Chess books that will make you a bad@#!

I write this column for my chess club.  This is my latest entry, chess books that will make you a bad A! Hope you enjoy.

http://weaksquare.blogspot.com

thanks.

I gave your blog a quick skim and yours looks like a sensible grouping.

Pawn Power--I'm not sure how useful Kmoch's book is. It's very idiosyncratic--maybe this is why I still remember what a salient is after 35 years? Soltis's pawn Structure Chess may be better on roughly the same subject.

My System--A classic for sure but superseded I think by other books for superior clarity and generally superior didactic methods. Euwe and Kramer's Middlegame and Pachman's  The Middlegame in Chess are great. Probably more swear by Pachman in these parts.

Yes your books will help you become and remain a chess badass :)

A good foundation and hard work does that.

edit: Simple Chess by Stean is just about beloved and I've never heard anyone criticize it, so consider that a great book too.

Thanks. Maybe Pawn power is dated, but still has its worth.  Never read Simple Chess.

Hi!

I think you have at least one book in a wrong class:

How to Reassess Your Chess: Jeremy Silman

It's a book which you should read AFTER the Amatuers Mind. Even Silman himself says so: http://www.chess.com/article/view/creating-a-study-program

I love the cover

I'm curious about your book -- is the meat of it annotated games or instruction?  I read the chess.com article on it -- also what level player is it pitched for?

Excellent blog post!

Two of the main criticisms of Rapid Chess Improvement:

The author offers harsh words for those that make their living teaching chess, and most of them have proven track records. He distorts their position on tactics to create the foundadtion for his system.

The author's system produces burnout more often than improvement, which seems to be at least part of the reason the author quit chess after his book was published.

Unless you are both unemployed and divorced, Michael de la Maza's system probably will prove impractical for you.

I believe that Chernev's Logical Chess: Move by Move can be read profitably as soon as you learn to read; it certainly should be read prior to his The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played and Capablanca's Best Chess Endings. My first chess book was another Chernev classic and it took me from being a complete beginner to being able to beat my friends. When I finally played USCF rated tournaments twenty years later, I was a strong D player, perhaps a C player. I was probably a D played for most of those years that I played only unrated games, including some team matches (high school) and tournaments (college).

You could pare your list down to Patrick Wolff, then Chernev's Logical Chess, then Silman's pair. In the meantime Polgar's tactics, Seiriwan's tactics, and some book with basic exercises--John Bain's series come readily to mind--followed by progressively more difficult books, and Silman's Complete Endgame Course. Those few and lots of play should get most players to class C.

Silman recommends the first chapter of How to Reassess Your Chess first, then The Amateur's Mind, then the rest of How to Reassess. Dan Heisman agrees with Silman's recommendation. I see no reason to disagree.

Judging by your rating the books didn't work.

 I can see somebodys feeling catty today. I bought The Idiot's guide to chess the other day, but haven't started it yet.

Simple Chess by Michael Stean may be a fine addition to this set.  Quite possibly THE most "gentle" introduction to middle game strategy ever written.

Good choices but IMHO a better study order would be:

Class F

Idiot's Guide
Complete Endgame Course - 1st section
Checkmate in 1 problems only from Polgar

Class E

Complete Endgame Course - next section
Mate in 2 problems from Polgar
Chess Tactics by Seirawan
Forget de la Maza!

Class D

Complete Endgame Course - next section
Harder problems from Polgar
Logical Chess Move by Move
Winning Chess Openings
The Amateur's Mind
The Most Instructive Games of Chess ever Played

Class C

Complete Endgame Course - next section
Harder problems from Polgar
Chess Tactics for the Tournament Player
Ideas behind the Chess Openings
Complete Book of Chess Strategy
Capablanca's Best Chess Endings
How to Reassess your Chess
Practical Chess Exercises
The Improving Chess Thinker

 You have no class, Puroi. 

You read his article and probably agreed and disagreed with some of the books.  Then you decided not to comment on the merits of the books or the content or style but to respond in rude fashion.  He spent his time to gather and collect this information and share with serious chess players who care to improve.

You name puroi is a correct description of you but more appropriate should be puţoi.

Puroi I have collected chess books for 40 years and crashfreeze's listed some good ones. Your comments about his playing strength are out of line. For your information he is a good chessplayer !

That was really rude. I am actually USCF 1661. My rating here is exclusively based on experimental openings and feature at least 15-20% of games I lost because I never finished due to my busy schedule.  I really care nothing about my rating both online or real life and derive no ego boost nor feel the need to tear others down about their ratings. 

USCF 1661 ≠ badass

Nor did I ever claim that it was. I have only been playing chess for 2 years so a Class B rating is pretty remarkable considering some people play chess their whole life and never reach that sort of rating.  And for your information, the books ARE working or else I would have never been able to improve from nothing to almost 1700 in two years of practice as a working adult with a 2 year old child. But if it makes you feel better to insult someone for their inferior chess playing ability to nurture your fragile ego feel free to use me as your punching bag. 

I thought it was a good breakdown, and the way you describe the difference between D, C, & B players (not so much knowledge but discipline/application of what they know) made me think you were rated much higher just because it's a good observation.

With all the book you're reading I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you're class A , these rude people make no sense.

I see you have the de la mesa book yes, I read your description, just wanted to point out that you can dl for free the meat of that book, which is his study plan, and it takes less than 10 minutes to read.  95% (the rest of the book) is a pep talk, not worth spending money on IMO.

Man, I really enjoy your WeakSquare blog !

One of the most interesting blog posts IMO is

http://weaksquare.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-i-gained-434-points-in-one-year.html

I thank you for sharing your experience, and it is helping me to build my study program.

You wrote :

"Every chess player is different.  What works for some does not necessarily work for others. (...) Sometimes you have to tear down your building and rebuild it so it can be taller. Never be afraid to destroy your foundation and rebuild it stronger (...)"

Regarding De La Maza book... well, I started to give it a try, I really don't know if it will really work for me, anyway I'm reading it despite some criticism.

Many thanks. Keep up the good work.

Somehow, "chess books to make you a badass" doesn't sound very probable

I want a custom robotized chess book that assesses my strengths and weaknesses and then formulates a custom lesson plan based on its analysis.

For example: "Based on my analysis, Tom, you need to work more on developing your a-pawn. This seems to be a major decisive factor in 94.5% of your games."

^ And it should have lasers