Think or Play like a grandmaster

I consider starting to study "Think like a grandmaster" and/or "Play like a grandmaster", both by Kotov.

When I look in the table of contents they look similar, both focusing on planning, positional play and calculation/analysing variation.

Can anyone explain why, and maybe recommend which one to start with?

Read them both, you wont understand it all the first time, but they are good books to have. Worth reading many times.

there is also another book in the series, the title of which i have forgotten (Prepare like a grandmaster?)

Thanks for your answer. Which one is the most easy one? I had a brief look myself  and it might seem that "Play like a Grandmaster" looks a bit easier than the other.

For what it's worth, I think Kotov's interpretation of "tree of analysis" in "think like a grandmaster" is highly dubious. It did me more harm than good. I would strongly not recommend it. I'm pretty sure no grandmaster thinks like that. Not one single GM, let alone Kotov, and not in even one single game.

Play like a grandmaster is better (and completely different in content), but I think there are much better books if you wish to study general chess strategy.

More importantly, given your rating, I would suggest you to stay away from books of this level and start with something simpler. Search the forums here, there are lots of very helpful threads about where to start.

Thanks for your reply. My 1100 rating here on chess.com is misleading and my real rating is just above 1500.

OK but still. Kotov's material is generally geared towards class a players. I must also add although the book got incredibly popular (I honestly don't understand how, but anyway), it at last got some logical responses (meaning simple refutations) from Tisdall (in Improve Your Chess Now). 

Thank you once again. I will reconsider starting reading the book.

A 1500 player should read Nimzowitsch ("My System" and "Chess Praxis") instead of Kotov. Kotov's books are for more experienced players.

They are both out of date.

Silman and Valeri Beim has much better books.

I just got those 2 books, and I can't wait to study them! Thanks

Andy Soltis has a book titled "How to Choose a Chess Move". Someone stated that it does what "Think like a Grandmaster" tried to do, but does it right. Has anyone read the Soltis book?

i just go and form a tatic by muself due to for almost any move in a book there is a move to counter it

 Actually is called "Train Like a Grandmaster" I don't how good that one is.

Think like a grandmaster is about how to calculate variations.  Play like a grandmaster includes a short section on this, but also looks at positional assessment, planning and combinational vision, and tries to bring the various pieces together.  Think like a grandmaster in particular is an important book, and was revolutionary when it first came out.  Now many of the ideas are common place, and Jonathan Tisdall, John Nunn and Andrew Soltis have all written on the same basic approach to analysis.  Jonathan Tisdall's Improve Your Chess Now is perhaps the best of the lot, but it is fairly advanced.  John Nunn's Secrets of Practical Chess tries to simplify things a bit.   Andrew Soltis's How to choose a chess move simplifies things a lot (perhaps too much), but is still a good book for lower rated players.

All of these writers try to describe the steps you should follow when calculating variations and evaluating the resulting positions, looking at how to organize your thoughts, especially when playing over the board.  Nimzowitsch's My System is a different kind of book looking at how the static features of a position affect the kind of moves you should play.  I think that it is very important to get a handle on Kotov's ideas on how to build a tree of variations, but My System is a very good book too, and should be looked at if you get the time.

Thank you for these titles; I will try to buy them

I've read Kotov's Play Like A Grandmaster and find it helpful, especially for improving chess enthusiast. If you want something more precise and practical in approach, I recommend Igor Smirnov's "The Grandmaster's Secrets" and " Grandmaster's Positional Understanding ".