Might I suggest spending the money you would on a book and instead buying a basic membership here at Chess.com? You get 3 chess mentor lessons a day, 25 tactics trainer exercises per day along with many other benifits for 30 dollars US a year. For 50$ US you get unlimited tactics trainer and 5 CM lessons per day. Well worth the price.
And no, I'm not associated in any way with the site other than being a paid member that is happy with my decision....
At your rating the single best use of your time will be on tactics. I recommend the book Tactics Time by Brennan and Carson because all the exercises are taken from club players like yourself. There is no greater source of confidence than preventing your opponent's tactics and springing some of your own. I also recommend looking at Dan Heisman's articles on this site and chesscafe.com (soon to re-open) and at www.chesstactics.org. Until you have some mastery of tactics, sudying openings and strategy won't get you nearly as much benefit.
Hey,
I am a "want to be" club player who is seeking to dive deep into a really good book that can "solidify" my chess knowledge and confidence that I totally forget whenever I don't play correspondance chess
. I would be really proud to become an expert player perhaps in the near future. Apart from playing tactics and reading "logical chess" by Chernev, I'm getting a new book that hopefully can help me with this goal. Which of the two books should I pick (only 1)?
1. Pump up your rating - Axel Smith or,
2. From beginner to Expert in 40 lessons - Alexsander Kosty
Thanks for any input!