Good Positional Chess, Planning & Strategy Books for Beginners and Beyond...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/introduction-to-positional-chess-planning-strategy
Advice on best books for positional chess improvement for advanced intermediate player
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Oct 27, 2020
0
#3
Yes, I got much of this material from your post above. 
I was hoping for more of a detailed breakdown of these books and which are better fit for my taste and rating, given what I wrote above.
A few resources that may be helpful based on comments and reviews I have come across (haven’t read or done most of them):
1. Chess Steps Method (Stappenmethode), specifically level 6 (the highest level) which consists of a manual and 2 workbooks ... too advanced for me, geared for USCF players rated 1800-200 (category 2 or 1 maybe?). The table of contents lists a number of topics that are not purely tactics, for instance: king in the middle, the passed pawn, strategy, mobility, the opening, bishop or knight, attacking the king, and defending. So not a positional manual, but covers a lot of topics in that category. In addition, it has many exercises (over 2500 between the 2 workbooks).
2. Strategic Chess by GM Edmar Mednis. Annotated game book from the east 1990’s covering only closed games. He says he intended this book to be n instructional book on strategy ... he chose closed games because he wanted to keep tactical considerations to a minimum. I have read through most of it and have enjoyed it a great deal, but I am no positional whiz. Nonetheless, it gets good reviews across the board and may be just different enough to give you what you need now.
3. Point Count Chess by Horowitz and Mott-Smith. Older book from the 1960’s or early ‘70’s that seems to teach positional play with a more “algorithmic” approach. Reviews of the book on Amazon are all good, but the “point count” system gets panned. Nonetheless, since you are already good at avoiding crude mistakes as your tactics rating suggests, this type of book may click more with what you need than other standard strategy books which talk about a concept, give an example, then move on. A “system” type book on positional play might get you more oriented to where your strengths and weaknesses (and neglect) in certain positional concepts lie. Have not read it.
4. Complete Chess Strategy vol I-III by GM Ludek Pachman. The three volume version (not the abridged single volume version) gets very high praise across the board and seems like it is considered “must-read” material for higher level amateurs on up. Have not read it.
5. International Chess School. Perhaps the most rigorous and systematic method of learning chess strategy (that is their primary goal of teaching). It is a 3 year program (though not clear on the site which courses correspond to year 2 and year 3). They used to advertise it as for higher level amateurs looking to advance to master levels but in the last few years it seems like they are claiming that lower-rated players can benefit from learning how to approach and assess a position properly and systematically. Have not done this.
6. My System and Chess Praxis, both written by Aron Nimzowitsch. Gets high praise or the opposite from other highly rated players. Maybe his style appeals to you or helps you, maybe not. Maybe you find him instructional, maybe not. Maybe he is wrong about a lot of things, or maybe just a few but he still gets 90% correct and teaches that material far more effectively than modern competitors. Have not read either.
1. Chess Steps Method (Stappenmethode), specifically level 6 (the highest level) which consists of a manual and 2 workbooks ... too advanced for me, geared for USCF players rated 1800-200 (category 2 or 1 maybe?). The table of contents lists a number of topics that are not purely tactics, for instance: king in the middle, the passed pawn, strategy, mobility, the opening, bishop or knight, attacking the king, and defending. So not a positional manual, but covers a lot of topics in that category. In addition, it has many exercises (over 2500 between the 2 workbooks).
2. Strategic Chess by GM Edmar Mednis. Annotated game book from the east 1990’s covering only closed games. He says he intended this book to be n instructional book on strategy ... he chose closed games because he wanted to keep tactical considerations to a minimum. I have read through most of it and have enjoyed it a great deal, but I am no positional whiz. Nonetheless, it gets good reviews across the board and may be just different enough to give you what you need now.
3. Point Count Chess by Horowitz and Mott-Smith. Older book from the 1960’s or early ‘70’s that seems to teach positional play with a more “algorithmic” approach. Reviews of the book on Amazon are all good, but the “point count” system gets panned. Nonetheless, since you are already good at avoiding crude mistakes as your tactics rating suggests, this type of book may click more with what you need than other standard strategy books which talk about a concept, give an example, then move on. A “system” type book on positional play might get you more oriented to where your strengths and weaknesses (and neglect) in certain positional concepts lie. Have not read it.
4. Complete Chess Strategy vol I-III by GM Ludek Pachman. The three volume version (not the abridged single volume version) gets very high praise across the board and seems like it is considered “must-read” material for higher level amateurs on up. Have not read it.
5. International Chess School. Perhaps the most rigorous and systematic method of learning chess strategy (that is their primary goal of teaching). It is a 3 year program (though not clear on the site which courses correspond to year 2 and year 3). They used to advertise it as for higher level amateurs looking to advance to master levels but in the last few years it seems like they are claiming that lower-rated players can benefit from learning how to approach and assess a position properly and systematically. Have not done this.
6. My System and Chess Praxis, both written by Aron Nimzowitsch. Gets high praise or the opposite from other highly rated players. Maybe his style appeals to you or helps you, maybe not. Maybe you find him instructional, maybe not. Maybe he is wrong about a lot of things, or maybe just a few but he still gets 90% correct and teaches that material far more effectively than modern competitors. Have not read either.
Three other books which I have not read but that look interesting because they have lots exercises (rather than just instructional prose) are:
7. Test Your Chess by Zenon Franco;
8. Strategic Chess Exercises by Emmanuel Bricard; and
9. Your Chess Battle Plan by Neil McDonald.
7. Test Your Chess by Zenon Franco;
8. Strategic Chess Exercises by Emmanuel Bricard; and
9. Your Chess Battle Plan by Neil McDonald.
10. Test Your Chess Skills by the Guliev brothers.
Oct 28, 2020
0
#7
Thanks for this list, though there are some books on it I have seen before and decided not to get. However, I have added Franco's and McDonald's books to my list and I have looked into Bricard's book - though it seemed pretty advanced based on my perusal of it and Amazon reviews.
Thanks anyway!
I am looking for a solid book or two to improve my positional understanding, and even more importantly, how to implement it in practice.
I am rated around 1500s in Rapid/blitz here, and my puzzles rating is approaching 2500. But I would say my positional understanding is that of a Category C player.
I have Silman's HTRYC book (4th ed.) - which I am working through these days and am about halfway through it. And I also had his Amateur's Mind book, which frankly I didn't benefit much from, unless only subconsciously. I also have his exercise workbook, which I plan to get to after HTRYC. However, I feel his Reassess book is somewhat patchy and not as systematic as I'd like. Let me briefly explain what I mean: while his prose is fun & verbose, IMO he doesn't explain concepts lucidly or straight to the point and many of his examples don't illustrate his concepts well, including the exercises. Some examples are even too difficult, that not every master+ would find or even consider during a game.
When it comes to chess books, I incline toward books that have shorter, but more lucid explanations, with many fitting examples. And ideally, someone who uses examples of a position to verbally evaluate/break down what is happening, in terms of strategic/positional elements.
I should mention that I also have the following books relevant to this topic: Giants of Chess Strategy (McDonald) - which I found too superficial and inadequate. Chess Structures (Rios) - pretty advanced, and I haven't studied it for that reason yet. And the first in the Yusupov 9-book series, which so far I like a lot.
Some of the candidates I have researched are:
Chess Training for Post Beginners - Srokovski
Chess Strategy for Club Players - Grooten
Techniques of Positional Play - Bronznik
Mastering Chess Strategy - Hellsten
Improve Your Chess Pattern Recognition - Oudeweetering
Understanding Chess Middlegames - Nunn (not really a manual of positional chess, but relevant. And I love Nunn!)
Of course there are advanced books by Dvoretsky, Aagaard, Gelfand and Sakaev, but I am simply not on that level yet to be looking into those books.
So any comments on the above mentioned books, or any others I missed would be welcome.
Thanks!