Artur Yusupov Books Series in Digital Format and Other Books for Improvement
Top Book Recommendations for Chess Players Rated 1600+
It is usual for most of the chess players playing at around 1600 Elo to look for ways to improve their chess. An oft-sought resource in this regard is a book-list or a website-list from better players that can help improve one's game. However, we all forget from time to time, that, like life itself, there are no short-cuts in chess. And so mostly the enthusiasts who seek out an all-in-one-wonder 'pill' for chess improvement, are quickly discouraged and I have seen many of them falling off the chess board (both metaphorically and literally) and perusing their interests elsewhere. Let's be fair. No one really cares if you are good at chess. Being good at it doesn't score chicks. And it is a hard game to master.
However, there is a very real, flipside, to this coin. There are chess hobbyists that are genuinely into the game and look for resources that can better their play quickly because they are interested in going deeper into the game itself. Their daily routine, however, does not permit them to dedicate much time to learning, especially learning chess from books. Chess books are not like normal books. You need to 'study' the chess diagrams and spend time looking into variations and what not. And so even if you recommend an excellent book to them, chances are they will never get to 'read' through it.
The Digital Format for the Chess Hobbyists
So many times when young students and young enthusiasts ask me for recommendations, I do not recommend any printed books to them. I present them with some options, which, imho, are best suited for a hobbyist with less time on his/her hands:
1. A Chess App:
Personally, I feel that a phone app is best suited for situations in which the individual seeking out chess knowledge has a tight schedule and cannot dedicate much time to on-board study of the game. My no. 1 recommendation is always 'Forward Chess App' because it is for everyone. An alternative to this could be a chess book reading app like 'Chess Book Study' in which you can open any pdf and study alongside a chess board presented to you in the very app. However, this method is not suitable for most of the people. For if they aren't able to dedicate time for on board study in the first place, it would be very hard for them to manually set up positions for every diagram and study that way. Another app 'Chessify' is an excellent addition to this but it way too expensive and not everyone can afford it.
2. A Website
Often a chess website is a great resource for chess learning. Chess.com, on which you are reading this blog, itself is a prime example of this and is highly recommended. However, I won't lie to you: my no. 1 recommendation has been 'Chessable' for many chess enthusiasts for the simple reason that it has many books to choose from which are then presented in their excellent digital format. However, chessable lacks the feature when it comes to playing actual chess with others. And so I often recommend it in combination with "lichess.org". Another recommendation is "chesstempo"... not as greatly developed as chessable, but with some great functionality.
But there is an inherent problem in this: someone who doesn't have time to do on board chess study, seldom finds time to dedicate to playing chess or learning through puzzles and books on a website. It is tried and tested. One of the biggest factors is that most of the hobbyists in my circle use the real chess board to play with real people when it comes to playing the actual game. Herein lies the basic flaw of a chess website for these people. However, a chess website is often suited for more people than a chess app.
3. A Digital Format of the Actual Book
Buying kindle books from amazon has gained more popularity in recent times. However, this is an absolute no no when it comes to these kinda hobbyists, for it runs into the same problem that these hobbyists are trying so hard to avoid in the first place: the requirement of a chess board for actual study. Even if you have a kindle chess book on your, well, kindle, you would still need a chess board for the study. So thank you, but no thanks!
The Best Books Out There?
In my locale, the most often recommended books range from Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess to Fred Reinfeld's 1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate. Any chess book on tactics, especially, is a pretty good recommendation. However, what most of these 1600 rated hobbyist players lack is insight into the strategy of the game. And so my top three recommendations have always been:
1. Build Up Your Chess 1 by Artur Yusupov
2. How to Reassess Your Chess by Jeremy Silman
3. Pump Up Your Rating by Axel Smith
There is a lot that could be said about PUYR by A. Smith (Axel Smith, not to be confused with the Matrix's A. Smith), but most of you would agree that the first two books on this list are absolute classics. Artur Yusupov's books series, especially, is an absolute must for any chess enthusiast. However, I would not discard the importance of Silman's work for lower rated players either.
The Problem
So this brings me to the final section of this blog post: The problem with the classics. If you look around and try to find these books in digital formats, only PUYR is available with "Forward Chess". Yusupov and Simlan's works are not published by FC app. If you look through the websites, you will find that first PUYR is available with Chessable, but only first two books from Yusupov series are on Chessable. Silman's books aren't available on either FC or Chessable.
So this has been a great loss for chess hobbyists and enthusiasts who aren't gonna ever pick up the originally published books in hardcover and work through these with on board study.
My Final Recommendations
While grappling with this issue, I have recently discovered that chesstemp has published yusupov's books from level 1. So this makes my task of recommendation a bit easier. So here goes: My final recommendations for 1600+ rated chess hobbyists looking to improve their game:
1. Firstly, remember to play games everyday and try and analyze your own games as much as you could. Recommended website: lichess.org
2. Then go through the first book in Yusupov Series called Build Up Your Chess 1. Recommended format: Chessable
3. Then go through Pump Up Your Rating. Recommended format: Forward Chess App.
4. Then work your way through the second book by Yusupov. Recommended format: Chessable.
5. Then the third book in Yusupov series. Recommended format: ChessTempo.
6. Then the final book in Yusupov series Level 1, called "Revision and Exam". Recommended format: Chess Tempo.
Now I have first-hand experienced players jumping up at least 300-400 points in elo just after the fist two recommendation, so if you are able to go through all six, you would be playing national level chess, I hope.
