If you are a serious chess improver willing to commit several hundred hours of focused training, this book (in any of its formats) will likely become one of the most valuable investments you make in your chess development.
is the highly anticipated sequel to the global chess bestseller, designed to transform your strategic decision-making through hardwired pattern recognition. Written by Grandmaster Axel Smith and published by Quality Chess, this volume applies the famous cyclical training method to 1,000 foundational positional exercises . While the original book focused heavily on tactics and calculation, this installment aims to program your subconscious mind with elite strategic intuition, shifting your gameplay from slow calculation to instinctual mastery. What is the Woodpecker Method?
The Three-Step Process: Axel Smith refines the cycle system, suggesting a specific timeline to move from the initial solve to the final "lightning round." The Woodpecker Method 2 Axel Smith -PDF PGN...
Unlike a physical book where you might remember the page layout or see your old pencil marks, a PGN file loaded into a chess GUI (like ChessBase, Chess Assistant, or free tools like Lichess and Scid vs. PC) presents the puzzle cleanly every time.
by Axel Smith is not a magical shortcut; it is a blueprint for hard work that yields permanent rating gains. By utilizing the PDF for reading theory and the PGN for interactive training, you can customize the spaced repetition system to fit your personal study style. If you are a serious chess improver willing
When you mis-solve a puzzle in a PGN viewer, you can branch the game tree. Ask: “What if I played the second-best move?” The engine (Stockfish 16) will show you the refutation. You cannot do that with a printed diagram.
| | Retailer | Price Range | |------------|--------------|-----------------| | Paperback | Quality Chess, Amazon, Bookshop.org | $22–$30 | | Hardcover | Quality Chess, Abebooks | $25–$35 | | Ebook (PDF/Interactive) | Forward Chess, Chessable | $24–$30 | | Chessable Course | Chessable | $30–$40 (often on sale) | | Forward Chess Edition | Forward Chess | $23.99 | While the original book focused heavily on tactics
With a PGN, you can tag and filter.
The book is divided into two main parts, each containing three subsections, for a total of six difficulty levels:
: The book is divided into sections suitable for different levels, with a large "intermediate" section and a smaller "advanced" section. Formats and Availability
One user, a 2100 FIDE player, wrote: “I did the first Woodpecker method with the 222 puzzles. Gained 80 points. Volume 2 is brutal. After the Marathon set, my calculation depth went from 3 moves to 5–6 moves in complex middlegames. My blitz rating jumped from 2200 to 2370 on Lichess.”