(Part 2) Top products from r/chess

Let me tell you what I've experienced. I'll list off the most important things in descending order: 1. Tactics 2. Positional understanding 3. Basic Endgame knowledge (King pawn endgames and some basic rook pawn endgames)and 4. Openings.-- Now, people think this means openings are unimportant. so wrong... When I play players rated around 2000-2100 we're both doing the same thing:

Basic, vague generalizations in the opening and we play the middle game while trying to decipher the optimal positional goals to create and achieve and we crunch the tactics on the way to it, meanwhile considering the endgame that will arise out of the position along the way and always waiting for a chance to convert to a won or two result (win or draw) endgame.

Now, if you want to play with the big boys, you have to have a solid opening repertoire. I go to a decently strong club, everybody is rated around 1700-2100 sometimes a few 2300-2400's show up. I've won at least one of these tournaments and several times been second place. I often will lose either 0 or 1 game out of 3 or 4. (I typically draw my disadvantaged endgames).


--- The one thing all these players lack is a legitimate Opening repertoire. Once you reach 1700-1900uscf strength, you need some serious opening knowledge. SERIOUS. Knowledge. you need to know tons of lines, you need to know WHY they have to follow the lines and what you're trying to achieve and what THEY are trying to achieve. You have to know why Black can't develop his light squared bishop in the QGD Exchange variation. And when he tries, you have to know how to punish him. The opening becomes the game, and it is the game; I like to say that chess is the opening. The opening defines your strategic goals in the middle game and the structure of the endgame. Sure, the opponent can deviate, but at a cost. You'll at least be equal, and with all the general plans you learn about that opening, you'll be able to CREATE weaknesses and positions from openings you're familiar with, or continue about your plan because he's not following a proper one. The only problem is that Openings are extremely hard work. Extremely. It takes a huge toll on the memory and if you don't have enough time in your day, all the other areas of your chess will decline as you acquire your opening knowledge: Tactics, positional play, endgame etc. These things have to be drilled constantly so that you can improve. Without doing chess full time or at least having several hours a day to commit to chess, you're going to have to slip somewhere. ---

TL;DR and conclusion: My recommendation is that you acquire enough opening for your rating; what I mean by that is, get some basic guidelines, VERY Basic, for instance, go to wikipedia. and look up the opening you want to play, check it out, go to www.chessgames.com watch some pros play the opening you want to play, then start playing it. at your rating of 1300-1400 on chess.com I'd suggest switching to longer games (at least 15 min, but 45 would be nice) and studying tactics, and VERY importantly, get a book like John Nunn's "Understanding Chess middle games" [http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Chess-Middlegames-John-Nunn/dp/1906454272/ref=pd_sim_b_5/192-4270710-0603025?ie=UTF8&refRID=124Y382AWAKY8YZW33B1] or a book like "Jeremy Silman's Reassess your chess 4th edition" [http://www.amazon.com/How-Reassess-Your-Chess-Fourth/dp/1890085138/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405369188&sr=1-1&keywords=reassess+your+chess+4th+edition] These books contain the information necessary for you to understand positional evaluations in a game of chess. Also there is Jeremy Silman's Reassess your chess workbook [http://www.amazon.com/Reassess-Your-Chess-Workbook/dp/1890085057/ref=sr_1_fkmr3_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405369544&sr=1-1-fkmr3&keywords=reassess+your+chess+4th+edition+workbook
] They are all positional puzzles. It's great, because he breaks down the 7 main imbalances and you simply drill them. Very nice.---

Studying master games on your own is good, but you won't understand like 90% of what they do honestly. You need someone to hold your hand. If you could just watch it and understand you'd be a GM already.

--

FYI. I have Reassess your chess 4th edition. It's a miracle jesus walking on water great chunk of information. However, I find myself almost completely incapable of reading it anymore. I am so tired of the banter and the jokes, I just want the dang information. It's cute and spunky and fun and whatever the hell when you first read it; a real great joy, but after reading the same dang joke like 5 6 7 8 9 times you really start to wish you had a more serious book, like John Nunn's (Which I admit I haven't read yet, but it looks more like no nonsense material).

My personal recommendation, the stuff by Roman Dzindzichashvili ("Dzindzi"):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/188932311X

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1889323187

I have not read the whole thing, just the parts related to my personal repertoire (see below). Which I slowly build upon as openings are not my weakest point at the moment.

He has summarised stuff on DVD too, and you can find part of it on youtube.

While you are building a repertoire, which takes time, you may want to mix in modest but safe "systems" like the Colle, Torre, or London System. Which are unambitious but will get you safely to the middle game, and can be learnt very quickly, then perfected over time.

Building a repertoire takes time and even the top GMs dedicate many hours to preparing new ideas and refining their openings.

I recommend you start with narrow lines until you feel confident about them and then maybe incorporate different things for versatility and so that you are not too predictable. Some players play very few lines with many variations. For instance Karjakin will almost always go for the Sicilian or Ruy Lopez if given the chance. It works for him but at intermediate levels it's also true that varying the openings will let you master different styles and you will be able to play against them better, as you will understand their threats better.

Try not to move to many openings while you still haven't quite mastered your previous lines, because that's the way you forget everything as you go and waste a lot of time. Keep a reasonably spaced repetition if you can.

My personal favourites are:

1 d4 as white, 2. c4 in reply to Nf6 or g6 or e6 , 2.Bf4 against most other replies except Queen's Gambit. Against silly/novelty stuff from the queenside I go for d4-e4-Bd3 if black wastes time just to get me off book with ultra-passive stuff I continue gaining space and building a stonewall with the Bishop outside and the typical London system safeguards. Silly gambit? I take and go back to Colle to avoid any traps. The good thing about d4 as opposed to e4, is that black has very few traps available if he tries novelty stuff, you can play it safe and still come out clearly on top. Against d4 black needs to play the common replies or he's just hurting his chances.

As black, I avoid 1.e4 e5 because far too many people have pet gambits and then I don't learn anything from the game when I analyse it, it will be a blunder competition and it will be down to a bad move on either part. Maybe later on I'll play Ruy Lopez, 4 knights etc, but vs 1 e4 I play strictly Caro-Kann or Sicilian. Since there are many people specialised in Sicilian and I'm not an expert, I'm focusing more in Caro-Kann which is very versatile and takes a long time to master as it transposes quite a bit. I'm skipping Sicilian although it works, because I don't play 1 e4 as white so it's a more effective use of time to me to play the openings that transpose into those I use more (which is why I want to incorporate the French as black and the English as white - tried them but I have very shallow knowledge about them). I'm playing mostly Caro-Kann vs e4 and Nimzo-Indian or Queen's Gambit vs d4. I play this because it's what my opposition used against me and I found them very solid, basically by analysing my own games. The Nimzo really works. If the game evolves to a stable formation similar to a Colle or a London, I play them mirrored and it works well as to knowing what to do and how to plan next.

If you're serious about it, you can find a coach on lichess.org/coach. A good one will guide your study and accelerate your learning.

Start solving tactical puzzles. A lot of them. All of them. As a total beginner, this is the best thing you can do to improve your game. It will take time, but it will yield results.

To learn basic tactics, check out Predator at the Chessboard which is a free online resource. Or get a book like Back to Basics: Tactics, or Judit Polgar's Chess Tactics for Champions, or Reinfeld's 1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations. All of them will introduce the major motifs and give you practice with them. Pick one and get to work. You can also find free puzzles at chesstempo.com. Consider getting an app for your phone, like CT-ART 4.0, so you can practice on the go. Seriously, tactics are the big focus right now.

As you start learning about chess, you'll see a lot of people talking about openings. It'll seem like a lot of fun to learn a particular opening and talk about "Oh, I'm an Open Sicilian man," or "I always play the Petrov and here's why . . ." Don't worry about any of that. For now, just learn the basic principles of the opening and concentrate on actually practicing them in your games. Most beginner's books (see below) and lots of videos on youtube will be able to introduce these to you.

There's another book you should get: Chess Fundamentals by José Raúl Capablanca. It'll take you through the basics of the game and will give you a solid foundation on which to build. Make sure it's in algebraic notation. Go through the book slowly, methodically. Make a study for it at lichess.org/study and go over the moves digitally. Go over the positions on a physical board. Take notes. Only move forward when you truly understand what Capablanca is talking about.

Practice what you learn by playing slow time controls. 15+15 games (or longer!) will give you the time you need to think about the moves you and your opponent are making. 5-minute games are fun, but they're not the best way to learn to play well. I mean, play whatever you want--it's a game, and it's meant to be fun. But know that the longer the controls, the more you will learn from your games. For that matter, google "how to analyze a chess game" and then analyze your games after the fact. That way you'll learn to avoid traps and pitfalls into which you fell.

All of this is my opinion, but I'm just some patzer, right? Take or leave this as you like. Or just get a coach and do what you pay them to tell you. Good luck; have fun!

When people first learn chess, they only learn the basic rules of the game. There is little positional or tactical understanding... (As it should be) There are many ways to get better at chess but all of them require work.

Some great players like Capablanca, insisted on learning the fundamental endings first. The problem is that, even if you know how to win with an extra pawn, you might not have the positional/tactical understanding to get to that pawn-up ending. So, I have found that you have to do a little bit of everything. I learned some endings, I learned some tactics and combinations, I learned some openings and so on.


I suggest that you study whatever is giving you the MOST problems first. Once you have taken steps to minimize and/or eliminate that problem, other problems will come up. Do the same and invest some time trying to get better in that area. Repeat until you get better. it is a simple concept but hard to do in practice.

Chess has a rich history. It is wonderful that we have access to the games of the past and all of its analysis. I recommend that you do not re-invent the wheel and that you read some books. The following should be helpful:

• Everyone's Second Chess Book Revised and Expanded Edition
  
  
• Logical Chess: Move By Move: Every Move Explained New Algebraic Edition
  
  
• Complete Book of Chess Strategy: Grandmaster Techniques from A to Z
  
  
  Also visit quality websites (Some recommendations below but not the only ones by any means...)
  
  
• From Beginner to Chess Expert in 12 Steps
  "If you know nothing at all about the game of chess other than the rules, there still things that you can do right away to help you win more games. You won't be beating tournament players, but you can rise above your current level by studying the right things. The same principle applies to all levels of players. There are things that you can do immediately to win more games. The key to chess improvement is pattern recognition. Whether you realize it or not, to improve at chess you must reprogram your brain to see things that you did not see before." - From the Introduction on "From Beginner to Chess Expert in 12 Steps"
  
  
  
• Predator at the Chessboard
  
  Always do your best and enjoy the game! Good luck!

I don't know your level, but if you're a novice (as it sounds like you are) here's my advice:

• Plan to play one long game per day. Find out the time controls you will be playing in, and create those challenges on Lichess or chess.com. I would suggest filtering the games to your rating +100. Don't waste time playing much weaker opponents or much stronger.
  
  
• Find a coach/friend that is at least >500 rating points above you. Hell you can probably find one for free here that would find this challenge fun. Spend some time going over your games with them, or just playing while talking through games.
  
  As for the specific parts of the game, here are my suggestions. in order of importance:
  
  Endgames: Learn to your level, then practice them on Chesstempo/friend/computer.
  
  
• I strongly suggest Silman's Complete Endgame Course and learn to where it get's complicated. You should be able to get through the first 3 parts.
  
• Create an account on Chesstempo and do the endgame training. It's unlimited for the Gold plan which is cheap.
  
• Keep in mind, when up in material, trade. I have been told countless times by computer analysis that trading pieces (especially queens) was not the best move, but when I was up a few pawns or the exchange, getting pieces off the board made the win so much clearer.
  
  Tactics: It's tactics all the way down!
  
  
• I strongly suggest Seirawan's Winning Chess Tactics or Bain's Tactics for Students. You need to be familiar with the motifs
  
• Get a ChessTempo membership, and do tactics. The price of membership gives you all the analysis lines of all the wrong moves.
  
• Do both Blitz tactics and Standard tactics. You want the pattern recognition of lots of blitz tactics, but also the practice of calculating more difficult problems
  
  
  Openings: Play with the same openings. Don't spend too long on each, but maybe watch a few videos to get the ideas behind them.
  
  
• White: 1.e4. These are more tactical in nature, and you should be playing them because you will be working on tactics. Your goal is to survive the opening without being down material, severely behind in development, compromising your king, or completely screwing up your pawn structure. Anyone at your level that memorizes deeper into black's responses to e4 is just memorizing lines and will soon be in a complex position (perhaps up half a pawn) but unable to hold that advantage when the tactics take over. Have something for 1...c5 (and I'd look at both the Najdorf and the Dragon, but again, don't memorize, just get a flavor), 1...e5 (I'd suggest the Ruy Lopez. And look at the Philidor, but it's pretty quiet), 1.e6 (the exchange is easy to play), and 1.c6 (again exchange is easy).
  
• Black against 1.e4: Pick one of the above and play it exclusively. I suggest 1.e5 to start, but I also like 1...c5 and 1...c6.
  
• Black against 1.d4: 1...d5. No need to get fancy. Both the QGA and QGD set up good play. 1...Nf3 is more useful, since you can play the QGD, Grunfeld, or KID, but since you aren't building a tournament repertoire, just survive the opening with a classical queenside response.
  
• Black against anything else: Build a strong pawn center, get developed, get castled, and don't chase the enemy. And give an extra second to think about your opponents position. If they used a non-traditional opening, they are probably doing something wrong, but rushing will help them justify things like developing their queen to early or pushing all their pawns.
  
  Thought process:
  
  
• Have fun
  
• Utilize all your time. Hopefully you've been practicing at that time control as I said above)
  
• Breathe. Sometimes just close your eyes, take a deep breath, assess where you think you are, and come up with a plan
  
• Have a plan, always.
  
  That's all I got for now. Good luck!
  
  

The biggest bang for your buck that you'll get right now is solving tactics. Next, you should play slow games, and review those games. Double check your analysis with preferably a stronger player, but if you don't have one, use an engine. The key is in detecting and exploiting tactical shots (or defending them).

As for strategy, I would recommend Seirawan's book on strategy in the "winning chess" series. I didn't find the series itself very helpful, but the "strategy" installment is a gem. Here's the amazon link for it: https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Chess-Strategies-Everyman/dp/1857443853

It's great for beginners, as the chapters are broken into strategic themes, each having very clear cut illustrations in the games provided. There's more explaining of the position with words rather than with variations, which I think is really helpful for those more fresh on their chess journey. You should still go through the variations on a board in front of you, though. It's a great book to help nail down some strategic fundamentals.

A word of warning: Strategy in chess is like learning to write poetry in a foreign language. However, if you struggle speaking the language, or don't know enough of the words, the sophistication is wasted on you. In chess, if you play strategically sophisticated ideas only to blunder to some tactical shot, the sophistication wasn't so helpful. For most efficient improvement, spend more time studying tactics.

It's one of my only regrets in chess; early on I obsessed over strategy, and was frustrated to find that my opponent would play inferior ideas and win tactically anyway, or that the positions in which I had an advantage would fizzle into nothing, because I lacked the ability to capitalize on the advantage with tactics. Tactics really should come first.

It is a good book, even though the real authors are the two psychologists. It has made many people better players.

Another good beginning book that was really written by a World Champion is Chess Fundamentals by José Raúl Capablanca. Capablanca was the 3rd World Champion and went undefeated for an incredible eight years, so you cannot have a better teacher than that, and it was considered the greatest chess book ever written by Mikhail Botvinnik, who was the 6th World Champion and the teacher of the 12th, 13th, and 14th World Champions, so you cannot have a better endorsement than that.

Also, for theory, FCO: Fundamental Chess Openings is a good one-volume starter book on all but the most exotic openings. It rarely goes more than ten moves into a line. It's helpful in developing a general understanding and deciding where to focus your energy when you want to study individual openings, and of course, committing some of these lines to memory may sometimes help you save time and avoid a catastrophic blunder in the first ten moves. You don't have to sit down and read about two hundred opening variations, but when you play over, say, the Evergreen Game, which begins with the Evans Gambit, take a few minutes to read what van der Steeren says about the Evans Gambit. When you play over the Opera Game, which opens with the Philidor Defence, read what van der Steeren says about the Philidor Defence. When a player in some classic game plays a move that is "out of book" (i.e., not a theoretical line), pay attention to how that move worked out for them and why it is probably not in the book. General principles are definitely to be learned first, and they will always help you find safe moves in an unfamiliar opening, but people would not go to the trouble of analysing and naming all these lines if it weren't helpful in both playing your own games and appreciating the games of others, and this kind of study of concrete openings and games helps build understanding of the general principles. There is no need to flee from picking up some basic theoretical knowledge as you start out.

Ok, cutting and pasting my own post from early in the year. (Sorry about the formatting.) I originally composed this for a friend who claimed he was ready to work on chess for 20 hours/week. I don't think he's kept it up.

-----------------------------------------------------

Here's what I recently emailed someone in the same situation as you - well, his goal was year-end.

If you STUDY chess for 15-20 hours/week for a year, you should be 2000 strength by the end of the year, and 2200 (I expect - much better than me) by the end of next year. Studying is the same as for math and music - it does not include leisure time like playing blitz.

You can break down your chess study into five buckets:
Tactics (start now and continue forever)
Endings (start in April and continue)
Playing/competing (start in February / start reading in July)
Strategy/middlegame planning (start in August and continue)
Openings (start in November and continue)

I think you need to begin them in that order - overlapping, of course.

[1] Tactics - do these books in order. DO the problems, however long it takes - don't look up an answer until you have a solid solution. If the books offer clues on the page (e.g. this page is all pins and skewers), go through and black them out with a marker in advance.

• http://amzn.com/0879801107 [1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate]
  
  
• http://amzn.com/0879801115 [1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices]
  
  
• All three books in the Test Your Chess IQ series.
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/John-Nunns-Chess-Puzzle-Book/dp/1906454035 [John Nunn's Chess Puzzle Book]
  
  [2] Endings
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Chess-.../dp/1857443489 [Winning Chess Endings]
  
  
• http://amzn.com/1936490137/ [Dvoretsky]
  
  [3] Playing/competing Play slow games, at time controls of Game/60 to Game/120, preferably against stronger players. Keep score, then analyze and annotate those games in depth, without using a computer. Then go over the games and your analysis with a stronger player, e.g. bring it to Sunday chess club.
  
  I should really stress this - chess is about playing, not just studying. You need to find a variety of strong players, not just computers, and play against them. You might also consider playing correspondence.
  If you play in tournaments during this time, DO NOT THINK ABOUT YOUR RATING. Also, NEVER offer or accept a draw, EVEN if the option is losing. During the next two years, your only goal is to learn and improve. Learning comes from playing on.
  
  After a few months of playing and analyzing slow games, read these books:
  
  
• http://amzn.com/1857446682/ [Lessons With a Grandmaster]
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Pump-Your-Rating-Axel-Smith/dp/1907982736 [Pump Up Your Rating] [possibly my favorite chess book]
  
  By "read" I mean go through them slowly, doing every exercise, thinking about every comment to every game. It's hard work.
  
  [4] Strategy/planning
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Chess-Algebraic-Edition-Dover/dp/0486424200 [Simple Chess]
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/The-Reassess-Y.../dp/1890085057 [Reassess Your Chess Workbook]
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/dp/9056914340/ [Techniques of Positional Play]
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Pawn-Structure-Chess-Andrew-Soltis/dp/1849940703 [Pawn Structure Chess]
  
  
  [5] http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Chess-Opening-Repertoire/dp/1901983897 [How to Build Your Chess Opening Repertoire]
  
  Of course someone else could construct an equally valid study plan with hundreds of entirely different books, but ... the ones I've chosen are excellent, and I strongly believe that they are sufficient.
  
  I don't mention computers very much. I think they can be most useful as sparring partners for learning your basic endings and (eventually) openings. But don't let your study center around computers or opening databases or internet blitz.
  
  And of course ... don't let it stop being fun. :-) Maybe that's where some blitz comes in. Otherwise, what's the point?

For me, I think it comes down to a few main ideas:

1. Learn about other kinds of checkmate. There are a few ways to go about this. The beginning of Build Up Your Chess volume 1, by Artur Yusupov immediately starts with some basic checkmates. You can also look through the Tactical Motifs on chesstempo, and create custom problem sets using them. On https://chess.com/tactics, you can click on the 'Training Mode' icon next to the start button and select 'custom (unrated)' and then pick 'Basic Checkmates' to work specifically on a variety of basic checkmate problems as well.
   
2. Remember that, while checkmate wins the game, you can often win more easily by creating a winning position, and then playing it out. At lower ranks, a winning position might just be a game where you're up a minor piece. At mid ranks, it might be a game where you win a pawn and are able to create a passed pawn, or a game where you manage to double your opponent's pawns and blockade them successfully. Mentally getting away from the idea that the only strategy you have is 'checkmate checkmate checkmate' helps increase your awareness to other parts of the board. One of my main takeaways watching top streamer like John Bartholomew, Simon Williams, Ben Finegold etc. is that they often opportunities for winning material or creating weaknesses anywhere on the board, not just where the opponent's king is.
   
3. Sometimes you can make an attack and your opponent cannot defend. This is often referred to 'winning by force'. If you just have too many attackers and overwhelm a key square, you can just win. Usually, this isn't an option, because you and your opponent take turns. You attack, they defend, etc. In order to get ahead, you need to make moves that do multiple things at once. Sometimes this means you make a move that attacks an undefended piece AND threatens one of the basic checkmate ideas from #1. Sometimes it means you make a move that captures a defended piece (so your opponent has to recapture or lose material), and also removes that piece from defending another threatened piece. There are many other tactical ideas, and this is the core of why we practice tactics, to help spot these ideas.
   
   So, to summarize - learn basic checkmates, look for opportunities to achieve winning positions on all areas of the board, and practice tactics. Easy, right? I'll get back to you in another 10 years after I get better at it, haha.

Board recognition (wrong word but I hope the idea gets across) will come to you as you play, as will your ability to recognize tactics and form plans. Thus, I recommend that you just play a lot for now. If that isn't what you want then see below.

If you wish to learn strategy you need to learn the ideas behind openings, structures, and exercise your ability to create and execute a plan. This is because there isn't much of a point in playing any specific opening if you don't know what goals you're playing for with that opening. For this you may want to start with a beginner opening book and some endgame studies so you know what to do if you ever reach the longterm goals of the opening you choose to employ.

I asked around and came up with: Reuben Fine's Ideas behind the chess openings.
https://www.amazon.com/Ideas-Behind-Chess-Openings-Algebraic/dp/0812917561

There's also Yasser Seirawan's Winning Chess Openings.
https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Chess-Openings-Everyman/dp/1857443497/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491463301&sr=1-1&keywords=yasser+seirawan

When I was first learning, Logical Chess Move by Move was a huge eye opener for me. It explains every single move in the game in detail while going through full games. You get introduced to opening ideas, middle game planning, and endgame technique. The book is a very effective primer on a lot of key chess principles and it really teaches the beginner the importance of a single move since you get to read all of the ideas that go into every move.

When I was a low intermediate level player (I'd guess around 1300-1400), I read Silman's How to Reassess Your Chess and that had a huge impact on my playing level once I start to assimilate the knowledge. His coverage of the thought processes for middle game planning, move selection, and looking at material imbalances really opened my eyes to how I should be thinking about positions.

I've read probably 15-30 books in part or entirely over the years. Those two stand out the most to me. Beyond those instructional books, I think books of games collections are good to go through. My favorite were How Karpov Wins by Edmar Mednis (I am a Karpov fan) and Bronstein's Zurich 1953 book (one of the most highly regarded books of all time). Alekhine's Best Games was also a fun read, but it used old style notation I believe, which was a chore for me to learn and go through at the time.

Other special nods from me:

• Pawn Power in Chess is a good book to learn about pawn structures. I only skimmed the chapters on openings I was playing at the time, but I liked the content.
  
  
• Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy is a more modern book on chess strategy. Not as impactful to me as Silman's book, but it's more advanced and I remember it helping me go from 1800ish level to 2000+

One thing I've been doing is studying some pretty simple tactics problems: http://www.amazon.com/Chess-Tactics-Students-John-Bain/dp/0963961403 . I ran off copies of all the pages with problems, cut them out, and put them on 3x5 cards. It took a bit of work, but I finished making the cards in a weekend. It's also much better than doing them out of the book, because the book gives a bunch of hints for each problem, plus they're organized by tactic. This way, all I have on one side of the card is the board and which side is to move. Then on the other side I have the diagram number (just in case), and the solution.

As my coach pointed out, the goal then isn't to solve the problems every time. The goal is to drill them until I recognize the tactic on any of them within about 15 seconds. He compares it to drilling multiplication facts. It's all well and good to be able to work out 9 9 9 9 9=45, but it's much better to just know that 5 * 9 is 45. Similarly, you want to get to a point where you recognize some patterns in positions without having to work them out, because you might have to recognize them in a position that's 5 moves down the line. Or even if it's not that far off, it's still going to make part of your thinking process much more efficient.

I think it's helping, although I still have a long way to go to get to where I want to be with this drill. I feel like patterns are starting to pop out at me more. Also, an interesting article about pattern recognition vs. analytical skill (I think it was posted here the other day, but worth a read): http://www.chess.com/article/view/good-tactics-requires-analysis-and-pattern-recognition

The Chessmaster program is indeed awesome. Fritz is better for serious play, or so I've been told, but there is all sorts of helpful stuff on Chessmaster for beginning/intermediate players.

My personal favorite chess book is Reassess Your Chess by Jeremy Silman. You won't find any "White to move and mate in 3" business. You won't find a bunch of sparsely annotated GM games, either. Instead, it gets into good depth on the tactics and strategy of the middle game. I really suggest it, it offers very useful methods of understanding the foundations of chess, recognizing imbalances, creating plans to exploit those imbalances, that kind of stuff. Fair warning, though, beginners might find it useful but I've found you need to have your feet a little wet to get the most out of the book.

I've only read a couple chess books, but I found both of them very helpful as a beginning player. I find Jeremy Silman very good at explaining strategy, tactics, and openings in a way that's easy to comprehend. I got Modern Chess Strategy, by Ludek Pachman, from my grandfather's library. This book is much more dense, but it breaks down chess strategy very well and is organized better than Silman's in my opinion (Opening, Midgame (Tactics + Strategy), Piece by piece strengths + weaknesses, Endgame, Mental game, etc.).

I feel like I'm struggling with the same issue although I'm a couple hundred points higher rated. A good book with plans for various different pawn structures is: Chess Structures A Grandmaster Explains https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Structures-Mauricio-Flores-Rios/dp/1784830003

It's also on chessable now with trainable variations if you're into that.

What I like about this book is it clearly states everything you should get from each chapter and it's presented extremely well. Also it gives more specific plans and their nuances for a lot of situations rather than more general positional ideas. I feel like it's useful for seeing what a good plan should look like even if you manage to find yourself in a more rare position.

That's a piece of art for your house, not something to really play chess on. If your son has a nice modern apartment and he's looking for something fun to put on his coffee table then maybe you've got a winner on your hands. If you want to get him a nice board to play chess on try these.

https://www.houseofstaunton.com/walnut-and-maple-wooden-tournament-chessboard.html

https://www.amazon.com/Staunton-Tournament-Chess-Pieces-Wegiel/dp/B000Z9G456/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=chessmen&qid=1573834060&sr=8-9

I think The Amateur's Mind and How to Reassess Your Chess are staples to any chess player's book collection. Not only is Silman's language friendly, but the content in his books are incredibly thorough without any verbosity when it comes to n lines of notation and the occasional "...and White is better because of their knight on d5."

I own My System but have yet to manage to find myself at the halfway point of the book. From what I've read, it's rather dense (in language) but informative, however, I have a strong bias toward Silman's language because it's more digestible.

To put it simply: if I could employ routinely everything I've learned in How to Reassess Your Chess, I would be a much better player. There's so much content in that particular book that you could find yourself working through it for a couple years, especially if you purchase it's companion workbook.

From reading some reviews on Amazon, Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy seems to appeal to strong club players and up-- but that's not to say that the material isn't educational. You'll have to write back if you decide to pick it up and let us know.

I'm on the same road. I'm not really good, but I'm working on it.

Read books such as Reassess Your Chess. Watch/listen to some great commentary at [Killegar Chess on YouTube](
http://www.youtube.com/user/SeanGGodley). Play different people frequently (online chess is great for this).

What is your budget and where are you based?

Assuming the US, this is quite a nice a nice set for a very cheap price: http://www.amazon.com/Staunton-Tournament-Chess-Pieces-Wood/dp/B000Z9G456/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1420904554&sr=8-12&keywords=chess+set+wooden

It's a tiny bit smaller than I'd like (the king is just over 3.5"), but it's still a decent size. I also love black pieces that are actually chocolate brown - they just look classy IMO.

I recommend Yasser Seriawan's book 'Play Winning Chess', especially the chapter on 'Time'. The concept of developing with threats and winning tempos is dealt with in there, and there are some great examples. Having read this and played through the examples, I'm much less worried about seeing a queen come out on move three or four, and see it as a challenge to gain a lead in development.

https://www.amazon.com/Play-Winning-Chess-Everyman/dp/1857443314

> My personal recommendation, the stuff by Roman Dzindzichashvili ("Dzindzi"):
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/188932311X[1]
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1889323187[2]
> I have not read the whole thing, just the parts related to my personal repertoire (see below). Which I slowly build upon as openings are not my weakest point at the moment.

I have these books, and they're good, but maybe not suitable for beginners. There are too many spots where at the end of a line the authors will say something like "white stands better" or "Qd5 wins" but don't explain why. And Learn From My Fail: Don't play Qd5 just because the book said it wins without understanding why and being able to demonstrate it.

Great! You're getting some good books. I'm sure you'll be pleased.

Do you have a setup for following along with chess books? Do you use a board, a travel set, your computer, a tablet, &c.? Following along with a game book is important to snap those patterns into your brain.

Don't worry about openings for now. You can have perfect opening knowledge and still get killed by weak players with a basic grasp of tactics and an ability to find threats. Those areas are the starting point.

To that end, assuming you know the rules already, and can read chess notation, start with a VERY simple book on tactics. Go through "Simple Checkmates" by A. J. Gilliam (Amazon link) seriously at least seven times--preferably about 10 to 20 times--until you can instantly see the right move in each diagram.

Learning chess is all about building up your knowledge of basic patterns, and I've yet to find a book that gives such a good grounding in the most fundamental and important of these basic patterns.

More advanced (but still cheap) books that are good for learning to see patters in chess would be 1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate, by Fred Reinfeld (ignore any books of his that don't consist of just diagrams, though) and the excellent Chess Training Pocket Book: 300 Most Important Positions, by Lev Alburt.

I found Winning Chess Strategies, by Yasser Seirawan helpful as an introduction to strategy when I first started out, but some people think his writing style is more suitable for kids.

How to Reassess Your Chess: The Complete Chess-Mastery Course, by Jeremy Silman or The Amateur's Mind: Turning Chess Misconceptions into Chess Mastery, also by Silman are big touchstones for chess learners in the late-beginner phase. A less-known author that I highly recommend is C. J. S. Purdy. He wrote quite a while ago, but he's incredibly insightful in teaching amateurs to break bad chess habits and generally understand how to think in chess. Here's an Amazon search result for his books. (By the way, I don't necessarily endorse Amazon as the best place to buy chess books, but the links are convenient.)

Main thing is, get the basics down. Build up the basic patterns. Go over the simpler diagrams over and over until you know them cold. Then move on to strategy, more advanced tactics and endgames, then worry about openings.

I've used Chessmaster 10th Edition and I think it's pretty good if you can get your hands on it. You can check out the Grandmaster Edition too, since it's more recent. Takes you from barebones how-the-pieces-move stuff, all the way up to tactics and positional strategy, plus some good analysis of the most popular openings and a few dozen grandmaster-level games, so by the end of it you'll have a small repertoire of openings that you can build on.

May as well start doing Yusupov. Here's the intro series, it's 3 books, just like you wanted. I've always wanted to start these, and starting them at your level would actually be pretty great.

Build Up Your Chess 1: The Fundamentals (Yusupov's Chess School)

Boost Your Chess 1: The Fundamentals (Yusupov's Chess School)

Chess Evolution 1: The Fundamentals (Yusupov's Chess School)

There are then 3 more on level 2, and a final 3 for level 3.

My first chess books and they laid a great foundation IMO.

Winning Chess Tactics (Winning Chess - Everyman Chess) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1857443861/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_6cxuyb72M9N01


Winning Chess Strategies (Winning Chess - Everyman Chess) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1857443853/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Kdxuyb38ZVT8B

Not necessarily - but you mentioned portability =) For me, portability means 20-30 cm (8-12 inches), and probably foldable sets.

You could get a tournament sized set for 50$ or less. However, a travel set for 50-75$ is a fairly good quality travel set. A tournament sized set means 50-75$ gives you a cheap/lower midrange set. Somewhat depending on what you consider to be midrange of course =)

Very common tournament board + pieces used by a lot of chess clubs:

• https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Tournament-Chess-Board-No/dp/B000Z9EIGS (39$)
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Staunton-Tournament-Chess-Pieces-Wegiel/dp/B000Z9G456 (35$)
  
  
  Edit: I know that a lot of americans will disagree because they have to carry their own chess sets around at tournaments like common barbarians, but I really do not enjoy playing on plastic chess sets.

This book is everything you need to know about structures: Chess Structures: A Grandmaster Guide https://www.amazon.com/dp/1784830003/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_kO-LDbBWJ54AB

For openings i like the "starting out" series by everyman but you don't need a book for everything you play. Once you read one or two you'll be able to just look up grandmaster games on chessbase or chessgames.com and learn generally where pieces go. This plus the corresponding structure information from that book will really boost your playing level.

Middlegame: There aren't so many middle-game books, but I liked Ludek Pachman's books. There were originally 3, but when they were translated to English they made it a 2-volume set. There are others like Yusupov or Dvoretsky or Romanovsky, but you could probably pick a couple randomly and get good ones.

​

Endgame: Again, there's a lot of variety. I like a very large one done by a German Mueller and Lamprecht.

https://www.amazon.com/Fundamental-Chess-Endings-Karsten-M%C3%BCller/dp/1901983536/ref=sr_1_14?keywords=chess+endgame&qid=1567215435&s=gateway&sr=8-14

​

Unfortunately for me I have none of these today. I sold and loaned some books some time ago and I especially miss the endgame book.

I love my Wood Expressions tournament triple weighted chess set. The triple weighted pieces and silicone board are surprisingly luxurious for the price and easy to carry around.

I use this board with these pieces for table play and home practice, and I use this board for out-and-about games.

As for what I'd most like to own, I think I'd ultimately wish to have a large lifesize board in my yard someday, but they're a pretty penny.

I thought The Complete Book of Chess Strategy was an amazing first read. It's a quick read that can help a lot in my opinion. Teaches fundamentals, lingo, etc. It's written for someone who kind of knows chess and is willing to learn more. It was the first one I picked up. 10/10 would recommend for a beginner.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Chess-Strategy-Grandmaster/dp/1890085014

It's anything but terrible. It's limited, yes. But knowing back rank mates and how to avoid them are very useful for a beginner.

Seirawan's "Play Winning Chess would be a good supplement.

I gave you some advice for each book at each level. Of course all of these books can be switched around and if you want to read Dvoretsky (A very advanced author) at your level you're welcome to. Although a 1300 rating on lichess.org is still at a beginner level so I suggest you start from that section.

---

Beginner:

Play Winning Chess By: Yasser Seirawan

Logical Chess Move by Move By: Irving Chernev

How to Reasses Your Chess By: Jeremy Silman

---
Intermediate:

Practical Chess Exercises By: Ray cheng


The Art of Defense in Chess By: Andrew Soltis

Pawn Structure Chess By: Andrew Soltis

---

Master:



Fundamental Chess Endings By: Karsten-Müller and Frank Lamprecht.

Art of Attack in Chess By: Vladimir Vukovic

Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual By: Mark Dvoretsky

Back in the olden days we used to use something very much like this.

Most people just use smartphones nowadays, though. Not having to carry anything extra, and having a GM-level helper, is very nice.

btw you should totally grab one of these https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Checkbook-Magnetic-Travel-Set/dp/B004G0S39K/ref=sr_1_28?keywords=travel+chess+board+pocket&qid=1569519347&s=gateway&sr=8-28

or these https://www.amazon.com/WE-Games-Magnetic-Pocket-Travel/dp/B07KV8H7FS/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=travel+chess+board+pocket&qid=1569519395&s=gateway&sr=8-6

for just over ten bucks, this has been a super worthy investment for me. it lets you read those crazy complicated lines really simply just by following along real quick. also you can read and follow along in public without looking like a crazy person, it's much more subtle then a full size board. also, i mean, it fits easily in the front pouch of your backpack or your back pocket

If you have a Windows PC, Chessmaster is still fantastic to improve your chess: https://www.amazon.com/Chessmaster-Grandmaster-Linux/dp/B000SL4ANE/

Works on Windows XP and 7, but not sure about Windows 8 or 10. But there are patches and people claim it can be played on Windows 10 too.

I'd say then go with what people have been telling you here: not dropping pieces, tactics, and endgame, and an opening or two.

I'd recommend Chessmaster 10th Edition. There is a tonne of great learning material, annotated and practice. Also, check out this thread.

Thanks for responding :) Are you talking about this one and does it give example games I could look at?

Go tournament mat with tournament weighted pieces.

I have this and it's fantastically durable and has a great feel to it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001VDU2YE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Going for clocks after a lot of research I cannot recommend anything other than the ZMF-II for quality and price.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BSXTMV6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You absolutely will not be disappointed.

I heartily recommend Silman's Reassess Your Chess - it focuses on recognizing and imbalances and making plans to create or take advantage of them.

In general, if your opponent reacts during the opening in a way you didn't expect, you should spend some time figuring out why their move was 'wrong' - what imbalance it introduces, and why it is not part of the book.

If you are looking for a chess book that doesn't require you to have a board out. I would suggest something that is more tactics related. Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess is a bunch of mate in X type problems, but he also goes over tactical basics. If you feel really industrious you can work through this monster Chess by Lazlo Polgar. It shows how each piece moves then just throws you into chess problems.

Most chess books benefit from the use of a board. One that I read in college was Chess Fundamentals by Jose Capablanca. He gives good explanations to the core principles in chess and at the time I think it helped me as a player.

I have this set:

http://www.amazon.com/Expressions-Deluxe-Tournament-Weighted-Chessmen/dp/B001VDU2YE/ref=sr_1_6?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1416974874&sr=1-6&keywords=chess+set+triple+weighted+4%22+king

Love it. It's $44

The classic text on pawns is Kmoch's Pawn Power in Chess. Soltis has a similar book titled Pawn Structure Chess, but as the title implies it is more focused on various pawn structures.

From the FAQ on the right side ---------->

1) Chess Tactics for Students by John Bain

3) Back to Basics: Tactics (ChessCafe Back to Basics Chess) by Dan Heisman

4) Winning Chess Tactics, revised (Winning Chess – Everyman Chess) by Seirawan

8) 1001 Tactics Time! From the Games of Everyday Chess Players by Tim Brennan and Anthea Carson

i'm currently working through this book

https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Structures-Mauricio-Flores-Rios/dp/1784830003

i really like this because it helps you identify key squares in common pawn structures, and gives some plans on how to attack or defend. it's helping me to not just shuffle pieces around in the middle game

https://www.amazon.com/Fundamental-Chess-Endings-Karsten-M%C3%BCller/dp/1901983536

This is the book that Carlsen had in his too weak too slow video.

Its actually really good, better than Silman's book.

How to Reassess Your Chess - If you can only read one book this is the one to read. Third edition is insanely cheap, but if you want to fork over the extra 20 get the 4th edition.
https://www.amazon.com/How-Reassess-Your-Chess-Chess-Mastery/dp/1890085006/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483020174&sr=1-2&keywords=how+to+reassess+your+chess

Chess and the Art of War is a fun read. Easy and precise.
https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Art-War-Ancient-Wisdom/dp/0785832815

Welcome back to OTB chess!

Bowdler Attack? I've heard the early Bc4 in the Sicilian, without the semi-opening 3 d4, referred to as the High School Variation, although it should be attributed to 7-year-olds, given that I face 9-year-old FIDE 1600s OTB as often as adults.

Your idea of 5 ... Nxe4, followed by a ...d5 fork and piece recapture, has a name, The Center and the Fork Trick, coined by Hans Kmoch in his classic, Pawn Power in Chess, to which he devotes Chapter VII. More here and in the accompanying comments, another link. More on youtube.

This is the shit. Trust me.

Skip Silman books, use [Seirawan] (https://www.amazon.com/Play-Winning-Chess-Everyman/dp/1857443314/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1495561713&sr=8-2&keywords=seirawan) books.

Significantly better.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned How to Reassess Your Chess by Jeremy Silman yet. I've linked to the previous edition, which is much cheaper (since you mentioned you didn't want to spend a lot more money). I found this book tremendously helpful in figuring out what to be thinking about when faced with a position on the board that doesn't have an obvious tactic or hanging piece.

Essentially, if you really want to get better at planning, there is simply no substitute for playing and analysing several games (as others have said). Chess is exceedingly difficult and requires significant effort; there's no way around it.

You could try something like this: US Chess Checkbook Magnetic Travel Chess Set - by US Chess Federation https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004G0S39K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_OvAxybFRV17JW

It seems like a magnetic travel set would be much cheaper and perform the same function of keeping the pawns and pieces in place:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019FATKG/ref=wms_ohs_product

I'd recommend the same as the FAQ, namely this book.

Pick up one of Jeremy Silman's books, like The Reassess Your Chess Workbook, or perhaps one from Yasser Seirawan - Winning Chess Tactics.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004G0S39K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_6ruVBb7YBCKN8

If you're ever making a random amazon order here's the set on there. I think it's more expensive, but it does have the amazon convenience factor.

I played a lot as a kid, learned but was never good. I beat my dad twice. Now that I am in my 30's, I obtained Chessmaster and ran through the tutorial series and drastically improved my game. I have not taken a rating so I have no idea how bad I really am.. but look into getting chessmaster, or fritz.. either will teach you strategy and tactics and it will make sense when you play against an opponent and see what you were shown in the tutorial series.


Chessmaster on Amazon

I always like to have a "Show" board and a "Play" board (which I usually bring to tournaments). The show board looks to be what you have in the links above. I think you need a quality board that can take abuse. Perhaps something a bit more generic, but FAR more rugged. I recommend something along these lines. You can beat it up, it's weighted, it's tournament size, it's quality, and it's not the end of the earth if it ends up getting damaged because it's entirely replaceable. Keep your show pieces exactly that... for SHOW. Get yourself a travel set like this immediately.

Well, this seems obvious: http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Tournament-Chess-Board-No/dp/B000Z9EIGS/ref=sr_1_9?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1397017444&sr=1-9

The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings by Reuben Fine is well thought of.

not sure on the exact pieces but the board looks very very similar to this one i bought from amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Z9EIGS/

On Amazon. Exactly this one: Yellow Mountain Imports Magnetic Travel Chess Set

http://www.amazon.com/Chessmaster-10th-Edition-PC/product-reviews/B00023XXMM/ref=sr_cr_hist_1?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0

Amazon reviews say otherwise.

Check out Chess Openings for Black, Explained. There's a version for white as well.

I once built a CPT set for this, but it was on a computer that I got rid of. I would be willing to bet that someone has one online somewhere if you look around.

I have a really nice marble set that my wife bought me as a present, but the one that I use the most (and that travels well) is this one that's under $10. Fairly small and nothing fancy, but I like it.

https://www.amazon.com/Reassess-Your-Chess-Workbook/dp/1890085057

Magnetic travel chess

Not the exact one but close enough

"Pawn Power in Chess" by Hans Kmoch

Didn't know what I was trying to do during the game (or my opponent) untill a read this book.

(here you can see the cover: http://www.amazon.com/Pawn-Power-Chess-Dover/dp/0486264866)

https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Structures-Mauricio-Flores-Rios/dp/1784830003

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001VDU2YE/

https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Chess-Strategies-Everyman/dp/1857443853

https://www.amazon.com/Fundamental-Chess-Endings-Karsten-M%C3%BCller/dp/1901983536/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525404650&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Play-Chess-Endgames-Karsten-M%C3%BCller-ebook/dp/B00JKR7DKO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1525404650&sr=8-3

Wegiel Handmade Wooden 18.9 Inch Mahogany & Sycamore European Professional Tournament Chess Board https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Z9EIGS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_jBy4DbMP30DFC

On a related note, does anyone know what's up with the base book and Amazon Kindle? I find references that it's available on Kindle, but it's not on the store: How to Reassess Your Chess

The availability of chess books on Kindle is weird. This one for black is.

but this one for white isn't.

A few questions, if you don't mind.

> an hour a day of chesstempo problems

Do you prefer ChessTempo (and similar sites) over a tactics book, e.g. Bain's at low levels or Coakley's blue book for a more intermediate player? Or maybe a combination of the two?

> starting with the fundamentals (Jesus de la Villa's "100 Endgames you must know" covers a very wide audience, and studying it should be about 100 rating points worth in your case)

How would you compare this to Silman's Complete Endgame Course? I have Silman and it has exploded my endgame knowledge.

> an hour a day of working through Jeremy Silman's "The Amateur Mind" or a similar book

At what rating do you think it's worth starting this book? I've read suggestions to not start until 1800, and another that said 1400.

This is a very good book, but it's in the old descriptive notation. If OP has trouble with that and wants to get an algebraic version, then you can't do better than the Cadagon 1994 edition, which is a pure algebraic conversion with no bastardization of the text. DO NOT GET THE NEWEST (2006) EDITION!

You want this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1857440730?pldnSite=1

See if you can get it from your local library first.