So basically if I am a 1400-1500 player here I am really a 1200ish player.
it's fine to read the amateur's mind, but to then jump to reassess your chess is premature and frankly a mistake. you need to know more about chess before you reassess it. you need to...
1) learn about tactics (it's more than just doing puzzles)
2) get an endgame book now and read what you need at your level
3) get a book that goes over some GM games and explains each move
4) read a book on strategy.
after that, and only after that,
5) go over silman's reassess your chess.
best wishes!
I agree with most of what you are saying. However, the part about learning tactics, you really don't need much else than a large amount of puzzles that use all the various tactical ideas. If you keep going through the puzzles over and over again you will begin to get the tactical ideas imbedded into your head and you will be able to find them on the board, or even see how they could come about in future positions in your head.
Btw I would say that both the amateurs mind and how to reassess your chess are both strategy books
and stay away from "idiots guides" and, in my opinion, almost anything written by lev alburt or eric schiller.
OUCH!
I disagree about Lev Alburt (Mr. Alburt has said some things about other players etc. that I disagree with to the point of anger, but to be fair the instructional stuff I've seen from him has been good). I don't know to say anything good or bad about Mr. Schiller, but he does seem to attract controversy for some reason.
I disagree that you need to read/study other things before Reassess Your Chess. I don't think you need to study the Amateur's Mind first, either. Amateur's Mind was written to be studied _after_ reading Reassess your Chess. I think Reassess your Chess is the perfect book for someone rated 1500 in Online Chess here! Reading Amateur's Mind first isn't bad either though (it's what I did, completely by accident).
I think you should work on tactics by doing problems, study Reassess your Chess, AND one other book, (that's enough!) which is: How to Beat Your Dad at Chess... it's not a great title IM0... the real title of that book, describing it's contents, is: Mating patterns every class-player should know ( ~ 1200-1700).
chess tactics for champions or any other good tactics book
In correspondence yes. Live, not necessarily. It is pretty close to actual ratings.
Before you spend your money. Go on Amazon.com. Look at chess books and you can read reviews of people who have them. The other advice you have above looks sound to me. I have about my 5th copy of Chernev's 'Logical Chess Move By Move' because I give it away to others so they can get better. Its Great but dated. I have'nt read Neil McDonald's book yet but I hear its as good and more up to date.
There's been threads on this. The ratings here are quite inflated.
Well it really depends how good you are at fast chess and slow chess. Live chess is much faster than real life tournament games where as correspondence is much slower giving people a for sure edge. I'm not so great at fast chess so my blitz rating is 1624 and in long games (20 minutes) my rating is around 1680 or 90. However I am rated 1655 uscf in real life and my rating is still climbing.
So really it is lower than my real life rating because I am only okay at fast chess.
It even depends on how seriously a player may be taking his CC games here, if that's the rating they compare to a genuine OTB rating. It's up in the air in that regard. For me my FICS and ICC are expert in standard and subtract 200 points for my real USCF. I hardly play blitz anymore and it is lower than that--which is fine as I see blitz as light entertainment.
There are some guys here with 1500 ratings that haven't got the piece values settled. I don't see any 1200 USCFs with that problem. If I knew more 1000s I bet I could say the same of them. So, my opinion of what it takes to be 1500 here is pretty low. Some of those 1500s may just be very casual though, I admit, and not wanting to compete hard here even though they may be solid OTB.
For my money Polgar's "Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games" is a must have.
THE BOOK IS HUGE!
And <$20 at Barnes and Noble.
Not quite as good of a 'value' (based on volume) Palliser's "The Complete Chess Workout". That guy knows his stuff.
I am really just starting my collection. I have some other books including the Bobby Fischer "Teacher Chess".
I have really enjoyed the two listed so far though.
How Not to Play Chess by Eugene A. Znosko-Borovsky was quite helpful to me.
Polgar's 'CHESS: 5,334 Problems, Combinations, and Games', written by Judit's father, is not a must-have. Sure it looks impressive on a bookshelf; the thing's a monster. What I found incredibly frustrating was the lack of explanation of why the answers given were correct, and in most cases they only gave you the first moves of the series, leaving you to figure out the rest. There are so many better chess books.
...the part about learning tactics, you really don't need much else than a large amount of puzzles that use all the various tactical ideas. If you keep going through the puzzles over and over again you will begin to get the tactical ideas imbedded into your head and you will be able to find them on the board, or even see how they could come about in future positions in your head.
I disagree, respectfully. If you're relatively new to chess and haven't read a book on tactics, you should really start w/a book that goes over both tactical theory and gives examples of puzzles to solidify that theory. Judit Polgar's 'Chess Tactics for Champions' and Martin Weteschnik's book 'Understanding Tactics in Chess' both do this well.
I also disagree that the Amateur's Mind and Reassess Your Chess are strategy books. There is a big difference between those two books alone, and there is, albeit a smaller one, a difference between Reassess Your Chess and strategy books. If I had to pigeon-hole Reassess Your Chess, sure I'd put it in the strategy category, but that doesn't do the book justice, and doesn't help someone just starting to learn strategy. Silman also sells a book on strategy called 'Complete Book of Chess Strategy', which I own but haven't read. I read Watson's 'Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy' instead and have found useful.
Hope we haven't confused you. :)
I disagree about Lev Alburt (Mr. Alburt has said some things about other players etc. that I disagree with to the point of anger, but to be fair the instructional stuff I've seen from him has been good)...
Yes, Mr. Alburt's stuff isn't bad. There are better, though, in my opinion. The thing I don't like about Lev is that he keeps propogating the myths: "Learn the way the Soviet chess masters have" and "The Soviet chess teachings are superior" blah, blah, blah. It's all marketing hype. Do a bit of research and you'll agree.
...I disagree that you need to read/study other things before Reassess Your Chess. I don't think you need to study the Amateur's Mind first, either. Amateur's Mind was written to be studied _after_ reading Reassess your Chess..
I've never seen anything along this line and am curious why you say this. The Amateur's Mind goes over basics, where Reassess Your Chess goes deep into things like planning and imbalances. I read somewhere that Silman suggests reading the first chapter of Reassess Your Chess (It covers endgames.) When you've finished that, the read all of The Amateur's Mind. When you're done reading that book, go back and finish reading the rest of Reassess Your Chess.
How about Fischer's 60 Most Memorable Games for me? I'm a near-1400 Blitz player.
King Hunt ;)
try this website friend,
chess.emrald.net
The group is brand new but you are all invited to join!
http://www.chess.com/groups/home/chess-books-and-reading-group
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