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Books: the step 1-6 series
What are the best books/websites/coaches?
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Jan 27, 2019
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#3
Please remember that comparisons with competitor web sites isn't allowed in the public forums - discuss those in a private club like Open Discussion.
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David, moderator
Jan 27, 2019
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#4
Here are THE books that helped me or the high school team I coached leap forward. They are in no particular order, though most of them are probably most helpful to players rated 1100 OTB or higher who have enough understanding of the game so that reading these books lead to, "Wow! Now I understand what to do!" moments:
1. Simple Attacking Plans, Fred Wilson. The book states four simple principles/goals and one corollary and uses 36 games to illustrate them. Simple stuff like "If possible, point all your pieces at your opponent’s king," are great things to keep in mind when caught up in the excitement of a game.
2. How to Reassess Your Chess, Jeremy Silman. The first edition was a workable 200 pages. The fourth edition is a monstrous 658 page work where a lot of so-so stuff makes the key points less memorable and it requires much more commitment - but it is worth the time to learn how to efficiently evaluate chess positions and make plans.
3. The Art of the Middlegame, Keres and Kotov. The 2nd chapter, "Strategy and Tactics of Attack on the King" is, in my mind, the best 50 pages of chess instruction I've ever read, including things like the key things to consider before castling on the opposite side as well as key considerations of uncastled and castled King attacks.
4. My System, Aron Nimzowitsch. Chapter 14, "Overprotection," was required reading by the high school OTB players I coached. The whole book is worth studying: it is the Chess Bible of today's Grandmasters.
5. How to Open a Chess Game, Larry Evans and 6 other GM's. Details on the principles of openings, how to plan, select openings, etc.
6. Chess Tactics from Scratch, Martin Weteschnick. Not only examples, but principles behind how to create pins, discovered attacks, etc. Plenty of diagrams so you can follow in bookvthe alone.
7. Any decent endgame book. I was raised on Reuben Fine's Basic Chess Endings and it was good enough that I have had the advantage in endgames in most of my games ever since. Today I would recommend Jesus de la Villa's 100 Endgames You Must Know because it stresses recognizing patterns rather than just rattling off a bunch of moves, or Jeremy Silman's Complete Endgame Course From Beginner to Master because it arranges the endings in the order you should know at your rating level.
8. Any decent openings survey that explains the ideas behind the moves. I originally used Reuben Fine's The Ideas Behind the Openings and it's still the best BRIEF survey of openings I know, but more modern books that are bigger like Paul van der Sterren's Fundamental Chess Openings (FCO) spend a lot of text explaining the ideas but in a less concise way than GM Fine did.
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
"Jeremy Silman's HOW TO REASSESS YOUR CHESS is an example of a good book which explains many important ideas in clear terms." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"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
https://www.silmanjamespress.com/shop/chess/how-to-reassess-your-chess-4th-edition/
One can get some idea of the lasting scope of the respect for My System by looking at:
https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-books-ever
Still, it might be noted that My System apparently did not occur to GM Yasser Seirawan as something to include in his list of personal favorites, and Aaron Nimzowitsch was not identified by the GM as a very worthy author.
https://www.chess.com/blog/RoaringPawn/an-open-letter-to-the-four-time-us-chess-champion-gm-yasser-seirawan
https://www.chess.com/blog/GMYAZ/open-letter-response-user-radovics-letter-to-me
My System has accumulated some direct negative commentary over the years.
"... I found [the books of Aaron Nimzowitsch to be] very difficult to read or understand. ... [Nimzowitsch: A Reappraisal by Raymond Keene explains his] thinking and influence on the modern game in a far more lucid and accessible way. ... The books that are most highly thought of are not necessarily the most useful. Go with those that you find to be readable; ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2010)
In 2016, IM pfren wrote:
"My System is an iconoclastic book. A lot of things in there is sheer provocation, and it does need an expereienced player to know what exactly must be taken at its face value.
I love 'My System', and I have read it cover to cover one dozen times, but suggesting it to a class player is an entirely different matter."
Also: "[Some things] ARE wrong, and it's not easy for a non-advanced player to discover those wrong claims.
Nigel Short has claimed that 'My System' should be banned. Stratos Grivas says that the book is very bad. I don't share their opinion, but I am pretty sure that there are more useful reads for class players out there."
Although he is a fan of My System, IM John Watson similarly acknowledged (2013) that:
"... Not everything in it has stood the test of time, ..."
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/john-watson-book-review-108-of-eplus-books-part-2-nimzowitsch-classics
One last point to keep in mind is that, even if My System would eventually help a player, it might not necessarily be helpful to a player now.
"... Just because a book contains lots of information that you don’t know, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be extremely helpful in making you better at this point in your chess development. ..." - Dan Heisman (2001)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626180930/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman06.pdf
A My System sample can be seen at:
https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/MySystem-excerpt.pdf
A Chess Praxis sample can be seen at:
https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/ChessPraxis-excerpt.pdf
Various samples:
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9027.pdf
I have often seen praise for How to Open a Chess Game, but it should perhaps be mentioned that, having been written about four decades ago, it used descriptive notation (1 P-K4 P-K4 2 N-KB3 N-QB3 etc.). Also, the reader should perhaps be warned that, apart from Evans himself, none of the GM authors "was given a specific topic or assignment." For more overall organization, one might want to turn to a book by a single author.
Chess Tactics from Scratch by Martin Weteschnik
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708091717/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review851.pdf
https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Chess-Tactics-Scratch-excerpt.pdf
"... The only real problems with [Basic Chess Endings] are the errors and the fact that it is now very dated. ... the book is now in algebraic notation and the layout has in some ways been improved. ... Perhaps the greatest disappointment ... lay in the failure to correct many of the errors in Fine's book. ... I don't think it is acceptable in the 21st century to produce an endgame book without computer- and database-checking. ... the book can be recommended for Fine's groundbreaking general explanations. Just don't expect complete accuracy or up-to-date endgame theory." - GM John Nunn (2006)
I keep repeating myself but for me its definitely Chessable, since its rather interactive, making it approachable but still resembling learning from literature rather than apps system. I would recommend https://www.chessable.com/opening-book/im-john-bartholomews-scandinavian/79/ or https://www.chessable.com/endgame-book/essential-rp-vs-r-endings/90 for endgame practice.
"... 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
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/100-Endgames-You-Must-Know-78p3863.htm
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9026.pdf
"... Silman ... defines what he thinks is necessary to know at specific rating levels. For example, the beginner or unrated player needs to know ... Silman's idea is to wait until you climb in strength before you worry about more advanced material. Then, as a Class 'E' player (that's 1000-1199), one must learn ... Silman's book emphasizes to the student that the important thing is to master the strictly limited material at hand, rather than get confused by endings that won't help your results at that level. ... I'll also repeat the point that David Ellinger in ChessCafe makes: '[This ...] demonstrates who this book will truly serve best: anybody who coaches chess. For me, as a perpetually near-2000 player who does part-time coaching, I’ve got in my hands a great resource that will have something for every student, no matter the rating.' ..." - IM John Watson (2007)
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/theres-an-end-to-it-all
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103149/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review594.pdf
https://www.silmanjamespress.com/shop/chess/silmans-complete-endgame-course/
About half a century ago, I think that Ideas Behind the Chess Openings was considered to be nearly essential reading, but now, there are those who think that this book is seriously out-of-date.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708112658/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review315.pdf
There was an algebraic version, but, if one is not careful, one could easily end up getting the descriptive notation version by mistake.
"... [Fundamental Chess Openings by Paul van der Sterren] is not particularly suited for players who are just starting out. I would imagine players rated at least 1400-1500 would get the most benefit from this volume. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2009)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626173432/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen128.pdf
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/FCO-Fundamental-Chess-Openings-76p3561.htm
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/FCO_Fundamental_Chess_Openings.pdf
What are the best books/websites/coaches?