Book recommendation?
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Sep 21, 2017
0
#2
I like My System by Nimzowitsch. I am working with the Forward Chess edition, it is digital, or you will spent a lot of time setting the positions with all the subvariations. This edition has some mistakes, but Forward Chess promised to fix this soon. I don't like much chapter 1, but from chapter 2 onwards the book is amazingly helpful. Nimzowitsch introduced in is time several new concepts on chess strategy, and although not everybody likes his humour, the examples and the games are very insightful. There are of course updated books on chess strategy, like John Watson's Secrets of Modern Strategy, but fact is that My System is still a standard work, and often recommended by GMs.
Sep 21, 2017
0
#3
Thanks for the replies. Essential chess endings is a small book and fairly easy to get through. After reading that and practicing with the examples, I was able to understand what was going on in the end games of most of the gm games I have looked at. I was hoping there was something equivalent for the middle game. My goal is just to know enough to be entertained by game collections of great players. At my age there isn't much chance of me becoming one .
The best "slim" middlegame book may be New Ideas in Chess by Larry Evans
https://www.betterworldbooks.com/New-Ideas-in-Chess-id-9780486283050.aspx
Max Eusebio
Ridiculous spellcheck. Max Eusebio
Tsk. Max euwe
It sounds like Ludek Pachman's middle game work is the kind of book you're looking for. It is available in three (slender) volumes as "Complete Chess Strategy" or as a single volume called "Modern Chess Strategy". I believe the one volume version is somewhat abridged.
Former world champion Max Euwe wrote a two volume series on the middle game that might also be useful to you. The first volume is about static features and the second addresses dynamic considerations.
If you are concerned about notation, I know that Euwe's books are available in algebraic. Pachman's might be, but I don't know for sure.
Sep 21, 2017
0
#9
j271828 wrote:
I was hoping there was something equivalent for the middle game. My goal is just to know enough to be entertained by game collections of great players. At my age there isn't much chance of me becoming one .
How about just finding game collections which have been annotated well and studying them?
Sep 21, 2017
0
#10
I was just given Lev Alburt's strategy book. It is a lot bigger then Essential Endgames but it has so many diagrams, it is a lot smaller than it looks. Also, you don't have to set up the positions to understand the book so I will give this a try first. Thanks for all of the suggestions which I will look into if I don't like this book.
Possibly of interest:
Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf
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/
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
50 Essential Chess Lessons by Steve Giddins
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708100833/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review534.pdf
Simple Chess by Michael Stean
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104258/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review400.pdf
Amateur's Mind by Jeremy Silman
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094419/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/ammind.pdf
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
How to Reassess Your Chess (4th ed.) by Jeremy Silman
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708095832/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review769.pdf
Understanding Chess Middlegames by John Nunn
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627012322/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen154.pdf
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/Understanding_Chess_Middlegames.pdf
Winning Pawn Structures by GM Alexander Baburin (1998)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140718055446/http://chesscafe.com/text/wps.txt
Understanding Pawn Play in Chess by GM Drazen Marovic (2000)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708110136/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review249.pdf
Dynamic Pawn Play in Chess by GM Drazen Marovic (2001)
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/books-of-many-flavours
Winning Chess Middlegames, An Essential Guide to Pawn Structures by GM Ivan Sokolov (2009)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708091955/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review676.pdf
Pawn Structure Chess by GM Andrew Soltis (2013)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708101523/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review908.pdf
Chess Structures - A Grandmaster Guide by GM Mauricio Flores Rios (2015)
"There is also masses of stuff in the book that made me go 'Oooh!' and 'Aaah!' so I think it will have the same effect on you! In particular, I loved Rios' exposition of White's plan of exerting queenside pressure against Hedgehog systems. I'd seen one of the games he quotes in his chapter but I'd never remotely made any link to a structured way of fighting the Hedgehog structure, so this chapter was a real eye-opener for me ...
In conclusion, warmly recommended. Lots to learn!" - GM Matthew Sadler
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7495.pdf
The Power of Pawns by GM Jörg Hickl (2016)
"The didactic concept of the book is admirable. Each chapter defines the structures, explains the typical characteristics and shows the plans for both White and Black. The reader participates by assessing positions and invariably receives useful tips for practical play." - FM Harry Schaack
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/the-power-of-pawns/
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9034.pdf
Zurich 1953 by Bronstein
http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/review-zurich-1953-bronstein
Python Strategy by Tigran Petrosian
http://sagarteacheschess.blogspot.com/2015/09/python-strategy-book-review.html
Petrosian’s Legacy by Tigran Petrosian (1990)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103409/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review309.pdf
Petrosian: Move by Move by Thomas Engqvist
"Engqvist gives us a rare treat and a genuine, sympathetic understanding of one of chess' greats who nowadays tends to gets lost in the shuffle!" - Michael Ciamarra (2014)
Grandmaster Chess Strategy by Jürgen Kaufeld & Guido Kern
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093410/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review812.pdf
One can get some idea of the lasting scope of the respect for My System by looking at:
https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-books-ever
Still, it might be noted that My System apparently did not occur to GM Yasser Seirawan as something to include in his list of personal favorites, and Aaron Nimzowitsch was not identified by the GM as a very worthy author.
Also, My System has accumulated some direct negative commentary over the years.
"... I found [the books of Aaron Nimzowitsch to be] very difficult to read or understand. ... [Nimzowitsch: A Reappraisal by Raymond Keene explains his] thinking and influence on the modern game in a far more lucid and accessible way. ... 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)
In 2016, IM pfren wrote:
"My System is an iconoclastic book. A lot of things in there is sheer provocation, and it does need an expereienced player to know what exactly must be taken at its face value.
I love 'My System', and I have read it cover to cover one dozen times, but suggesting it to a class player is an entirely different matter."
"[Some things] ARE wrong, and it's not easy for a non-advanced player to discover those wrong claims.
Nigel Short has claimed that 'My System' should be banned. Stratos Grivas says that the book is very bad. I don't share their opinion, but I am pretty sure that there are more useful reads for class players out there."
Although he is a fan of My System, IM John Watson similarly acknowledged (2013) that:
"... Not everything in it has stood the test of time, ..."
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/john-watson-book-review-108-of-eplus-books-part-2-nimzowitsch-classics
One last point to keep in mind is that, even if My System would eventually help a player, it might not necessarily be helpful to a player now.
"... 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
A My System sample can be seen at:
https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/MySystem-excerpt.pdf
I started playing chess last year after retiring and I am really enjoying it. I came to chess.com mainly to use the tactics trainer and I am pretty good at tactics. I read Averbakh's essential endgame book and I really liked it compared to larger more complicated books. Does an equivalent book exist on the middlegame? I just want enough knowledge to be able to read through grandmaster games and have some idea what they are doing when there are no obvious tactics.