Silman imbalance way of thinking or Alexander Kotov decision tree way of thinkin

Silman imbalance way of thinking or Alexander Kotov decision tree way of thinking? which one as a chess player do you prefer?

Kotov, although pretty much every GM I have ever discussed this with says that they don't really think like that.

Yeah I don't think anyone really has quite so structured a thought process.

Silmans while useful seems a bit limited to be your only area of thought.

@Chris, I think you have a point but I realized that Kotov way of thinking is more like Masters Dan Heisman....on each& every move you should have candidates moves.@Scottrf I agree with you Silman way of thinking is too slow but I guess mixing Silman's imbalances with Kotov tree on analysis will help you

The Process of Decision Making In Chess by Ochman

Summary?

First 44 pages free:

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/a-new-chess-book--free-download

It's only like $8 on Amazon. It gives a structured thinking process, but much more actionable than Kotov or Silman. Although HTRYC would be a good compliment to the positional evaluation phase.

I had a strong player say a structured thinking process is not that important, but I think stronger players just do it without realizing it. For me it was a big step putting some structure to my play. His process is very specific, and I like that you can easily modify it as your chess knowledge increases.

Thanks I will look it over. I know I can use improvements in that area. Neither Kotov nor Silman ever really worked for me.

           I'll look at it too, thanks!

@rtr1129 about the book you are talking, did it work for you? for me I read an article by Dan Heisman about playing real chess as opposed to hope chess n the more I read it the more I felt he was talking to me.He quotes books that talk about decision making in chess like Kotov' s Think like a Grandmaster and though i dont have the hard copy with me the free pdf on the Internet that I have been able to have a sneak preview at already makes alot of sense to me.

I suggest just letting your thought process do what it does....Don't overthink or gawd forbid let someone tell you how to think....a player should just instinctively select a few candidate moves and go from there....everyone's thought process is a little different....keep it comfortable, natural , and keep it simple !........

p.s. - people talk alota blah blah just to sell books and make $....

It was very helpful to me.

Before I read it, I knew a lot of random chess knowledge, backward/doubled/isolated pawns are bad, the bishop pair is an advantage, some basic K+PvK and K+R endings, control open files, develop your pieces, control the center, a bunch of random general knowledge like that. So playing chess was kind of an aimless for me, I didn't know when to apply all of these random chunks of knowledge.

After I read it, I started thinking in terms of evaluating mine and my opponent's space and piece quality on every move, and knowing when to look for threats from my opponent and also when to look for tactical threats I can make against my opponent. I didn't know that it's important to look for some of those items in the correct order, and if you swap the order you look at those while you play it can cost you the game.

To a stronger player these things may be obvious, but as a lower-half club player that was only casually interested in chess, this structured approach really helps. Before, I feel like there were many times when I felt lost. Now I at least feel like, if it's not a position I know well (a specific endgame, etc) then I have a generic process to analyze the position and come up with a reasonable move that won't hang a piece and will keep me fighting to increase my own advantage or decrease my opponent's advantage.

Maybe after I've been using the process for 10 years I will be able to play using "chess instinct" 

OMG!!!!@rtr1129 you are the man.You have really helped me.Dollar for dollar this book is the shit...i was about to buy Alexander Kotov's Think like A Grandmaster and this book is light years better.Having read Silman's How To Reassess Your Chess , i didnt really get it but Mr Ochman positional evaluation kinda partnered with Silman to hit the point home and im not even done with the book...im not yet there but im on the free way kicking it.For us patzers i can affirmitively say this is the best book you will ever buy...you can take this to the bank and cash it!!!

Glad you like it. He is supposed to be working on a volume 2 which I am looking forward to. He is a member on chess.com. You should message him and tell him you are enjoying the book.

@rtr1129 Actually im reading it now as i type lol...you adviced the wrong person, i will be on your throat soon lol