Hi.I was just wondering what chess videos either on or off chess.com will help me improve my chess.I am hovering around the 1400 area on chess.com.Also, what chess books would you reccomend to me at my level. Thanks! Comments would be greatly appreciated.

wuhw23

I like the Silman's books, I find him engaging to read and he has a way of presenting information so that you can grasp and retain it easy. Video's on chess.com are usually pretty well put together from what I have seen, although I admit I haven't spent a lot of time watching the videos here. I find video's on openings useful as well as master's who review a game of his or her's. Seeing how masters analyze and evaluate positions can really be useful to train yourself to analyze similarly.

Speaking of which, I don't know if you belong to the USCF or not or have access to Chess Life magazine's, but the Solitaire Chess by Bruce Pandolfini is an excellent way to improve your chess. You can also do this by just taking any master game and play through it, taking a side and trying to predict each of their moves and analyze the positions as the game progresses. You won't have the analysis or explinations as you would in Bruce Pandolfini's Solitaire Chess games but you can use either a chess engine or ask a stronger player to try and explain moves that you aren't understanding. I do this reguarly now, usually doing one game a day. It takes about 30-45 minutes depending on how long the game is.

I assume you are also working on your tactical awareness and end game study, as I think these two things will give you the best return on investment at your level (well almost any amateur really). Several master level players have recommended this to me earlier this fall and I've noticed the difference once I put more emphsis on those two aspects.

Thank you for your opinion.I am reading amauetars mind currently and like silmans writing style. Sometimes i go to chesstempo and train tactics for about 40 mins. I also love silmans endgame course. this is where i'm learning most about the endgame from. Anyways, thanks for your opinion.                                                                                                            

Anyone else?

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