Advice sought please

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arran01
Hi! Just finished (at age 51!) Booby Fischer teaches Chess. Can anyone suggest a good book to help me build in that and increase my proficiency as a beginner? Many Thanks.
notmtwain
arran01 wrote:
Hi! Just finished (at age 51!) Booby Fischer teaches Chess. Can anyone suggest a good book to help me build in that and increase my proficiency as a beginner? Many Thanks.

https://www.chess.com/article/view/study-plan-directory

stiggling

Seirawan wrote a series of books called "Winning Chess"

(winning chess tactics, winning chess endgames, one for openings, one for strategy, etc)

Maybe there are 5 or 6 books in total... which is probably a bit overwhelming haha, but reading even 1 is very useful, and they're aimed at new players.

The first book Play Winning Chess is suitable for someone who doesn't even know the rules yet.

Years ago I read his tactic one and his endgame one and liked them both very much.

arran01

Thanks guys for taking the time to respond.. Very grateful.

stiggling

Yusupov's books are like gems, packed full of good positions, but with not much instruction. So like you said they require a lot of work. Great books, but I don't imagine them being very useful for an 800 rated player. Just my 2 cents on it.

I've never seen Seirawan's winning chess openings book. IIRC I heard him recommend the pirc in a video though, and I thought that was a poor choice.

stiggling

I have the blue and green books but not the orange.

I remember a chess.com member posting some puzzles from the orange books and I remember thinking they were pretty hard... like white to play and mate in 6. As a beginner I also read B.F. Teaches Chess (which is almost entierly a collection of mate in 1 and 2 puzzles with a back rank mate theme). And it was tough. I struggled solving back rank mate in 2 even though I'd just seen 50 of them. For a beginner it's tough, and I think having to solve a combination (multiple themes) and many moves deep (mate in 6) would only be frustrating, not instructive. But again like I said I don't have those books.

 

Completely agree with everything you said about Seirawan's opening advice.

Another point in favor of classical openings is it's a lot easier to guess a reasonable move when you don't know what to do because classical principals are very logical.

kindaspongey

https://www.chess.com/article/view/study-plan-directory
"... In order to maximize the benefits of [theory and practice], these two should be approached in a balanced manner. ... Play as many slow games (60 5 or preferably slower) as possible, ... The other side of improvement is theory. ... This can be reading books, taking lessons, watching videos, doing problems on software, etc. ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627084053/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman19.pdf
"... 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
Here are some reading possibilities that I often mention:
Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Simple-Attacking-Plans-77p3731.htm
Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev (1957)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.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 (1948)
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
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-back-to-basics-tactics
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
Chess Endgames for Kids by Karsten Müller (2015)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/chess-endgames-for-kids/
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/Chess_Endgames_for_Kids.pdf
A Guide to Chess Improvement by Dan Heisman (2010)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708105628/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review781.pdf
Studying Chess Made Easy by Andrew Soltis (2009)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090448/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review750.pdf
Seirawan stuff:
http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/bo_beginner/ev_winning_chess.asp?KATID=BO&ID=BO-Beginner
http://www.nystar.com/tamarkin/review1.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-winning-chess-endings
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092617/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review560.pdf

kindaspongey

Does this sound like the level for someone who has just finished Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess?

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
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/QandAwithArturYusupovQualityChessAugust2013.pdf
https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Revision&Exam1-excerpt.pdf

Loudcolor

the day you turn pedantry into creativity you'll have something chessbrah

arran01

Once again thanks to you all. Hope I didn't cause disagreements. Was just keen to benefit from your experience. Thanks.

stiggling

I enjoy when people respectfully disagree because I can learn stuff.

I don't even think DS is wrong, I just have a different take on it.

Sure there are some people giving ridiculous advice in the forum, but DS isn't one of them happy.png