Disappointed in me, not in new books...

Well, many of you tried to tell me, and I didn't listen. I thought I could go forward with these 2 new books.

Positional chess... That was my dream.

The books came. They are beautiful. The new one by Grooten called "Chess Strategy for Club Players: the road to positional chess"  and "Simple Chess" by Michael Stean.  Each book is a gold mine. That is, if you are ready...

I tried. I sat down with each and my little chess board. I read and I read and I moved the men appropriately on my chess board.

Then in sad realization I knew I was not ready for either. I had no idea what I was doing.

I had thought I was ready to understand and play "positional" chess.

But I am just not there yet.

Maybe it is a little like starting piano lessons in September and then in July expecting to play Beethoven's Emperor Piano Concerto with orchestra. It doesn't work that way.

So now both books are going into a stack of books I have labeled "too hard for now." And I am going back to square one.

I'm working hard on tactics, but as far as strategy goes, I am going to reread Wolff's strategy section and go slowly into Seirawan's Winning Chess Strategy. That is all the "positional" chess I can absorb now.

So many of you advised me against going with those two positional books for now. And you were right. I'm just not ready.

I am disappointed. But not disheartened.

Have any of you ordered a book with great expectations only to find it was beyond you?

stwils

I had warned you about the Grooten book--it is quite complex. The Stean book is a little easier but still you really need to know the basics before learning from it

Oh, yes! I have ordered lots of books that didn't suit me at the time.

almost anything by Dvoretsky is too hard for me (and most others)

 Yes, aansel, you did warn me about the the Grooten book.  But I guess I just was h*** bent and determined to get it.

I'm not ready for either of them right now.

stwils

 Positional Play is the only book on my shelf that I consider too much for me. I can understand and use it but the going is slow, so it's a poor use of chess time.

I've found four basic pathways when it comes to the mind's eye and being able to carry out mental activities:

Your breakfast , dinner and supper should be tactics , tactics , tactics. its the only way to improve at our level . leave those books for 1 year until your have solved a couple of '1001 chess puzzles' or something similar

As they say , its the best 'bang for your buck'.

good luck

Well don't feel too disheartened, I have an entire (rather large) box full of books that I wasn't ready for.  I'd say tactics is where its at, but don't be dragged down by the "you've got to do 1,000,000 tactics problems a week" crowd.

There are also instructional books on tactics that are good reads, will teach you tactics and provide a nice break from merely sitting down with a book and slogging away at problem after problem.

 wango, thank you for your post. I agree that sitting down hours at a time trying to figure out tactics puzzles is not that much fun. What are the instructional books on tactics that are "good reads?"  I need a good read right now  - something I can enjoy.

stwils

Strange, I find it extremely fun (but not literally for hours at a time). If you don't that's unfortunate because it's necessary!

I would have to say, that Murray Chandler's "Chess Tactics for Kids" is a great book.  Don't be put off by the title...I am 44 years old and I think it is perfect for me.  Yasser's "Chess Combinations" is really good too.

Don't worry about those two books being over your head now...pick them up every once in a while, and I am sure that one day you will get your money's worth out of them.

stwils, at the risk of making another suggestion, as for tactics books that are "good reads" you can not beat  "Winning Chess-How to see Three Moves Ahead" by Chernev and Reinfeld and "Predator at the Chessboard" by Ward Farnsworth.  You can view the latter at http://www.chesstactics.org/ or order hard copy books, as I did.  Both books explain the tactical methods involved rather that just having you solve puzzles.  Good luck.

Robert1838,

Amazon says Winning Chess is in descriptive notation. Do you find that hinders you in any way?

Sounds like a great book.

stwils

stwils,

Descriptive notation is easy to learn, thus, not too much of a hinderance.

Winning Chess Openings, Bill Robertie, Cardoza Publishing

Solving tactical puzzles is neccessary but I don't think that solving problems equals studyng tactics.  At least not entirely.  Tactical problems show you what is possible, but without seeing an example, without seeing where or how that tactical shot was lined up it is very difficult to make these things happen in your own games.  At least from my experience.  I solve a bunch of tactical problems as part of my study routine, but I also work through tactical books to actually "learn" tactics.

As for the books I mentioned.

Chess Tactics by Paul Littlewood - pretty small unassuming book but a great primer.

Chess Tactics for the Tournament Player by Lev Alburt - I just fininshed reading this for a second time and I got more out of it than I did the first time, which is saying a lot because I found it to be very beneficial the first time around.