"... In order to maximize the benefits of [theory and practice], these two should be approached in a balanced manner. ... Play as many slow games (60 5 or preferably slower) as possible, ... The other side of improvement is theory. ... This can be reading books, taking lessons, watching videos, doing problems on software, etc. ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627084053/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman19.pdf
Possibly of interest:
Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Simple-Attacking-Plans-77p3731.htm
Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev (1957)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf
The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev (1965)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/
Winning Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld (1948)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093415/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review919.pdf
Back to Basics: Tactics by Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708233537/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review585.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-back-to-basics-tactics
Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014)
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/
https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf
Chess Endgames for Kids by Karsten Müller (2015)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/chess-endgames-for-kids/
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/Chess_Endgames_for_Kids.pdf
A Guide to Chess Improvement by Dan Heisman (2010)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708105628/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review781.pdf
Studying Chess Made Easy by Andrew Soltis (2009)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090448/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review750.pdf
Seirawan stuff:
http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/bo_beginner/ev_winning_chess.asp?KATID=BO&ID=BO-Beginner
http://www.nystar.com/tamarkin/review1.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-winning-chess-endings
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092617/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review560.pdf
To make chess study less boring
I have not done much more than browse through the First Steps book, but, if I remember correctly, GM Emms himself described it as a follow-up to the Discovering book. Consequently, my guess is that, if you are going to read the Discovering book, it would make sense to read it before the First Steps book.
Play some long games, analyze them yourself and post your analysis in this forum. Hard to analyze blitz games for strategical ideas when someone hangs a piece every 10 moves.
If you truly love the game of chess and want to improve, then you should have great admiration for certain famous games & players. Try finding annotations on those games. Preferably, those people annotated their own games to share their knowledge with you.
If you are bored with all annotations, don't expect to climb the heights of the chess ladders. One must always try to improve by scrutinizing games with their overall strategies and tactics.
"... [annotated games are] infinitely more useful than bare game scores. However, annotated games vary widely in quality. Some are excellent study material. Others are poor. But the most numerous fall into a third category - good-but-wrong-for-you. ... You want games with annotations that answer the questions that baffle you the most. ..." - GM Andrew Soltis (2010)
"... there are major advantages to studying older games rather than those of today. The ideas expressed in a Rubinstein or Capablanca game are generally easier to understand. They are usually carried out to their logical end, often in a memorable way, ... In today's chess, the defense is much better. That may sound good. But it means that the defender's counterplay will muddy the waters and dilute the instructional value of the game. For this reason the games of Rubinstein, Capablanca, Morphy, Siegbert Tarrasch, Harry Pillsbury and Paul Keres are strongly recommended - as well as those of more recent players who have a somewhat classical style, like Fischer, Karpov, Viswanathan Anand and Michael Adams. ..." - GM Andrew Soltis (2010)
Thanks kindaspongey (one day you’ll have to tell us the story behind that name). I was thinking Discovering was the better first choice as well but the marketing material for the books muddied the waters a bit. Will order Discovering soon and put it in the reading queue.
"... there are major advantages to studying older games rather than those of today. The ideas expressed in a Rubinstein or Capablanca game are generally easier to understand. They are usually carried out to their logical end, often in a memorable way, ... In today's chess, the defense is much better. That may sound good. But it means that the defender's counterplay will muddy the waters and dilute the instructional value of the game. For this reason the games of Rubinstein, Capablanca, Morphy, Siegbert Tarrasch, Harry Pillsbury and Paul Keres are strongly recommended - as well as those of more recent players who have a somewhat classical style, like Fischer, Karpov, Viswanathan Anand and Michael Adams. ..." - GM Andrew Soltis (2010)
Assuming the OP is taking that piece of advice Richard Reti's Masters of the Chessboard has some terrifically annotated games. The book is a meta annotation, he walks you through the history of chess theory (1860s-1920s) through Master games he annotates. With a computer to see the tactical threats ... You can get the book cheap if you understand traditional notation otherwise Soltis himself released an updated version in algebraic notation.
forget books. they will bore you to death. especially given what you just said.
at you level, you can pretty much work your way till at least 1500 on playing a lot of games and analyzing them afterwards, either by yourself or a computer.
"... everyone is different, so what works for one person may likely fail with another ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627084053/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman19.pdf
Masters of the Chessboard by Richard Reti
http://www.thechessmind.net/blog/2012/4/1/book-notice-richard-retis-masters-of-the-chessboard.html
Thanks kindaspongey (one day you’ll have to tell us the story behind that name). ...
Not much to it really. The universe seems kinda spongey to me. It turns out that a lot of people like to see things as more solid. As I understand it, it is impossible to exactly measure a sponge because the act of measurement slightly distorts the shape of the sponge. I think this is known as the heisensponge principle or something like that.
You're playing at a level where you should start looking at strategy and endgames a little. I recommend:
Fred Wilson, Simple Attacking Plans – four straightforward principles demonstrated with 36 annotated games.
Michael Song and Razvan Preotu, The Chess Attacker’s Handbook, fourteen principles demonstrated by games and with example problems.
Jesus de la Villa, 100 Endgames You Must Know – stresses patterns rather than simple lists of moves.
Jeremy Silman, Silman’s Complete Endgame Course from Beginnner to Master – tells you what you need to know based on your rating.
Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess, the 4th Ed. (latest) is 658 pages and has so much excellent information it requires multiple reads, the old 1st Ed. (about 200 pages) was required reading by the high school team county champion, 3rd place state tournament team I coached (1st and 2nd place were loaded with Eastern European immigrants).
I wouldn't get bogged down with openings, but knowing the ideas behind a handful of openings and the kinds of middlegames they usually lead to gives you an edge on opponents.
... Michael Song and Razvan Preotu, The Chess Attacker’s Handbook, ...
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/The_Chess_Attacker's_Handbook.pdf
... Jesus de la Villa, 100 Endgames You Must Know ...
"... the 2000+ player for which 100 Endgames You Must Know is really intended ..."
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708105702/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review645.pdf
... Jeremy Silman, Silman’s Complete Endgame Course from Beginnner to Master ...
"... I'm convinced that Silman's book will take its place in history as one of the most popular endgame books ever. ... He writes in a clear and casual style, and time and again has shown the ability to reach those who feel intimidated by the lofty approach that a grandmaster will often take. ... he defines what he thinks is necessary to know at specific rating levels. ..." - IM John Watson (2007)
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/theres-an-end-to-it-all
... Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess, the 4th Ed. ...
"How to Reassess Your Chess, 4th Edition was designed for players in the 1400 to 2100 range." - IM Jeremy Silman (2010)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708095832/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review769.pdf
Hey guys,
I started playing regularly, almost on daily basis chess since a year ago on chess.com. I started with 750 on chess.com and am around 1250-1350 these days depending on the days. Some days i just get soooo frustrated with my blunders one after another and continue playing then i get even more frustrated and just stop playing chess for a day or 2.
My main studies on chess revolving around solving tactics, alot of youtube videos watching people playing or tournament and analysis of my own game. Tried looking for a few books and the annotation makes it really boring because I am not that familiar with annotation and this makes it hard to follow.
And the be honest I am getting bored of just solving tactics and watching videos, so I am looking for a new source of inputs!
Could you please take a look into few of my games to find areas that I could possibly improve on, best with some examples/annotation? I know blunders and tactics decide a lot of my games, lets say 70%-80%. These are not easy to improve. But I think would just more practices on tactics and stupid blunders happen so I dont care so much. I am getting too bored of just doing tactics, would love to especially to work on my positional and strategical areas in games and I thought your comments would be helpful!!
I will be extremely grateful for your analysis! Many thanks in advance
.
P.S this jsut came to my mind, is there a few of you out there who would like to form a group. We could then analyze each other games and learn from each other!