What chess books/study tactics can bring a 1300 elo player to IM level in 4-5 years?

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iofferyoutoresign
john_chandler wrote:

The 10,000 hours isn't an exact figure, the reality is quite variable, but it was popularised by the book Outliers. It refers to highly targeted, very deliberate practice of a skill over several years. It's perfectly possible to invest 10,000 hours with very little to show for it - like the old observation that someone has "10 years experience of blah" when the reality is they've probably learnt nothing new after the first year.

However, it is still possible to achieve a lot on less than that. Consider that you can learn a skill to a decent, albeit basic, standard over the course of a month just putting in 30-40 minutes of deliberate, specific practice per day. That's a tiny investment for skill development.

Figure out what time you realistically have, get into a consistent routine, and make the time count.... set little goals, step outside your comfort zone, vary the learning to encourage adaptability, and above all do not burn yourself out. Keep notes on what works and what doesn't, what you've learnt, what you want to learn, and treat mistakes as a source of valuable feedback. Good luck, and most of all have fun!

I read outliers - I mean, it’s interesting and all, but it doesn’t really have a ton of scientific data to back up Gladwell’s claims. It’s enough information to have an interesting conversation at dinner, but yeah, as you said, someone could spend upwards of 10,000 hours and get little results.

Imo it’s mostly about your approach to learning vs the amount of time spent. For the OP, daily tactics are important, analyze all of your games (without an engine). The rest, books and whatever, I have no clue. Personally I would recommend the Winning Chess series by Yasser Seirawan for the basics, and other books recommended in this thread (eg. how to reassess your chess). I have free PDFs of these books and several others, so lmk if you want them.