middlegame workbook
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KevinTheSnipe
Jul 5, 2016
0
#1
so, it's pretty typical for tactics books to be nothing but puzzles and solutions. and the typical advice is, "look for 5 minutes and if you don't see it just look at the solution and move on." with the idea that you absorb the patterns via volume and repetition. And it basically works.
Jul 5, 2016
0
#2
sorry...android phone auto send. so anyway. I'm wondering why the same doesn't exist for middlegame ideas. mostly for middlegame books I've seen like, a chapter on counterplay, or prophylaxis, or kings idea attack, or whatever. and you get like 5 examples in the chapter. and then if you're lucky, you get 5 or 6 exercises in the back of the chapter. and typically they're super hard. and it strikes me that there really should be middlegame books written more like a tactics book.
Jul 5, 2016
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#3
Kevin, it's entirely possible that teaching middle game strategy is much harder than teaching middle game tactics.
As a chess coach, I can create a lesson on any given tactical element in a few minutes. But to create a lesson on how to play against (or with) an isolated Queen Pawn (for example) takes quite a bit more effort. Give the authors of these middle game books a break! Strategic principles are difficult to teach. And creating problems to highlight strategic elements is especially difficult. The teacher has to make sure he's not just using tactics to demonstrate strategic ideas.
Jul 5, 2016
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#4
There are a few (none divide it into IQP, better minor piece, better structure as if it were a tactics book dividing forks, pins, and skewers though).
First of all I recommend Test Your Positional Play by Bellin and Ponzetto. For a while I think it was out of print, but now I see it on amazon. Great book (I saw Pfren recommend it a few times too).
Chess Cafe Puzzle Book (the positional one) comes to mind... but like SmyslovFan notes, many of them are deeply connected to tactics (and this book in particular I don't recommend for a few reasons, but I wont go into it).
Practical Chess Exercises by Watson may be interesting to you (has both tactics and strategy though).
Yusupov's 9 book series (you don't have to buy all 9! Just get 1!) is also scattershot (covering all sorts of topics) but the material is excellent. Here too you're given problem positions to solve, and then solutions afterwards.
Jul 5, 2016
0
#5
I guess I should mention Silman's HTRYC workbook... a literal workbook of positional problems and solutions... but, well, I'm not a huge fan, but you might get something out of it.
Jul 5, 2016
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#6
yeah generally I think it doesn't pay to write chess books and finding examples is probably harder. I'm actually fine if there's mixed tactics and positional. I mean, that's what most chess games are like anyway right? even if the examples aren't perfect it's better to have the examples than not. If I go through 100s of chess games and attempt the same myself, chances are I select worse examples than a master, right? So no big deal.
Jul 6, 2016
0
#7
Here's an excellent online article on a middlegame theme that's a good mix of tactics and strategy:
https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-use-dynamic-diagonals?ncc=1#first_new_comment
