What level are you? How long have you been playing?
My System can be challenging for beginners.
If you are below 1400 - 1600 it is tactics, tactics, tactics, I believe.
What would help improve a player more read my system in depth or tactics
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What will make a building taller, sticking a steel beam vertically into the ground or pouring a concrete foundation?
Well the steel beam is 100 times higher than the concrete slab, but the concrete foundation will, in the future, allow the building to be 1000 time higher still.
i.e. if you want short term progress you do tactics. If your aim is to improve more than a few hundred points you need some foundation, that is all the other stuff, and in that case Nimzo's My System is a good start.
As you add more layers, you can go back and do more tactics, but if your foundation is rotton you'll never get beyond a certain point.
Jan 7, 2013
0
#4
This is actually an easy one to answer.
Study My System. Here's my logic:
If you go to tactics trainer every day, your tactics will improve. That's fantastic, but never enough by itself. If you really study My System, you will want to play. And by playing you will work more on all parts of your game, including tactics. You will probably decide to do tactics training as well, but that's kind of like eating candy. It's easy, and usually doesn't require much thought.
Study My System and feed your love for the game. You will see your game improve and you will want to play and study more!
Note: My response was specifically for a teenager who is rated ~1400 here both in games and in tactics training. That means he already is doing some tactics training and doesn't need to be encouraged to do more.
I currently have My System and pfren is right; it's a bit of a tough read. The ideas behind it though are sound and I believe it to be a great beginner's book for positional play. No doubt that if you want to improve chess overall, read this book. But if you want to improve in blitz or just want to win, tactics are a better shot.
wafflemaster - Agreed, you need a good foundation. I think a better book - if it has not been read yet - is Logical Chess Move by Move by Chernev.
SmyslovFan - sorry if it seemed I meant tactics is enough (and I guess that is what I typed), I just answered based on the two options - read My System or do tactics. Below the 1400 - 1600 level (maybe that is too high a range? 1200 - 1400?) concentrate more on tactics.
I agree it gives lots of good information, I just think that someone who is less experienced should hold off on it.
Tjornan wrote:
I currently have My System and pfren is right; it's a bit of a tough read. The ideas behind it though are sound and I believe it to be a great beginner's book for positional play. No doubt that if you want to improve chess overall, read this book. But if you want to improve in blitz or just want to win, tactics are a better shot.
Really? Does it step up a lot in difficulty then because the first couple of chapters are beginner concepts.
Jan 7, 2013
0
#8
I read My System when I was a teenager. I don't know what my playing strength was before I started reading it because I played in my first tournament after I had read it. My first USCF rating was ~1600.
I don't have any problem recommending My System to a teenager. If it's a tough read, it's because the concepts are challenging. The reading level is fine for teenagers. You don't need everything candy-coated for teenagers.
Mikhail Tal wrote the preface to one edition of My System and argued that every chess player should study this great book! I agree.
What would help a player improve more? Study my system in depth over and over or do tactics over and over