I know this sounds crazy, but I would take the risk and spend all this time on studying tactics in 5. 1001 Winning sacrifices and Combinations and 6. 1001 Checkmates Chernev. In addition, I would spend 30 minutes/day on the chess.com Tactics Trainer and 30 minutes/day on chesstempo.com. Like I said, a crazy plan, but maybe worth trying.
Chess Books ... Where to start?
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I was thinking the same thing. After reading a couple of improvement articles, I think tactics is the perfect place to start.
I think I will tackle 1001 Winning Sacrifices and Combinations together with Chernev's Most Instructive Games of Chess.
Tx for your post ... much appreciated. :-)
I have about half the books on your list. 1001 Winning Sacrifices and The Most Instructive Games of Chess sounds like a good way to start to me, too.
The other book I'd suggest you read fairly early is Studying Chess Made Easy by Soltis. It will save you a lot of time and effort by pointing you in the right direction rather than you having to find the way yourself by trial and error.
Tx for the advice. It does make sense to try and make my chess studying a bit easier. I will start reading the Soltis book today and finish it over the weekend. I will then impliment a course of action based on the guidelines in the book.
I really hope to start my chess training on Monday.
I would appreciate it if you could send me your reviews on the books on my list that you have read.
Tx :-)
Oct 5, 2011
0
#6
"My System" by nimzo. one of the best books out there.
also, "think like a grandmaster"
These are the books (besides the three previously mentioned) I have that are on your list:
Starting Out: Dutch Defence by McDonald [Very good introduction to the Dutch. It covers the three main variations--Stonewall, Classical, and Leningrad. It also covers the main anti-Dutch tries. I use to play the Stonewall and Leningrad but have since moved on to the QGA(though I still occasionally play the Stonewall). McDonald does a nice job with the themes and pitfalls of the variations of the Dutch. Probably doesn't go into depth as some people would like, but that's not what the "Starting Out" books are.]
How to Play Against 1 e4 by McDonald (I play the French Defense, and this is my main source of info on how to play it. This book is very much like a "Starting Out" book which means it places emphasis on concepts rather than dealing with lines in depth. I like McDonald as an author--not sure if it's because he's a great author or if it's because his writing just meshes well with my skill level.)
1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate by Reinfeld (Assuming that's the book you have, it's a good tactics book. Other than the "Queen Sacrifices" chapter title, most of the chapter titles don't give you too much of a hint.)
Capablanca's Best Endings by Chernev [Capablanca is my favorite player and Chernev is one of my favorite authors(Chernev's Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played is one of my favorite chess books.) I haven't read this one from cover to cover, but I eventually will which is more than I can say about most of the chess books I've bought over the years.]
Complete Endgame Course by Silman (I could probably get rid of my other endgame books because this one seems to serve my needs best.)
The Amateur's Mind by Silman [Silman catches a lot of crap on this website, but I think he's a good writer, and I like books that examine the games of less than master level players and use them as a basis for instruction(Chess Master vs Chess Amateur by Euwe and How to Be a Class A Player by Dunne are a couple more books of that type that I like.)]
Art of Attack by Vukovic (Haven't read it and probably won't for a while yet, because I have a more basic attacking manual The King in Jeopardy by Alburt that I want to finish first.)
Zurich 1953 by Bronstein (Haven't read it. One of only three tournament books I own, the other two being Montreal 1979 and Second Piatigorsky Cup which I haven't read either)
Improve Your Chess Now by Tisdall (Similar in some ways to Soltis' Studying Chess Made Easy but different enough that you won't feel like you're treading over the same ground. Both books are worthwhile, but I recommend reading Soltis' book first)
The Art of Planning in the Middlegame by Keres & Kotov (Another book I'm saving until I think I can get more out of it)
Wow wow wow!
An all in one book review of half my books and all in one place. Tx a mil!
I feel the same way about The Art of Planning in the Middlegame by Keres & Kotov as I have read the first couple of chapters a year ago and could not quite keep up.
I can obtain a copy of The King in Jeopardy by Alburt from my local library to go through after I get through the tactics books. (If it is any good).
Slowly my study plan is starting to take shape. Cool!
I guess it's all out attack for me.
Silman's Endgame Book is really really good. The other day I drew a K + P vs K +Q endgame against a 1600 rated player at my local chess club where I had the K + P.
If I hadn't read Silman all the way up to the C - Class section, I would have resigned the game as soon as my opponent queened! This is also what he expected. But alas his face literally turned red in disbelief when he and the surrounding spectators found out that it was a dead draw!
There is a couple of other books I could borrow from my library and if you own them I would again appreciate it if you could comment on their quality.
They are:
1. Starting out: The Pirc, English and King's Indian. (Which reminds me that I still have no real answer to 1.e4. I know something about the Sicilian Dragon, Pirc and French - which basically means that most of the time I start deviating from theory quite early in the opening. Guess I have been jumping around too much.)
2. Soltis - Pawn Structure Chess
3. Yermolinsky - Road to Chess Improvement
4. Heisman - The Improving Chess Thinker
5. Fischer - My 60 Memorable games
6. Nimzowitch - Chess Praxis and My System (Skwerly, I see that you suggested this book, could you please elaborate a bit. Tx)
7. Le Moir - How to become a deadly chess tactician
8. Alburt - Chess Strategy for the Tournament Player
Oh and if I may ask, what is you study system / schedule like and what is your current rating?
Tx for all the help so far.
I think Alburt's books are pretty good. I read part of The King in Jeopardy a while back then got sidetracked onto other things and am now getting back to it. It's the 4th book in his chess instruction series and comes just after the tactics book by Alburt that you have.
Of the other books you mentioned, the only one I've completely read is The Improving Chess Thinker by Heisman. It's an interesting book, but I don't think it's one that will have improved my chess much. I think this book is probably much more useful for someone engaged in teaching chess than someone learning chess. What I found most beneficial was Appendix A(just 4 pages long) which is Euwe's thought process for selecting a move for one of the diagrams given in the book. The other parts I liked were chapters titled "The Thinking Cap"(about the thought process and move selection) and "The Basics of Time Management". Unless you're especially interested in how chess players at various skill levels think, you may find much of the book tedious.
I do own some of the other books but can't really offer any comments of much use:
Pawn Structure Chess by Soltis (Haven't read it but will someday)
My 60 Memorable Games by Fischer (I dip into this one from time to time. Fischer doesn't interest me as much as he does some people, but it's still a very good games collection and a classic)
My System by Nimzovich (One of the first chess books I ever purchased. Most of it was far beyond me at the time, and I skipped through quite a bit, but I got what little I could out of it. I really should go back and read it again)
Chess Strategy for the Tournament Player by Alburt (I have several books in this series because the used book store I frequent happened to have most of the series on a day I felt like using up a lot of credit I had at the store. This particular book strikes me as being similar to Pachman's Modern Chess Strategy but aimed at the somewhat less advanced player. Comes just after The King in Jeopardy, so I haven't gotten to it yet)
I don't own but have looked through Lemoir's How to Become a Deadly Chess Tactician at the bookstore, and that one appeared to me to be a good one. It seemed about the right level for me, but I didn't buy it because I already had more than enough tactics books.
I don't really have a system of study. I just go with what interests me at the time or what I think will help me with what I need to improve most. I don't have an official rating-- my rating against Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition hovers in the low 1700's and my blitz rating on here is 1476, so I figure I'm somewhere between those two.
Everyone seems to have a different approach on how to get better at chess and I think it is great. Here are my suggestions:
1) The "Winning Chess" series by Yasser Seirewan are great. After I read those books I was already 1500 level.
2) "Rapid Chess Improvement" by Micheal De LaMaza. This book has received much criticism by notable players/authors such as Silmann but this book taught me how to visualize. Any strong player will tell you visualizing is very important in tactics. It should only take you 30 minutes tops to get through the book and will be worth your time.
3) "How to Reassess your Chess" by Jeremy Silmann. This book taught me how to trade pieces and when bishops and knights are better. It also taught me open and closed positions and positional imbalances. I would wait until you are 1600 level to read this.
4) If you have no access to internet then the books with tactics and puzzles are fine. If you have internet access then do tactics trainer on chess.com and you do not need to read those books.
5) Correspondence (i.e. turn-based chess) on chess.com are a great way to improve your chess understanding. Do not use a chess engine to find your moves or it defeats the purpose.
6) Play rated tournaments OTB. You can find directories on uschess.org. Then study your games.
Good luck :-)
Whew!
Tx alot for all the info guys (Quasimorphy and Kolob). I have summarized all the suggestions you have made with regard to the books and which areas to study first.
I am halfway through Soltis - Studying Chess made Easy and Will start with my study program on Monday.
I will be playing a couple of training games against Fritz 6 as well (rated at 1600 - the lowest rating it can be set to - time limit: 60/60) and will post the games here for comments and suggestions.
My first OTB tournament will only be in January of next year.
I will keep posting away as I go through my program.
Kind Regards. :-)
Hi All I am a 1480 OTB (from South Africa) rated player and have built up quite the chess book collection over the last two years. I passed the attorney's admissions exams and was admitted as such a couple of months back. I now have 4 months worth of free time as I am only starting my new job in February next year. I would basically like to work out some kind of study plan/system based on the books that I currently own and would like to increase my rating by about 150 ELO by the end of next year. I am looking to play in about 6 tournaments in the course of next year and then take it from there. Oh and I am 26 years old and played about 10 rated games in the Western Province Chess league where I gained about 20 rating points. Here is a list of my books, I look forward to your input with regards to the study program I should follow and in which order to study the books. Tx. :-) Neil McDonald 1. The art of Planning in Chess 2. Starting Out: Dutch Defence 3. How to Play against 1.e4 4. The Sicilian Bb5 Revealed Fred Reinfeld 5. 1001 Winning sacrifices and Combinations 6. 1001 Checkmates Chernev 7. The most instructive games of chess ever played 8. Capablanca's Best Chess Endings Silman 9. Complete Endgame Course 10. The Amateur's Mind Books by Various Authors 11. The Art of Attack - Vukovic 12. Play 1.e4 e5 - Davies 13. Studying Chess made easy - Soltis 14. The Alterman Gambit Guide - Alterman 15. The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games - Burgess/Nunn 16. Tactics for the Tournament Player - Alburt 17. Learn from Kasparov's Greatest Games - Schiller 18. New York 1924 - Alekhine 19. Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953 - Bronstein 20. Improve Your Chess Now - Tisdall 21. Starting Out: Pirc Defence - Ghallager 22. The Art of Planning in the Midlegame - Keres Kotov 23. Chess Openings for White Explained - Alburt I am done with the first four parts of Silman's endgame course (1400 - 1599) and look forward to hear from you. Tx.