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good morning/afternoon/evening...i would like some advice on whichbook to start with out of the following...i have acquired 1.my system by nimzovich 2.move by move by chernev and think like a grandmaster by kotov...also,i have reassess your chess 4th edition...any advice would be much appreciated ☺
The Chernev book is the easiest. The rest are more advanced. Try My System next, Reassess your chess and finally Kotov although those three can probably be read in any order.
thanx☺ chernevs book seems quite interesting actually...oh yes...also have silmans complete endgame course...havent even started it but ive had it for 2 months now...would you still recommend chernevs book 1st?
The Silman endgame book was written with the idea of being read in stages as one improves. It would be reasonable to start the book now, but it would be a large project to read the whole thing now.
Possibly of interest:
Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf
The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev (1965)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/
Winning Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld (1949)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093415/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review919.pdf
Back to Basics: Tactics by Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708233537/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review585.pdf
Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014)
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/
https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf
A Guide to Chess Improvement by Dan Heisman (2010)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708105628/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review781.pdf
Seirawan stuff
http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/bo_beginner/ev_winning_chess.asp?KATID=BO&ID=BO-Beginner
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
Yes read both the Chernev and the endgame course up to your grade. I read the endgame course up to 1500 and it is very good. The idea is that you go back to it later as you improve. As for Chernev he gives a lot of general rules, some more useful for beginners so you might find that not all of it applies. It is a classic though with good games and an easy book to get into.
noted...thanx so much for all the advice☺☺☺
Jun 21, 2017
0
#8
The Chernev book:
This book is somewhat controversial. Some GMs and IMs have strongly criticized the book. Personally I don't like it, because it's too dogmatic and doesn't explain why a move is bad.
The Nimzovich book:
Again, there are many different opinions on this book. Some strong players recommend it, while others say that it is guaranteed to damage your chess if you read it. Personally, I find the book way too hard to read.
The Kotov book:
This book is also kind of hard to read. Not sure how it helped my chess, if at all.
The Silman book:
This is probably the best book by far. Read it!
Thanks for the contribution sylent. I have read my system and reassess out of those. Silman is more approachable. My system is amazing but it was a bit above my level. Theres no harm in reading my system just to get an idea of the main themes that are covered and not focus on detailed study yet.
RookSacrifice wrote:
The Chernev book:
This book is somewhat controversial. Some GMs and IMs have strongly criticized the book. Personally I don't like it, because it's too dogmatic and doesn't explain why a move is bad. ...
It seems that there is less controversy in connection with the 1965 Chernev book, The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played.
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/
One can see some discussion of the pros and cons of Chernev's Logical Chess at:
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132019/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman118.pdf
http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/logical-chernev
http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2013/01/logical-chess-book-review.html
http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2013/02/chernevs-errors.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/assorted-recent-books
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708091057/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review465.pdf
"... Just because a book contains lots of information that you don’t know, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be extremely helpful in making you better at this point in your chess development. ..." - Dan Heisman (2001)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626180930/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman06.pdf
"... The books that are most highly thought of are not necessarily the most useful. Go with those that you find to be readable. ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2010)
"... If it’s instruction, you look for an author that addresses players at your level (buying something that’s too advanced won’t help you at all). This means that a classic book that is revered by many people might not be useful for you. ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (2015)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-books-ever
is there any recommended books for my level?atm im 1399 otb but im pretty sure my strength is lower than that
Chess skill is complicated, and I do not think one can identify a particular book as appropriate based only on a player's rating. Might want to look at reviews and excerpts in order to get some idea about what might be helpful. Some links appeared in post #5 about 10 hours ago.
lots of people are saying at my level tactics are the most important thing but i hardly blunder now (except when making moves very late at night lol)...feels like my losses are usually innacuracies lately...i have no idea what to do in the middlegame when there is not much to do like improving pieces etc...ive heard about all these wonderful things but applying them are something else
pfren wrote:
Thanks Master Pfren☺ will look into that
Try Chernev. It's not such a great book, but you will surely understand it.
I can also recommend the excellent (and rather difficult to find) book "Simple Chess" my GM Michael Stean (there are a couple of other books with the same title that aren't any good).
https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Chess-New-Algebraic-Dover/dp/0486424200
Or see what Heisman recommends, and do something else: very good chances to do the right thing.
pfren wrote:
... I can also recommend the excellent (and rather difficult to find) book "Simple Chess" my GM Michael Stean (there are a couple of other books with the same title that aren't any good). ...
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104258/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review400.pdf
pfren wrote:
... Yusupov's "Orange Series" on Quality Chess is also great I you are willing to do some work on it. ...
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Build-up-Your-Chess-1-exceprt.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103659/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review778.pdf
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Boost-Your-Chess-1-excerpt.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
masterfowler wrote:
...i have no idea what to do in the middlegame when there is not much to do like improving pieces etc...ive heard about all these wonderful things but applying them are something else
Some possibilities at various levels:
50 Essential Chess Lessons by Steve Giddins
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708100833/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review534.pdf
Chess Strategy for Kids by Thomas Engqvist
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/Chess_Strategy_for_Kids.pdf
Starting Out: Attacking Play by James Plaskett
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708101549/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review467.pdf
Amateur's Mind by Jeremy Silman
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094419/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/ammind.pdf
Winning Chess Strategies
http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/bo_beginner/ev_winning_chess.asp?KATID=BO&ID=BO-Beginner
Chess Secrets: The Giants of Chess Strategy by Neil McDonald
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092313/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review620.pdf
Chess Strategy for Club Players by Herman Grooten
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708101926/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review696.pdf
Chess Training for Post-beginners by Yaroslav Srokovski
https://web.archive.org/web/20140712013538/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review945.pdf
Chess Strategy: Move by Move by Adam Hunt
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093249/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review890.pdf