Sinquefield Cup GMs on Middlegame Books

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penandpaper0089

During some of the interviews in round 5 of the Sinquefield Cup some of the GMs were asked about a middlegame book that stuck out to all of them. It seemed interesting to me that almost all the books mentioned were game collections like Zurich 1953 or Fischer's 60 Memorable games. No manuals on how to play the middlegame were mentioned at all except for Yermolinsky's "The Road to Chess Improvement" which was mentioned by Levon Aronian. IM Danny Rensch also recommends this book.

 

It's surprising that whenever this question is asked I almost never hear books mentioned such as "My System," "Pawn Structure Chess," "Simple Chess" or similar books. Game collections are almost always the books that are mentioned. I thought this was a bit interesting especially considering that it's typically the opposite among amateur chess players.

daxypoo
i thought it was curious when the player (dont remember who it was exactly) who said he didnt remember since he was 6 years old when he would have studied it

i also believe the main reason they are going over game collections is those guys skyrocket through the ratings and basically hurdle all the stumbling blocks that hinder the rest of us

nevertheless, we cant go wrong studying the games of the masters- whatever our level

for instance, i just went over the game vishy had with caruna with my daughter (9 yo; total beginner but does some chess study) and we were looking at the Qd4 move and she initially didnt understand why it was powerful- "black can just capture the queen?" then she saw how blacks rook was overworked and the light bulbs went off

i have been looking to get fischer's 60 most memorable games as i have really enjoyed chernov's logical chess and getting positions from some of fischer's games in my chess homework assignments so the interviews with the players sold me on it

it was entertaining watching the games this weekend and i also think the hosting crew has improved from recent tournaments

i think maurice ashley has gotten much better- not so much in the player's and audiences face with the "engine says this engine says that" but they actually offer what they would play instead- i like it much better
penandpaper0089

Chernev's Logical Chess book is one I forgot about. I do hear a lot of recommendations for this book especially for people starting out.

IMBacon22

Zurich '53 is a classic for a reason.  

kindaspongey

Possibly of interest:
"... 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. ... the chess book experience is a very personal one. ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (2015)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-books-ever

"... 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
"... 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)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-books-and-youth-vs-old-age
https://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-cyborg-chess-teachers-and-chess-books