Tactics time

Everyone knows that the way to improve at chess is to solve tactics puzzles. But why do tactics books make amateurs study grandmaster or master games? How useful is it to analyze games that are unreal for everyday chess players? In the real world of beginning and casual players openings are dubious, positions are messy, material is uneven, and cheap traps and oversights are occurring constantly. Most amateur games are won by rather primitive means, compared to the cool and fancy moves that masters need in order to gain victory. This book only takes positions from amateur games and puts them…