Tactics Book Ideas • page 3/3 • General Chess Discussion • lichess.org

If the OP has access to Amazon; Search for the author "Jose Miguel Echeverm". You'll find a set of four very cheap ebooks that enable a woodpecker-like-method on the Kindle or associated mobile app. Each book has 300 puzzles and start at beginner progressing up to around 1500 OTB. Aiming to nail within seconds all 1200 puzzles will do no harm whatsoever as such tactics are easily overlooking by anyone - witness one Elite GM missing a mate-in-one in the recent US Championship!

LastIterator

@ChessPriyome said ^

...I'd go with CT ART 4.0

Neither the website nor the App Store makes it particularly clear who’s actually behind Chess King. That alone makes me hesitant to install its software on my devices. So I decided to investigate a little further.

At https://blog.chessking.com/about/, we learn that a certain Diego Garcés is the CEO and that Alexandra Kosteniuk (the 12th Women’s World Chess Champion) is the official Chess QueenTM. The page also mentions Bernard Houdart—presumably Robert Houdart, the developer of the Houdini chess engine. Houdini has been at the centre of controversies concerning allegedly copied code and violations of open-source licences, particularly involving Stockfish. That's where I draw the line. I'm out.

@ChessPriyome said [^](/forum/redirect/post/vzujQSVo) > ...I'd go with CT ART 4.0 Neither the website nor the App Store makes it particularly clear who’s actually behind Chess King. That alone makes me hesitant to install its software on my devices. So I decided to investigate a little further. At https://blog.chessking.com/about/, we learn that a certain Diego Garcés is the CEO and that Alexandra Kosteniuk (the 12th Women’s World Chess Champion) is the official Chess QueenTM. The page also mentions Bernard Houdart—presumably Robert Houdart, the developer of the Houdini chess engine. Houdini has been at the centre of controversies concerning allegedly copied code and violations of open-source licences, particularly involving Stockfish. That's where I draw the line. I'm out.

ChessPriyome

@LastIterator said ^

...I'd go with CT ART 4.0

Neither the website nor the App Store makes it particularly clear who’s actually behind Chess King. That alone makes me hesitant to install its software on my devices. So I decided to investigate a little further.

At https://blog.chessking.com/about/, we learn that a certain Diego Garcés is the CEO and that Alexan...

Well, since I didn't know you were ever in, drawing such broad-stroked lines, I guess you being out is you pretending you are at an airport telling the world you are not flying as if you are important.

Wow.
Whew.
A narrow miss.

Hint: Nobody cares. Least of all, The Greeks.

@LastIterator said [^](/forum/redirect/post/vFYyuw0j) > > ...I'd go with CT ART 4.0 > > Neither the website nor the App Store makes it particularly clear who’s actually behind Chess King. That alone makes me hesitant to install its software on my devices. So I decided to investigate a little further. > > At https://blog.chessking.com/about/, we learn that a certain Diego Garcés is the CEO and that Alexan... Well, since I didn't know you were ever in, drawing such broad-stroked lines, I guess you being out is you pretending you are at an airport telling the world you are not flying as if you are important. Wow. Whew. A narrow miss. Hint: Nobody cares. Least of all, The Greeks.

kindaspongey edited

@ChessPriyome said in #23:

... I guess you being out is you pretending you are ...
...
Hint: Nobody cares. ...

Does anyone here care about a ChessPriyome guess, concerning what someone is supposedly pretending?

@ChessPriyome said in #23: > ... I guess you being out is you pretending you are ... > ... > Hint: Nobody cares. ... Does anyone here care about a ChessPriyome guess, concerning what someone is supposedly pretending?

the-cisco-kid edited

@LastIterator said

"Neither the website nor the App Store makes it particularly clear who’s actually behind Chess King. That alone makes me hesitant to install its software on my devices. So I decided to investigate a little further"

At https://blog.chessking.com/about/, we learn that a certain Diego Garcés is the CEO and that Alexandra Kosteniuk (the 12th Women’s World Chess Champion) is the official Chess QueenTM. The page also mentions Bernard Houdart—presumably Robert Houdart, the developer of the Houdini chess engine. Houdini has been at the centre of controversies concerning allegedly copied code and violations of open-source licences, particularly involving Stockfish. That's where I draw the line. I'm out.

=======================================================

CT-Art has a long and illustrious history, based on a book written by Maxim Blokh. CT-Art 4.0 does well on Google play
, with over 500,000 downloads and a rating of 4.8 out of 5.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chessking.android.learn.ctart4&hl=en_CA

CT-Art is also recommended in this interesting article on the USCF website, published in 2025

https://new.uschess.org/news/inside-story-how-study-tactics

the lawsuit was against chessbase, and it was settled a few years ago. Here is the info...

https://stockfishchess.org/blog/2022/chessbase-stockfish-agreement/

Does your refusal to use CT-ART also extend to Chessbase?

@LastIterator said "Neither the website nor the App Store makes it particularly clear who’s actually behind Chess King. That alone makes me hesitant to install its software on my devices. So I decided to investigate a little further" At https://blog.chessking.com/about/, we learn that a certain Diego Garcés is the CEO and that Alexandra Kosteniuk (the 12th Women’s World Chess Champion) is the official Chess QueenTM. The page also mentions Bernard Houdart—presumably Robert Houdart, the developer of the Houdini chess engine. Houdini has been at the centre of controversies concerning allegedly copied code and violations of open-source licences, particularly involving Stockfish. That's where I draw the line. I'm out. ======================================================= CT-Art has a long and illustrious history, based on a book written by Maxim Blokh. CT-Art 4.0 does well on Google play , with over 500,000 downloads and a rating of 4.8 out of 5. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chessking.android.learn.ctart4&hl=en_CA CT-Art is also recommended in this interesting article on the USCF website, published in 2025 https://new.uschess.org/news/inside-story-how-study-tactics the lawsuit was against chessbase, and it was settled a few years ago. Here is the info... https://stockfishchess.org/blog/2022/chessbase-stockfish-agreement/ Does your refusal to use CT-ART also extend to Chessbase?

LastIterator

@the-cisco-kid said ^

Does your refusal to use CT-ART also extend to Chessbase?

Yes, see Criticisim and legal issues.

From ibidem:

Lichess described the same product as "a rip-off".[23]

The list of license violations is long: ChessBase/Stockfish, Cisco/Linksys, D-Link/Linux, Skype/Linux, Artifex/Hancom, VMware/Linux, Rybka/Fruit/Crafty, to name just a few. But as far as I'm concerned, anyone can buy any software—no matter how questionable—and install it on their devices, no matter how bad it is or how questionable. May they be happy with it. One more thing: What really turns me off is when a product is advertised as the best thing since sliced bread—and then the user has to go digging to find out who the author actually is. You find this kind of stuff all over the App Store, and people actually buy it. It gets especially interesting when the product or the developer is from China or Russia, but that’s another story altogether. In any case, it’s completely unbelievable what kind of junk people install. So it’s best to be cautious.

@the-cisco-kid said [^](/forum/redirect/post/yC3uIoBJ) > Does your refusal to use CT-ART also extend to Chessbase? Yes, see [Criticisim and legal issues](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChessBase#Criticism_and_legal_issues). From ibidem: > Lichess described the same product as "a rip-off".[[23]](https://lichess.org/@/lichess/blog/fat-fritz-2-is-a-rip-off/YCvy7xMA) The list of license violations is long: ChessBase/Stockfish, Cisco/Linksys, D-Link/Linux, Skype/Linux, Artifex/Hancom, VMware/Linux, Rybka/Fruit/Crafty, to name just a few. But as far as I'm concerned, anyone can buy any software—no matter how questionable—and install it on their devices, no matter how bad it is or how questionable. May they be happy with it. One more thing: What really turns me off is when a product is advertised as the best thing since sliced bread—and then the user has to go digging to find out who the author actually is. You find this kind of stuff all over the App Store, and people actually buy it. It gets especially interesting when the product or the developer is from China or Russia, but that’s another story altogether. In any case, it’s completely unbelievable what kind of junk people install. So it’s best to be cautious.

tinaseiskaffee

@Hollow-1-1 said ^

Steps method books

I was wondering about this. I have all the books for step 2 and the first book of step 3, and corresponding manuals. I thought maybe about going through one of those books using the Woodpecker Method but had forgotten about them. I've finished step 2. Do you have experience with the Step Method TheDifferenceOfTie...

I also studied them a bit, right now working on Step 2 Thinking Ahead. I really enjoy them, the teaching method feels very coherent and comprehensive. I wonder if my playing skills match my puzzles skills (as the authors often repeat that students move through the books too fast and dont implement the skills in their games (thats why they have to many books per step).

@Hollow-1-1 said [^](/forum/redirect/post/A2Agzrmn) > > Steps method books > > I was wondering about this. I have all the books for step 2 and the first book of step 3, and corresponding manuals. I thought maybe about going through one of those books using the Woodpecker Method but had forgotten about them. I've finished step 2. Do you have experience with the Step Method TheDifferenceOfTie... I also studied them a bit, right now working on Step 2 Thinking Ahead. I really enjoy them, the teaching method feels very coherent and comprehensive. I wonder if my playing skills match my puzzles skills (as the authors often repeat that students move through the books too fast and dont implement the skills in their games (thats why they have to many books per step).