how to beat your dad at chess!!!
If there were only 1 chess book you could reccomend what would it be ?
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But no 1 book solves all your problems in chess when you first start or when your at the intermediate level. This question was doomed not to be answered from the beginning.
As time goes along what was written may become outdated... obsolete. Also the level the player wants to reach comes to mind. A player may need a book as they plan to join a couple of tournaments while another may wish to beat his friend that he has had no success at beating in a game.
?William Hartston .... that is a new one. Famous for ?
The other 3 we all know and which book is his best?
Now way! During holidays people drink.
And drunk chess players blunder = rank points. lol
Jan 1 should be a feeding frenzy.
Bicarbonatofsoda wrote:
Hartston's best book (according to me) is "How To Cheat At Chess" but he's a good author (not all chessers make good authors) and his serious chess books are quite good.
i like his literary work.
Are you serious about the title? Funny
Going to have to buy that online, no way i can walk into a bookstore and ask for that one. They will just say stay here and leave and never get back to me.
Agree on the author issue 100%
Just one book huh...hmmmmm
Bicarbonatofsoda wrote:
Immoney5252 wrote:
I have hit a wall in both my "live play"(1400) and "Turn based"(sub 1700) chess progression. So my purchase of a chess book is undoubtedly needed. So this brings me to my question, if there were only 1 chess book you could recommend what would it be ?
Thanks in advance,
Sal
***Just realized I spelled recommend wrong in my thread title, my apologies
i'd recommend any book written by someone (an ex-world champion preferably) who was (is) really enthusiastic about the game.
Fischer's "My 60 Memorable Games" is great if you are the forgiving type.
Anything at all by Mikhail Tal.
To me, a great inspirational chess author is William Hartston.
Chess Fundamentals by Capablanca is very good.
I know my question was a bit broad...but all suggestions not only help me but everyone reading the thread who have not read a particular book....its always good to know what books all range groups tend to read because I'm certain we all have hit a wall before....Appreciate the responses from all...
Have a Happy New Year!!!!
I'm still waiting for an algebraic 500 Master Games maybe with some opening updates, since some of the lines are a bit dated.
Otherwise, it's one of my faves!
Noreaster wrote:
Just one book huh...hmmmmm
Man at this rate i will have to write a book to pay for all these books.
Which came first the chicken or the egg ? for me here.
Man at this rate i will have to write a book to pay for all these books.
Which came first the chicken or the egg ? for me here.
Seriously, every time I go on the forums I open up a Amazon window. I have been disciplined of late though.
I like to read some of the bood before i buy it.
That way i will know if it will keep my interest or just a bust.
Not enought space for a paper weight near me when i relax but that will change as i have become more organized. esp chess.
OK, laugh long and loud if you like, but John Bain's "Chess Tactics for Students" is like the multiplication tables or musical scales of chess. All the great books about theory and position play and strategy and pawn structure and Lucena positions in the endgame are just so much dreck if you're missing simple tactical ideas.
I liked this book so much that I actually cut every problem out and put them on individual notecards with the solution on the back. I then take a bunch of them around with me during a period of a few days and solve them over and over until the solutions just pop out.
They're not fancy, not advanced, not brain-bustingly difficult. But they're essential positions. And if you can't solve them at a glance, you probably shouldn't be wasting your time with "My System" yet.
Just my 2 cents.
Well i used to be tactical player only which left me to play with attacks on the king side. That worked until i came to this site. As players quickly adapt. They know how to defend the king side which meant my attack would sooner or later run out of gas.
Grabbing up material was no problem and still not problem if i want to play that way but i know that sooner or later i would hit a ceiling. I had branch out side ways to improve. I was reminded of this about 2 weeks ago. Getting some strange looks to my improved vision of playing an old opening. Had to trash if for the time being. It serves its purpose as they have to honor the idea that i may play tactical.
From my experience only i tactical book is ever needed. Go buy the best Tactical book regardless the money. If you do not have enough...save up or borrow it. Once it is done move on to other areas in chess that you need to work on.
MSteen wrote:
OK, laugh long and loud if you like, but John Bain's "Chess Tactics for Students" is like the multiplication tables or musical scales of chess. All the great books about theory and position play and strategy and pawn structure and Lucena positions in the endgame are just so much dreck if you're missing simple tactical ideas.
I liked this book so much that I actually cut every problem out and put them on individual notecards with the solution on the back. I then take a bunch of them around with me during a period of a few days and solve them over and over until the solutions just pop out.
They're not fancy, not advanced, not brain-bustingly difficult. But they're essential positions. And if you can't solve them at a glance, you probably shouldn't be wasting your time with "My System" yet.
Just my 2 cents.
I agree. Tactics and basic endgame is more important than positional play books. I liked Dan Heisman's "Back to Basics: Tactics". I'm currently working on Silman's endgame book and that seems to be helping my chess.
Simple chess by Stean.
bronsteinitz wrote:
Simple chess by Stean.
+100
If you can't pick up basic positional ideas from this classic then nothing will help you. Its ok saying 'just study tactics' but what are you going to do in the vast majority of positions where isn't a tactical shot? Most players just blindly push their pawns to 'gain space' without realising they are destroying their own position. Simple Chess teaches you what to look for in relatively quiet postions in language that even beginners can understand, even though the examples are going to be useful for the rest of your chess playing life...
Yes Simple chess is good, it would probably be second just behind Logical Chess, by Chernev for me.
This question is not fair.
It depends if the person is a neophyte of at the intermediate level. Then some books are more on Tactics than others. One book may review the opening while the other reviews the End Game. In some cases a player needs to know Mating patters. While others are not sure aboutthe types of pawns and how to attack them or defend them.