http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Build-up-Your-Chess-1-exceprt.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103321/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review699.pdf
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Build-up-your-chess-2-excerpt.pdf
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Build-up-Your-Chess-3-exceprt.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103659/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review778.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Boost-Your-Chess-1-77p3744.htm
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Boost-Your-Chess-1-excerpt.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Boost-Your-Chess-2-77p3745.htm
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/BoostYourChess2-excerpt.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Boost-Your-Chess-3-77p3746.htm
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/BoostYourChess3.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103149/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review834.pdf
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Chess-Evolution-1-excerpt.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708085817/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review843.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Chess-Evolution-2-77p3643.htm
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Chess_Evolution_2-excerpt.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Chess-Evolution-3-Mastery-77p3753.htm
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Chess_Evolution_3-excerpt.pdf
Learning chess - steps method + Yusupov 9 books
Hi kindaspongey,
Thanks for the excerpts and reviews....the Yusupov books indeed seem the best option when I reach 1600-1700 rating....but I believe I'm not prepared yet to follow those books...I believe there are more basic things that I need to learn beforehand.
Although the book officially says it's suitable for u1500 players...I read reviews that it's generally better for players starting at around 1.700
Have you used them? Are they good for under 1500 players? Or do you recommend something else?
Cheers
For a decision like this, I think a lot has to do with the individual. My instinct is to use separate books for subjects like endings, tactics, strategy, and openiings.
That's right :-)
I prefer using sequential books...covering many topics...as they tend to have similar and increasing difficulty.....but I'm struggling to find a good alternative to the "steps method"
thanks for your comments.
Get Winning Chess Strategy by Seirawan. This is an enjoyable book that covers various topics suitable for your level. The book is well structured in teaching by themes.
Seirawan stuff:
http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/bo_beginner/ev_winning_chess.asp?KATID=BO&ID=BO-Beginner
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092617/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review560.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-winning-chess-endings
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf
http://www.nystar.com/tamarkin/review1.htm
It occurs to me that it might be appropriate to mention that, about a decade or two ago, Lev Alburt was involved with a series of books intended to cover most chess topics. Here are reviews of some of them:
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708233629/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/ctpb.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708233309/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review905.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094013/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/justfacts.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627060405/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen75.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090545/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review653.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626210017/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen132.pdf
interesting! I knew the seirawan series...but didn't know this one...I'll read the reviews and see which one seems better! thanks kindaspongey
Perhaps I should also mention the Fred Reinfeld series from about six decades ago. Recently, the whole thing has been converted to algebraic notation (1 e4 e5) and combined into one volume. I do not know of an online review, but a sample can be seen here:
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/3706.pdf
Around the same time, there was a similar series by Horowitz, but the two volume reprint (A Complete Chess Course - How to Win at Chess) retained the original descriptive notation (1 P-K4 P-K4).
Winning Chess Strategy for Kids by Coakley is also a good one. Don't let the world kid book fool you. It is excellent and is instructive for your level.
https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Chess-Strategy-Kids-Coakley/dp/1895525055
Hey guys!
Based on your recommendations and the reviews I ended up buying the whole Seirawan series (7 books). ..I also bought "Bobby Fischer teaches chess", for a more "tactical" begginer book and the classical Logical Chess move by move by Irving Chernev...for positional play and whole game understanding....
After that I'll probably buy and read a couple of tactics exercises books...such as Bain's "Chess tactics for students"
Hopefully I will be able to improve and then the Yusupov books may be more accessible to me
Thanks for the tips! :-)
Hey guys!
Based on your recommendations and the reviews I ended up buying the whole Seirawan series (7 books). ..I also bought "Bobby Fischer teaches chess", for a more "tactical" begginer book and the classical Logical Chess move by move by Irving Chernev...for positional play and whole game understanding....
After that I'll probably buy and read a couple of tactics exercises books...such as Bain's "Chess tactics for students"
Hopefully I will be able to improve and then the Yusupov books may be more accessible to me
Thanks for the tips! :-)
The Winning Chess Series by Seirawan is excellent.
Study in Order.
Winning Chess Tactics
Winning Chess Strategies
Winnin Chess Endings
Winning Chess Brilliancies.
You can mix up studying Winning Chess Tactics and Strategies.
If one needs it at all, it probably makes sense to start with Play Winning Chess. In his series of books, GM Artur Yusupov wrote: "... 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, ..." He does not appear to me to have thought that it would be a serious impediment to one's progress if one refrained from spending an extended period of time on reading a book in any one subject area.
You might discover something of interest here...
Good Chess Books for Beginners and Beyond...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/good-chess-books-for-beginners-and-beyond
and my blog...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell
RussBell...thanks for that. I had seen this post of yours before asking the question here in the forum...will take a look at the other articles.
As I've read somewhere: a chess student spends more time studying how to study, than actually studying :-D
Having read a few others’ opinions on Yusupov and briefly dabbling in some of his first level books, it seems that Yusupov’s level 1 books roughly correspond in difficulty to level 4 or 5 of the Steps.
Compared to other series, such as Seirawan, Reinfeld, or Alburt, the Steps method is far more systematic and comprehensive, with far more problems to solve, and breaking down problem-solving tasks into more specific themes. If I had to choose one series with which to learn chess at my level, it would most certainly be the Steps.
The one difficulty with the Steps method for the self-learner is the lack of verbal explanations, because it was meant as a classroom curriculum for children, but you can always supplement with something like Seirawan’s books.
Hi dannyhume, thanks for the explanation! I am very inclined to buying the steps method as a complement...to really practice all the theory with hundreds of exercises...my doubt was if it was too "childish"...but it seems it's not from your review and others I've read.
I believe their "tutor manuals" have more written theory...so it would be good to buy them together with the workbooks for self study....I sent an e-mail to them and they told me exactly that...the manual contains the lessons and the workbooks the exercises and a few summaries of the lessons.
Hi everyone!
This is my first post here and I was wondering if anyone could help me! :-)
I am a 36 yo beginner in chess....I do know the basics...basic tactics, basic strategy, basic opening principles, etc from 1 or 2 basic books I've read in the past....but I want to improve my chess in a structured way. My rating is usually around 1.400-1.500...but it can drop sharply when I play blitz/bullet (1.100-1.200)
Do you know or have opinions about the following books/collections? If so, do you recommend them? Or are there better options? The thing is that I usually learn better when I follow a structured approach, such as reading about the theory, then doing exercises about that theory, etc....sort of in a sequential manner...so I am looking for some kind of complete course...from beginner to advanced....something that will build my knowledge gradually, using theory and related exercises.
The two books/collections are:
- Learning chess...The steps method...by Rob Brunia and Cor van Wijgerden - this will be the first one and then I plan to reach somewhere between 1.700-1.900 rating and move to...
- The Yusupov 9-books series (fundamentals, beyond the basics, mastery)
I am especially keen on finding an alternative to the first one (steps method) as they are very difficult to find at my country (brazil)
Thanks a lot!