In wich order should I read these books?

Sort:
Avatar of waterpoortkrijger

1. Logical Chess, Chernev: Already own this one and I'm reading this right now. 

2. The Amateur's Mind, Silman

3. Silman's Complete Endgame Course, Silman

4. Learn Chess Tactics, Nunn

I already own number one but I think after some research on this forum these four books should be a good starting point. Or do you have other suggestions? I also own Chessmaster Grandmaster to do the Waitzkin Academy but to be honest I realy enjoy sitting on the couch with a chessboard in front of me. I'm already spending too much time behind my computer. So I prefer a (tactics) book instead of software. 

 


Avatar of blake78613

The whole point of Silman's Complete Endgame Course is to progress through the book as your rating increases.  So it would make no sense to read the endgame book from cover to cover before reading any of the others.

Avatar of pfren

Skipping the first two books alltogether would also save you a lot of time.

Replace them with Capablanca's Chess Career (or even Chernev's Capablanca's 60 best endgames) and now you will benefit a lot.

Avatar of waterpoortkrijger

Thanks for the feedback so far. @IM pfren; I already own Logical Chess so I'm not gonna skip it. And why should I skip Amateur's Mind? It's got good reviews. 

Avatar of pfren

Unlike Silman's Complete Endgame Course which is a very good book, Amateur's Mind is not memorable at all- most of the examples in it are either poor, or poorly documented (and by that I do not mean just the pompous superficial declarations that abound in it). I think it is just better than the last edition of Reassess Your Chess but this is hardly a recommendation of it. Most Silman opening books are rather poor too, but fortunately enough the author has stopped writing such stuff quite some time ago.

Avatar of waterpoortkrijger

Hmm ok.. but IF I would skip the first two, I would only have something about tactics and endgames. I feel I should have some strategy/planning fundamentals too. 

I've just started playing chess for a few months so it can't be too advanced. It's hard to make decisions because there are SO many books and so many opionions. And I just want the essential and the best of the best stuff ofcourse.Tongue out And I want to beat my friends. 

Avatar of pfren

Well, My Chess Career is a terrific start. After all it was written by the one and only chess genius ever (in Lasker's words). Capa's analysis errs a bit to the lazy side of things (pretty much like himself), but overall it is essential and easy reading.

Avatar of TheCabal
http://home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Events_Books/General_Book_Guide.htm A good guide by a famous chess intructor and column writer for beginners (Novice Nooks, since 12 years I think.) Maybe you find your books under one of the "Basic, Fundamentals, Intermediate & Advanced..."-categories so you will have picture, with which book to start of first and WHY.
Avatar of Monoceros

For tactics I would just do the stappenmethode step 2,3 and 4 (with the plus books). I think they give you a good tactical basic. Further to become very decent with checkmates: Laszlo Polgar - CHESS 5334 Problems Combinations & Games. 

What I do is every day at least 10 checkmates from the polgar book and further depending on my mood some endgames of silman endgame book or some pages of the stappenmethode book.

Avatar of waterpoortkrijger

Would I still benefit from My chess Carreer if I've finished Logical Chess? And is the tactics book from Nunn good for my level or should I get another one? I 'know' tactics from the Waitzkin acadamy but I haven't practiced them much. 

Avatar of blake78613

John Nunn is rather critical of Chernev and had this to say.

"Not all of Chernev's books are bad; he was clearly a chess enthusiast
and when he stuck to elementary topics his effervescent writing style
could be a benefit, but a player of his strength is unlikely to discover
new general principles which somehow eluded great chess thinkers such
as Tarrasch, Nimzovich, and Reti. It is easy to be taken in by this type of
annotation, which may appear to 'explain' a game, but which closer
inspection reveals to be a tissue of superficiality. In the same way that
pseudoscientific theories may appear convincing to those with little
knowledge of science, 'pseudo-chess' books may appear convincing to
their target audience. Unfortunately, such misleading chess books are
distressingly common and whereas a belief in pseudoscience may not
cost you rating points, a belief in pseudo-chess probably will."

The above quote comes from the following article:

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman118.pdf

In the end, Heisman recommends Logical Chess but with a caveat.

Avatar of Kingpatzer

Ultimately I think Nunn fails to realize how little some people know about chess. A 3rd grade science book contains many, many false statements, over-simplifications, and even more statements that aren't properly nuanced or which are over-stater or under-stated to the point of being misleading.

Those are not faults of the text, they are what makes the text accessable to the target audience. Chernev's target audience is not players who are at expert level and who just need a few nuanced points to take them to title land. The target audience are people who barely know how to move the pieces and who can't figure out how to put together even the most basic plan. 

Avatar of waterpoortkrijger

What about 'Winning Chess; how to see three moves ahead' by Chernev and Reinfield for a tactics book? Somehow I fear the Nunn's book may be a little too advanced for me. 

Avatar of pfren
waterpoortkrijger wrote:

What about 'Winning Chess; how to see three moves ahead' by Chernev and Reinfield for a tactics book? Somehow I fear the Nunn's book may be a little too advanced for me. 


Get Neishtadt's then (Test your Tactical Ability first, then Improve your chess tactics). Both are excellent.

Avatar of blake78613
pfren wrote:
waterpoortkrijger wrote:

What about 'Winning Chess; how to see three moves ahead' by Chernev and Reinfield for a tactics book? Somehow I fear the Nunn's book may be a little too advanced for me. 


Get Neishtadt's then (Test your Tactical Ability first, then Improve your chess tactics). Both are excellent.


I think you have a point.  Reinfield understood the value of repetition in the learning process.  Once you have mastered the Chernev and Reinfield book you can move on to Neishtadt's book.

Avatar of pfren

Neishtadt's books are mainly used by trainers, but it's not hard at all to be used by a student, too. Their prose is thin, but always on the spot.

Avatar of waterpoortkrijger
fracklefrit wrote:

I'm glad you got some helpful answers cuz I would have suggested front to back.


What do you mean? I know the question in the topic title isn't perfect English..

Avatar of Kingpatzer

It's just a sarcastic response, there's no problem with the English. 

Avatar of AndyClifton
waterpoortkrijger wrote:
fracklefrit wrote:

I'm glad you got some helpful answers cuz I would have suggested front to back.


What do you mean? I know the question in the topic title isn't perfect English..


He means left to right (shame on you achintooth for not making that clear!). Smile

Avatar of AndyClifton
Kingpatzer wrote:

It's just a sarcastic response 


We around here prefer the phrase "delightfully droll."