideas, and sometimes even each individual move explicitly. Rarely, you just might find an error in this book. I believe out of 1001, there are about 2 inaccuracies. If it is inaccurate, MAKE IT ACCURATE! If you are smart enough to spot this inaccuracy, then you are smart enough to make it accurate. Just because there is a BUGSPOT does not mean the good name of a classic need to be blemished!
Rating:
Summary: Endless but unsifted collection of chess problems
Review: As so many other have noted, the price can't be beat. And for such an inexpensive edition, the binding has been very durable. My copy has survived unconscionable levels of abuse and manhandling. It's great to carry with you for study on the go. If you're not familiar with the tactical armory of chess, this book will give you a quick, total-immersion introduction. If you already know what a pin or fork is, to name just two of the twenty themes covered in this book, you'll get extensive practice recognizing and executing decisive combinations. I find the book most useful to me in sharpening my ability to calculate. Many solutions are very subtle and require you to analyze a position four or more moves deep. Be forewarned that some of the solutions are inaccurate. There have been times when, mystified by the supposed "answer", I've entered a position into the computer and got back a line that is less of a crusher than that of the answer key. Nevertheless, the player on move usually still emerges with an advantage.
Rating:
Summary: A great 'little' book.....
Review: Beginning to play chess as a grade schooler, I owned neither chess set nor chess book and I was a regular victim of the more 'experienced' players around my age. Sensing my frustration, my mother bought an inexpensive set (in fact, the one pictured on the present cover) and this Reinfeld, presented them to me one summer afternoon and invited me to do something about my discontent. With a bit of work and this text, I went from minnow to young neighborhood shark. There probably isn't a text which better illustrates the maxim that "tactics is the soul of chess" and as a beginner needing as much tactical instruction as possible, this book seemed ideal even then. For the first time, chess became fun because its mechanics suddenly came into focus. This book 'hooked me on' Chess over thirty plus years ago. I no longer have the little medieval pieces, but I do own a replacement copy of this 'ancient' Reinfeld which was such a help. It's as honest a book of chess instruction as anyone could wish and it remains a real value at the price.....
Rating:
Summary: The best book to improve your tactical ability!
Review: Chess improvement comes from familiarizing yourself with recurring themes. My tactical game was weaker than my positional play, leading to many 'won' games turning into losing battles. This book gives diagrams on every tactic I have seen. They are organized by theme, but beyond that there are no clues as to difficulty, number of moves, etc. Greatly improved (and continues to improve) my game.
Rating:
Summary: THE book that got me on the road to Master!
Review: Combinations and tactics are the "punching power" of chess. This book is like the heavy bag in boxing, which trains you to punch HARD! Unlike many chess books written, which are made in a do-this-this-&-this-and-you'll-be-a-winner style, this book makes YOU work.
There are few if any instructive words of wisdom. Just positions to solve and solutions in the back. This is as close to the truth (being a real game setting) that one can come while training, WHICH DRAMATICALLY INCREASES THE VALUE OF THE BOOK. I know too many chessplayers with more "dtt&taybaw" books than the Library of Congress and can't play a lick of chess. I also know people who have never cracked a book and are some of the strongest players out there. Do the latter know something that the former don't? Yes, how to play combos and most importantly play chess.
GM Larry Christiansen said that this was the book that influenced him the most. You know Larry, the guy who banged out 3 GM norms in a row to become one of only a handful of people to go from nowhere to Grandmaster in a single bound. I used this book so dilligently (its actually fallen completely apart from too much usage), that even with a mediorce opening repertoire I scored 7-1 in the Under2000 section of the 1988 NY Open, tying for 1st place out of 200+ contestants from the United States and the World and split $15,000.00 with 3 other people. (Have I gotten your attention yet?)
The only reason why I didn't give this book a 10 is because there is a little "untruthfullness" about it in that you KNOW each position has a solution that wins. Too bad we don't have a chessic angel on our shoulders going, "PSST!! There's a knight fork combo that wins!"
There are no "instant pills" for chess understanding. There is no one book out there that will tell you everything you need to know, but if you work through this book (asking intellingent questions along the way and endeavor to dig for intellingent answers), you will be on your way. As the beginning of the famous poem Equipment (author unknown) so eloquently states in the first line, "Figure it out for yourself my lad..."
Rating:
Summary: a wonderful entertaining educational little book
Review: diagrams of positions where you KNOW there is a combination, and have to find it. one of the best ways to hone this skill, essential to any chessplayer. this convenient book is great for travel or those moments when no board is available. solve all of them and id say you were at minimum a uscf expert. i am a uscf postal master.
Rating:
Summary: a practical puzzle book
Review: Even half a century later, Reinfeld's books (see also his book on checkmates) are still classics. If you only have one or two puzzle books, these are the ones you should have. Considering this, you can't beat their low price! Of course the answers are in algebraic notation; hey, it's really not that hard to learn, and once you learn it you can quit avoiding all these good books. The puzzles are more challenging than the notation! The book is small so it travels well; the puzzles are not "classics" that you'll find in other books. As far as I know, there are no incorrect answers either. I don't know how good you'd have to be not to profit from them; but if you're between 1200-1500, Reinfeld's puzzle books are for you. In fact, I don't know of any better ones.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Problem Book
Review: Excellent Chess Problem Book for beginners and even experts alike. It has over 1,000 chess problems from pinning, forking, to double attacks, and some not well known concepts such as "Clearance" and "Sacrifices". Comes with the solutions to all the problems in the back (although it is in Long/Old Algebraic notation).
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