Studying books vs playing loads

I have been on here a year and my rating in rapid has risen from the 1500s up to 1700 and back down again to roughly where I started. I've played a ton of chess, focused hard in my games but don't seem to have improved much and have plateaued which is a common problem.

I was wondering does studying books guarantee an increase in playing strength and whether anyone on here has improved by cutting down on games in favour of studying strategic & positional concepts instead? I already do tactics and enjoy them and I have a number of decent books by Silman etc, I was just wondering whether any adult players (I'm in my late 30s) have reached class A or expert level by studying books rather than just playing loads? It would be kinda rotten to spend a year studying books with the intention of improving only to return to playing again without any noticeable increase in strength, so I'd like to know before putting in the effort what people's experiences of using books has been and whether they helped?

Playing in real tournaments and hashing out an opening repertoire to be more competitive helped me a lot. I used books and played over hundreds of great complete master games in the process. Got much better.

Books will definitely increase your playing level, but you have to choose books that are right for you. The Silman books are a good example; plenty of information in an easy-to-understand format. You can still play plenty while you study, just try to absorb a chapter at a time and reread anything that you don't understand the first time. Take the time to intensely study the positions and concepts instead of rushing through the book, because you won't learn anything that way. Try doing a chapter, then playing a rapid game or two, focusing on the concepts you've just picked up in particular (like the imbalances that Silman advocates). And of course after each game, examine it. Do it yourself first. Look at every possibility (that's tangible) that's available during the game, especially in critical positions. Then and only then do you plug an engine in. Hope that helps, good luck.

What is your preferred learning style? Do you enjoy and grasp things better by hands on doing, or are you really good at reading material and then following or applying it like directions to building a table for example? What about audio books and movies? Do you remember the content well?

I would first know how you learn best and then use that to tailor your study habits. You don't need a bunch of books to improve, you just need to figure out a study approach that works for you and then apply it consistently. I'll give you a few examples:

Student 1 learns best by hands on learning. He plays a lot and then reviews his games in person with a stronger player, going over variations and assimilating concepts from that. In addition he practices tactics using a real board and book, as well as reviews annotated master games on a real board.


Student 2 learns best by visual and audio learning. He watches YouTube videos incessantly and reviews master games online. He studies tactics online and watches stronger players play online. Of course he plays online as well.

Student 3 learns best by reading. He reads all kinds of chess books- annotated master games, tactic books, endgame books, opening books- you name it. Additionally he reads chess forums and asks questions, post games of his for review where he asks further questions. He does play, but not as often and only in serious conditions- very rarely online except for his correspondence games which he devotes hours of time per game, researching opening lines and ideas, etc.


Which one sounds most like you?

Thanks for the advice. I agree with the points. I think going through Silman's Amateur Mind a chapter at a time then playing a couple of games afterwards is what I'll do. I'm not completely familiar with the imbalances so I'll concentrate on that and I'll play through master games, especially ones with the openings I use. Minor opening positional errors definitely get punished from 1700 and being able to play the opening quickly and accurately saves much needed time on the clock.

Finally I agree that the style of learning is important. YouTube is great and nowadays there lots more resources that make studying from books purely optional. I will definitely continue watching YouTube videos - Daniel King's Powerplay chess channel is great - but I think I need a more systemised approach so concentrating on strategy books will be my priority. I will do this for a year and play a bit less, then let you know in this thread in a years time how I've got on. Thanks again for your help.