Lyudmil Tsvetkov

Two weeks ago, I bought his book Human Versus Machine, Part 1 from amazon.com (for less than $6).  It is awesome.  Amazingly well-annotated games, some covering positions and ideas rarely seen elsewhere.   https://www.amazon.com/Human-Versus-Machine-Stockfish-Komodo-ebook/dp/B0768G8R2C/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=,  It is well-written and easy to understand.

As for his magnum opus, a book that will take real effort on your part, please check out his section on pawns in The Secret of Chess (for free, and for yourself):  http://www.secretofchess.com/files/17772/ckfinder/images/pawns-exc.pdf.  Also, in addition to what the above trolls write about it, check out what GM Smerdon wrote about it:  https://www.chess.com/blog/smurfo/the-secret-of-chess ("this book is a one of a kind work that legitimately has the potential to revolutionise how we think about chess").  Wow!!

The Secret of Chess is a difficult read (but worth it - again the Kindle version is less than $6); that is why starting with Human Versus Machine, Part 1 makes sense IMHO.

Lyudmil Tsvetkov goes overboard on many of his thread posts on these chess.com forums.  Of course when you have people like the above troll your book threads every single day while you are posting game diagrams for legitimate discussion and analysis (and now these sad people have even started a new thread here!!), it is not hard to understand why the author (https://chessprogramming.wikispaces.com/Lyudmil+Tsvetkov) is fighting fire with fire (albeit to his detriment),

Of course, if we ignore any great chess book (and these two books are great chess books - I feel like I have gained 100+ points for my $6) involving an off-center personality, then let's throw out the books/games on Fischer, Torre, etc.!

Cheers!

Come off it.  You are hawking a similar set of ideas on your website, @Chesster.

My point is that more Yaking about HIM, in this thread is just more free buzz, and he loves it.  Just UNPLUG from this thread, and let others be snookered.

You really have no effective choice -- except to blather on about how your services are "good," while his services are questionable.  End of Story.

When you've tried to apply it over the board come back and let us know with proof of your rating increase, otherwise you're just the same as Lyudmil, claiming greatness in the book with no proof as to how it's actually helped you.

Two weeks ago, I bought his book Human Versus Machine, Part 1 from amazon.com (for less than $6).  It is awesome.  Amazingly well-annotated games, some covering positions and ideas rarely seen elsewhere.   https://www.amazon.com/Human-Versus-Machine-Stockfish-Komodo-ebook/dp/B0768G8R2C/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=,  It is well-written and easy to understand.

As for his magnum opus, a book that will take real effort on your part, please check out his section on pawns in The Secret of Chess (for free, and for yourself):  http://www.secretofchess.com/files/17772/ckfinder/images/pawns-exc.pdf.  Also, in addition to what the above trolls write about it, check out what GM Smerdon wrote about it:  https://www.chess.com/blog/smurfo/the-secret-of-chess ("this book is a one of a kind work that legitimately has the potential to revolutionise how we think about chess").  Wow!!

The Secret of Chess is a difficult read (but worth it - again the Kindle version is less than $6); that is why starting with Human Versus Machine, Part 1 makes sense IMHO.

Lyudmil Tsvetkov goes overboard on many of his thread posts on these chess.com forums.  Of course when you have people like the above troll your book threads every single day while you are posting game diagrams for legitimate discussion and analysis (and now these sad people have even started a new thread here!!), it is not hard to understand why the author (https://chessprogramming.wikispaces.com/Lyudmil+Tsvetkov) is fighting fire with fire (albeit to his detriment),

Of course, if we ignore any great chess book (and these two books are great chess books - I feel like I have gained 100+ points for my $6) involving an off-center personality, then let's throw out the books/games on Fischer, Torre, etc.!

Cheers!

At your level of play, you'll likely find "Wow! That's brilliant! I never thought of that!" moments in most chess books—even the inferior ones. (I know: I used to be that guy, too.)

As you get stronger and more experienced, though, you'll begin to better distinguish concepts of real merit, and those that are best left forgotten.

In my opinion, Lyud's approach (and conclusions) are both things that I would avoid. I see flaws in the logic, and a way of approaching the game that'll do more to hinder than help.

But that's just me. The decision will have to be your own to make.

Thank you for the post.

Question though, if you read a chess book that really helped you improve, but then a higher rated player wrote a post saying he/she did not like the book, would that mean that the book did not help you???

Hmm.

BTW,I also saw this great review of the book: https://www.expert-chess-strategies.com/human-versus-machine.html

Thank you for the post.

Question though, if you read a chess book that really helped you improve, but then a higher rated player wrote a post saying he/she did not like the book, would that mean that the book did not help you???

Hmm.

You said you bought the book 2 weeks ago, but give an example of your improvement with games played from thorugh last September?

There are books that indeed are good.For example Bronstein's "Zurich 1953" was mentioned by Kasparov as one of the best books ever written(he said "probably the best book ever written") and the one that influenced him the most(along with Tal's book).

     The problem with good books is that they lack, the necessary for novices, move by move explanation and they demand a lot of personal work.Bronstein only explains the important ideas and it's up to the reader to work on the game.If you don't do that , you can't really realise how good that book is.

As I mentioned, I first read the free on-line excerpts from The Secret of Chess (http://www.secretofchess.com/pages/view-excerpts), and LT's threads where he kindly posted chess diagrams/analysis.  Later I read GM Smerdon's detailed review (https://www.chess.com/blog/smurfo/the-secret-of-chess),  All great.

I must say then reading Human Vewrsus Machine, Part 1 has made those earlier readings so much clear!  Get this book, for less than $6(!) and review away, comrade!

Amazingly well-annotated games

If you do a rain dance long enough, and it rains, is it because you were dancing?

To draw a comparison to another book:  "Rapid Chess Improvement" by Michael de la Maza.  Reading that book will make you feel great as a low rated player; however, it offers next to no real material (other than the well-known method for improvement at the class level:  practice tactics a lot!).  I've seen people read it, and filled with confidence they run off to a tournament and even do well.  Is it because their chess got better after reading the book?  Heck no!  For most of them, the euphoria wears off a couple tournaments later when they get smacked back down to Earth.

You are not going to get better by reading a book that gives you the engine evaluations of various positions and structures (and you certainly are not going to when the author of that book incorrectly identifies "winning" and "losing" positions and thinks that a +0.8 advantage is "completely winning").  You get better by understanding those structures.  (And as for Lyudmil - his assertion that he is 3000-strength after playing against weaker engines handicapped by time while using a stronger engine to assist in "avoiding tactical blunders" is complete nonsense!).

If you want a book that will help you get better, pick up a copy of the "Winning Chess" series by GM Yasser Seirawan, or the Yusupov books, or the "My Great Predecessors" books by Kasparov (by no means a complete list - just given as examples).  Then you will not be making silly blunders like 8. Bxc7?? in the London System (in a 3-day-per-move game).

I feel like you haven't been exposed to well-annotated games.

For starters, take a look at the annotation and instruction (on every single move, from the perspective of both sides of the board) in Neil McDonald's Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking: From the First Move to the Last

If I always played blunder-free chess, I'd be preparing for the candidates tournament right now :-P

However, I rarely make a massive blunder in daily games (maybe once every 10 games?) because I make use of the tools available to me:  opening book and make use of the analyze window so I can see what the position looks like when I play the moves I'm contemplating.  Additionally, I try to play higher rated players (once that I know to be much stronger OTB than myself!) to practice ideas.  Finally, I have my coach's voice in my ear screaming at me when I make thought-process mistakes (which tend to be the vast majority of the blunders I do make in OTB and online blitz games - that is, it is not that I cannot calculate correctly, but that I simply skip the safety check and realize after the move is played that I really needed to take the time to analyze the position more thoroughly).

That aside, my intention behind pointing out that blunder was not to insult you, but to open your eyes that blundering a piece on move 8 (in a correspondence game, especially) indicates that you are not improving as much as you think you are.  My suggestion would be to put down Lyudmil's books (I must say, I'm sure they make great fire starters!) and pick up a Move by Move book on a player or opening that you enjoy.  Most of those books have 50-70 games in them and go over why the moves were played so you can see the common patterns in positions you are likely to encounter if you keep playing those openings.  Since you seem to like the London System (frustrating - it is unfortunately fashionable right now ... in one round of the US Open last year, it was being played on almost 40% of the boards!) you might want to check out "Play the London System" (which has about 90 annotated games to study).

I have no doubt that you found it helpful.

I do, though, believe you'll one day look back on Lyud's book(s) with a knowing smile and say to yourself, "Yeah. Back then, I actually thought this was good stuff!"

I could be wrong, though. Maybe you'll look back at it as a positive turning point in your chess understanding, the way I look back at my experiences after reading Nimzo's My System and Aagaard's Excelling at Chess.

I suppose only time will tell.

So, you tell us to look at your recent games as an example of your improvement.  I do so, and see you blundering a piece on move 8 in a correspondence game and point it out, and you think me pointing it out was simply to insult you?  /facepalm

I am certain you learned far more from Chernev than you did from Tsvetkov.  And no, I did not say the book is horrible because you played a blunder.  Again, I was disputing your assertion that Tsvetkov's book (s) has made a massive difference in your recent improvement.