Chess Book Help!
Sort:
Thank you all for the input so far. I’m definitely having trouble with middle game strategy. Basically after the opening (controlling the center, piece development/activating minor/major pieces) I’m not sure what to do next. When should I start the attach, I’m slowly getting better but I need work. I have a plan in mind but it seems every move I make the computer does a great job countering. I’ve often wondered if I’m doing myself a disservice playing the computer and not an actual person? Even on a lower setting (1000) I only win maybe 1/15 games.
Simple Chess by Stean is one I wasn’t aware of but is now on my list of future purchases to be used after Pandolfini’s Weapons of Chess and Silman’s The Amateur Mind.
"... before discussing the specifics of Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual [henceforth 'DEM'], a word of warning is in order. I must emphasize that this is a terribly advanced work that I don't think is a very good way for the average player to study the endgame. The majority of the examples are complex and position-specific, and neither the average student nor even strong masters will follow or play over most of the hundreds of positions that are given extensive analysis, not to mention the subvariations derived from those positions. Even when introducing 'the basics', Dvoretsky's approach is often more complex than is necessary for an average student, and in any case such a thick book will seldom be used for the sake of elementary instruction. The majority of the other material is frankly very difficult. So take note: I don't want to be blamed, in praising this book, for your purchasing something that you find intimidating, relatively dull, or otherwise unsatisfying. That said, if you are up to a real challenge and have a great deal of time to devote to reading and playing over examples you will inevitably derive great value from this work. ..." - IM John Watson (2005)
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/the-end-game-comes-before-we-know-it
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/2703.pdf
"... I'm convinced that Silman's [Complete Endgame Course] will take its place in history as one of the most popular endgame books ever. ... He writes in a clear and casual style, and time and again has shown the ability to reach those who feel intimidated by the lofty approach that a grandmaster will often take. ... he defines what he thinks is necessary to know at specific rating levels. ..." - IM John Watson (2007)
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/theres-an-end-to-it-all
Imperial_412 wrote:
... it seems every move I make the computer does a great job countering. I’ve often wondered if I’m doing myself a disservice playing the computer and not an actual person? Even on a lower setting (1000) I only win maybe 1/15 games.
"... While any kind of chess playing can aid your improvement, playing against computer programs does not prepare you quite as well for playing humans as practicing against humans. ... computers and humans ... play with different styles, ... Going to a club or a tournament is a chance to meet and interact with others; ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2003)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627013711/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman25.pdf
RussBell wrote:
@Imperial_412 -
From the list in your post #1, the following is (roughly) the order in which I would consider studying them, ... I think you can profitably read portions of more than one book simultaneously, as you feel necessary or interested. ...
Winning Chess Strategy For Kids by Jeff Coakley ...
Logical Chess Move By Move by Irving Chernev
The Amateurs Mind by Jeremy Silman ...
Simple Chess by Michael Stean
... there is at least one book which is not in your list, but which I think deserves to be (somewhere at the top). That is....
Discovering Chess Openings by John Emms. Many chess teachers advise against spending excessive time on the study of openings variations for the beginner, but they do agree it is important to acquire a solid understanding of opening PRINCIPLES right from the start. This book explains, for its intended audience, the basics of opening FUNDAMENTALS better than any other book. If you are uncertain about what you should be thinking and doing during the opening, this book does an exceptional job of addressing these issues. ...
Imperial_4126 wrote: "... I’m definitely having trouble with middle game strategy. Basically after the opening (controlling the center, piece development/activating minor/major pieces) I’m not sure what to do next. When should I start the attach, I’m slowly getting better but I need work. ..."
For this, I have tried to single out books from the RussBell note that struck me as most likely to be helpful now or in the near future.
@Imperial_412 -
For help with playing after the opening (i.e., the middlegame), check out the recommendations in my blog article...
Good Positional Chess, Planning & Strategy Books for Beginners and Beyond...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/introduction-to-positional-chess-planning-strategy
Also, you might check out this instructive article relating to play after the opening...
Maximize The Usefulness of Your Moves...
http://www.mark-weeks.com/aboutcom/aa06b18.htm
By-the-way, that's good stuff from KindaSpongey, i.e., perspective and advice from recognized chess experts.
SmokeJS wrote:
Simple Chess by Stean is one I wasn’t aware of but is now on my list of future purchases to be used after Pandolfini’s Weapons of Chess and Silman’s The Amateur Mind.
Excellent! These books make a great trilogy - introduction to positional chess. Begin with "Weapons. of Chess" by Bruce Pandolfini. Also, a good precursor for "Weapons..." is Yasser Seirawan's "Play Winning Chess", where the author introduces the four primary principles which must be considered when objectively evaluating any chess position – Force, Time, Space and Pawn Structure. For more on this, see the link to the blog article in my post #26 above.
"... This book is the first volume in a series of manuals designed for players who are building the foundations of their chess knowledge. The reader will receive the necessary basic knowledge in six areas of the game - tactcs, positional play, strategy, the calculation of variations, the opening and the endgame. ... To make the book entertaining and varied, I have mixed up these different areas, ..." - GM Artur Yusupov
Hi. From my experience, the books that helped me the most are the first four volumes of Sierawan’s Winning Chess series.
verylate wrote:
I have mixed feelings about the "normal progression" approach. On the one hand, I do believe that it is important to finish a task. Discipline is such an important part of any learning process, and doubly so in preparation for a competition.
OTOH, is there that much wrong with skipping from one book to another? You already seem to have a grasp of some of the elements. Why burden yourself with information that you have already absorbed, when you can spend the same time and energy on something new, or on practicing your your nascent skills? When you eat dinner, do you all the veges first, then the potatoes, then the meat? When you learn a language, do you learn all the nouns first, then start learning verbs, and only later learn a few adjectives and adverbs? (Actually, I teach EFL, and there are students out there with that approach)
Yes, you bring up a very interesting point. I might have made it sound like I understand more than I do. I really don't know much honestly beside a few elementary principles. The dinner plate analogy made me chuckle in all fun. I'm far from an expert in chess but I have been an instructor before. Ive always used the building block approach to learning and having a strong foundation which is what im trying have with chess. I have seen discussion about learning end games first which is anything but chronological order. Fischer Teaches Chess is set up like that and I have already started imputing those patterns into my brain which is cool. However, whats the point of knowing that if you never make it to the end game. What about if you don't know much about opening theory and you always get #ed in 10 moves? Lots of good suggestions so far! There's no right or wrong answer on how to learn the game. I think what I was really trying to do was put together a curriculum with the available chess books....and the ones I don't have (yet) but have helped others in the novice phase. THX
Imperial_412 wrote:
... I have seen discussion about learning end games first ... However, whats the point of knowing that if you never make it to the end game. What about if you don't know much about opening theory and you always get #ed in 10 moves? ...
In another thread, about three days ago, IM pfren made some comments that sounded sensible to me:
"... I suggest starting from the endgame, because:
1. What you learn is forever.
2. You will learn to calculate accurately- miscalculations are not allowed in the endgame.
3. The fewer the pieces, the easier to form a good stategy. ..."
It sounds very plausible to me that endgames are a good way to start the training of one's mind for chess-style thinking. Also, even if one does little more than blunder around for most of the game, the blundering may sometimes go your way and it can be pretty annoying if one reaches a king-and-rook against king ending without knowing how to finish off the opponent. A fair number of introductory books discuss some endings near the beginning.
That said, a person may well have already started chess study and I see no reason to believe that it was a fatal mistake if one started with something else. No matter what, a lot is likely to go wrong in one's early games. Another thing about beginner books is that many of them try to explain a little bit of everything. If one already has Silman's Complete Endgame Course, it would make sense to do some reading from it in the near future. On the other hand, Silman himself indicated that one need not undertake to read the whole thing right away.
"... if you have just learned to play, all you need to study is the section designed for beginners (Part One). After mastering the material there, put [Silman's Complete Endgame Course] away and spend your time studying tactics and a few strategic concepts, ..." - IM Jeremy Silmam (2007)
Start with Winning chess strategy for kids. Study all the material in that book. Play the games on a chess board.
kindaspongey wrote:
Note this pdf is for "Chess Strategy for Kids" by Thomas Engqvist, not the book with a similar title by Jeff Coakley - "Winning Chess Strategy for Kids" - which I recommended. I have no experience with the Engqvist book so cannot comment further on it other than to say that, pursing the table of contents, the book appears to be concerned with many of the same topics covered in Bruce Pandolfini's "Weapons of Chess" - which I also highly recommend for the beginner-intermediate player.
https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Strategy-Kids-Thomas-Engqvist/dp/1910093874/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527086700&sr=1-1&keywords=Chess+Strategy+for+Kids+Thomas+Engqvist
https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Chess-Strategy-Kids-Coakley/dp/1895525055/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527086768&sr=1-1&keywords=winning+chess+strategy+for+kids
https://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Chess-Omnibus-Strategies-Fireside/dp/0671659723/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527086865&sr=1-1&keywords=weapons+of+chess+an+omnibus+of+chess+strategies
Winning Chess Strategy for Kids by Jeff Coakley https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094112/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review332.pdf
kindaspongey wrote:
Winning Chess Strategy for Kids by Jeff Coakley https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094112/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review332.pdf
Thanks for review Spongey. As I've said earlier in this forum thread, this book is not just for kids, but is instructive for ALL beginner-novice chess players.
Sorry about my confusion.
verylate wrote:
I have mixed feelings about the "normal progression" approach. On the one hand, I do believe that it is important to finish a task. Discipline is such an important part of any learning process, and doubly so in preparation for a competition.
OTOH, is there that much wrong with skipping from one book to another? You already seem to have a grasp of some of the elements. Why burden yourself with information that you have already absorbed, when you can spend the same time and energy on something new, or on practicing your your nascent skills? When you eat dinner, do you all the veges first, then the potatoes, then the meat? When you learn a language, do you learn all the nouns first, then start learning verbs, and only later learn a few adjectives and adverbs? (Actually, I teach EFL, and there are students out there with that approach)
I think some chess coaches do mix it up.
verylate wrote:
I have mixed feelings about the "normal progression" approach. On the one hand, I do believe that it is important to finish a task. Discipline is such an important part of any learning process, and doubly so in preparation for a competition.
OTOH, is there that much wrong with skipping from one book to another? You already seem to have a grasp of some of the elements. Why burden yourself with information that you have already absorbed, when you can spend the same time and energy on something new, or on practicing your your nascent skills? When you eat dinner, do you all the veges first, then the potatoes, then the meat? When you learn a language, do you learn all the nouns first, then start learning verbs, and only later learn a few adjectives and adverbs? (Actually, I teach EFL, and there are students out there with that approach)
I think some chess coaches do mix it up.