Kasparovs my great predecessors series are really good for this
3 Great Ways to Study Master Games
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You can get a strong chess engine and a good chess database off the internet for free. No need to spend a lot of money on Houdini and Chessbase just yet at your level.
Deciding between New In Chess and Informant, my question would be: are you mostly into chess for fun or are you trying seriously to improve? NIC is better for entertainment; Informant is better for improvement. NIC has more personal info, chess gossip, etc. Informant has more games, more analysis, more exercises, etc.
You can improve a lot going through one Informant and looking through every game. I had one Informant when I was about your age (one of the first ones, I remember it was purple) and it lasted me from about 1700 elo to 2150 elo, as I recall.
But in the end you should probably get what you will use. If you are easily bored, Informant may not be right for you. The best book won't help you if you don't read it.
Carlsen reads chess books
Sometimes the best way to learn and improve is to get a book, set up the positions described and play through them.
with or without a computer. i learn by doing.
You might try the 20 minute technique suggested by Heisman. Select a random (or interesting) position, study it for 20 minutes -- going thru calculations, decide on a move and compare it with the actual move.
You can automate doing this (20 minute technique) with Lucas Chess by using "Determine Your Calculating Power" training mode. The goal is to identify the prinicipal variation (best moves for each side) as deeply as you can and then it gives you a score based on how it compares to an engine's principal variation. I couple that with making a variation tree with XMind including positional notes along the way. I usually spend more than 20 minutes, but you can set the software to any time limit you want or impose your own.
Also on the subject of the thread, Lucas Chess allows a form of Solitaire Chess (great way of studying master games) with the training mode called "Play Like a Grandmaster." Definitely worth checking out, too.
Here is a video of me using the Play Like a Grandmaster training mode in Lucas Chess so you can see what it's like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGFb0-bQxuk
And here are videos of me using Determine Your Calculating Power training mode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR3voQnNz9w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnYN1gjzl3I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-pwQhza3Wk
Hi guys,
1. What source would you suggest to study master games?
I'm debating between three options: the good ol' Chess Informant, the New In Chess magazine and Fritz 14 (which has a decent database).
Here are the pros and cons of each, in my mind.
Chess Informant:
New In Chess: I don't know a lot about NIC, all I can say is that I've heard it is very much focused on openings.
Fritz 14: Buying a chess software would help me in many ways
Play over the game quickly the first time to get a feel for the flow of the game, then play over it a second time and stop at the moments which you found intriguing the first time.
Play over it at medium-speed, taking note of the main patterns arising from the opening (especially useful if the opening is part of your repertoire).