For everyone who asks, It's "Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games" by Laszlo Polgar (father of the famous Polgar sisters). It's odd that nobody's actually naming it outright, but rather just saying 'It's in the link!'

I had this book as a kid and hated it because in my mind if I'm up 30 points of material, who cares if I find the mate in 2. I figured I'll mate my opponent anyway. 25 years later, I finally see just how valuable it is. I'm picking up a copy today. Thanks for the video!

Decided to do 300 a day , maybe was a mistake 😅

Six reasons, not five. They offer an entertaining playground. Don't forget about fun in all this development quest.

If you are struggling to see the relevancy of these mate-in-2 puzzles, just understand that difficult calculation is extremely helpful no matter how likely it is that you will actually see anything like the wacky compositions you will find in this book. Especially for beginners like me, I think what's great about solving mate-in-2 compositions is that you can practice difficult calculation and visualization without being overwhelmed with figuring out an objective or evaluating a position.
Before centering my training around the 5334 Polgar and Practical Chess Endings by Keres, I used to be completely overwhelmed by chess books. The difficult part for me was that many combinations found in books have lines that are not "forced", and I would end up spending so much time tediously refuting the irrelevant variations with a board or with an engine because I didn't have the capacity to do so in my head. Mate-in-2 puzzles on top of pawn endgames really opened up my training because I was able to practice difficult calculation while I only had to evaluate whether I had mate or whether I had a queen. After months of exclusively using these books as my training, I'm finding it much easier to read my other books now that two-move calculation with multiple pieces on the board is not so much of a hurdle. Calculation helps you gain a much deeper understanding and appreciation for positions found in chess training, and in my opinion any type of calculation practice will benefit your training regardless of how relevant it will be to your actual games.

This book will be my next purchase, once I digest the Woodpecker Method.

I am currently at almost 1700. At first I thought the tasks are quite easy, but when the mate in two composition started I slowed down in solving these a lot. I really underestimate how hard a mate in two problem can be. I have no idea when I will ever finish this book

As well as Chess 5334, I'm also a huge fan of Polgar's Chess Middlegames book, same format, just puzzles no words. one of my favourite puzzle books of all time

I've gone through 1925 of the mates so far as part of the program, and I completely agree that it's exhausting. That level 2 thinking though really does beef up a muscle that you don't actually get to work when doing the puzzle rushes of the world instead. I'm a big fan of this book.

Dojo Newb here… this book has blown my chess world up!  The first time I watched this the puzzle shown as an example was 100% elusive to my mind. There was just no way… After working on them for 3-4 weeks,  I feel that I am getting a grip on the board… Amazing!

1. Qa5! Nxa5 2. Rd7#
1… Ke7 2. Qd8#

In these mates the beauty of the game shines through.

Great video. Beautiful mates in 2.

OK, you convinced me to work through the book ;) But I think, apart from the book, this video has amazing advice for chess improvement and thinking in general. When I first saw the book I rejected it, thinking "meh, this are just basic mate in 1, 2 or 3 puzzles, I can get that with any puzzle website". But I think I underestimated how important it is to drill this concepts and how hard even simple patterns can be, if you have many options to choose from. This is better training for beginner-intermediate players than buying fancy opening or strategy books. Calculation and visualization are the fundamentals that you need to work on first

I have the Hard Cover version. I was gifted this back in the 90s and it’s amazing. It’s so good. I can say it’s one of the single most instructive books I own.

I just ordered my first two chess books and this book was one of them thanks to your recommendation, so thanks again!

Just what I needed Jesse. I was tempted to message you guys but this video answers the question. I have done 6 sessions with this book so far and once I got to the mate in 2s I keep having thoughts in the back of my head like, this is pointless I can easily win here, oh look I can do it in 3 instead of 2 what's the point or I would never play this way in a real game.
I was just starting to notice I was starting to see the squares my pieces had control of better and therefore where the king is cut off. Funnily enough I found I had the most progress in that aspect when I set up a problem wrong on my board. I spent like 90min determined to work this thing out. Then checked the diagram again and realized 2 pieces were on the wrong rank lol.
It is good to know that you mention this and other things as a benefit despite the often-weird positions.
So I will stick with this book until completion (of the mates at least) and see how it goes. Hopefuly it helps me get better.
Cheers.

So I just got this book and can confirm, it's hard exhausting work. So far done the first 370.

I bought this book for my son when it came out.  His favorite book.  It made him a scholastic beast.

I avoided buying this book for years for some of the reasons that Jesse mentioned on this video. It's great for training calculation!

Years ago I bought Polgar's massive hardcover book shortly after it was released.  I wanted to have it at work so I could do some positions at lunch, but it was just too heavy to carry to work every day.  I was very happy when the smaller paperback version was released, as it made it much easier.  I have since given that paperback version to a young player at my club, as I now have it on Kindle.  I am so glad they finally released the Kindle version of this book.  My aching back is also happy.  I also have the Middlegame and Endgame big hardcover books as well, but sadly there is no Kindle versions of those.

Super informative,Jesse. Level 1 and Level 2 thinking, stuff I subconsciously know, but do not really appreciate.  Thank you for putting it into a very practical perspective.