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Rating: 
Summary: Difficult Book: Are You Prepared? Motivated?
Review: This book is divided into two parts: the first contains problems covering the opening (11 positions), middlegame (12 positions), and endgame (18 positions) and the second consists of 16 self-test games (similar to 'How Good is Your Chess' or 'Solitaire Chess' from Chess Life).The problems are very difficult, maybe too difficult for most players. For comparison, I have an over-the-board USCF rating that's varied between 1750-1850 (which is at least 80th percentile) and I found most of the problems frustrating. However, Pedersen's solutions and annotations are convincing: his effort shows and I did feel I learned something. The 'How Good Is Your Chess?' section with its sixteen games is slightly easier going but not to be rushed through. If you've sped through Chess Life's 'Solitaire Chess' with good results, you'll be surprised at how difficult these games are. The games deserve close to tournament length amounts of time to solve, so much so that I almost felt that I had been the player. If you're sure you're a strong player or highly motivated, than this book might be for you. If you're relatively lower-rated, or looking for more casual combination books, I think you'd be disappointed here.
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