Hi all, ive recently started playing chess a lot more and would like to improve my game. Any recommendations for a beginner/Intermediate player. Looking for decent book/s which cover openings, tactics and strategy. My provisional rating is about 1500 at the moment but doubt it will last coz im playing like a turkey in my current games.
First off, skip books on the opening. Second (if you're a 1200+), buy Silman's How to Reaccess Your chess and go through that. It is mainly middlegame strategy, and how to analyze a position. If you find a good game on tactics, let me know (Suposedly Vukovic's The Art of the Attack in Chess is good).
What about a sub 1100 player like myself? I understandthe basics of tactics and a few openings, but not in any great detail, nor do i have enough chess knowledge to see advantages of certain squares or how to develope my pieces early on. What would anyone suggest to better understand these points?
Originally posted by stella1984What does a turkey play like?
Hi all, ive recently started playing chess a lot more and would like to improve my game. Any recommendations for a beginner/Intermediate player. Looking for decent book/s which cover openings, tactics and strategy. My provisional rating is about 1500 at the moment but doubt it will last coz im playing like a turkey in my current games.
Originally posted by stella1984First, stop listening to idiots who tell you to ignore opening theory; if you're not playing solidly in the opening chances are you'll never get to many positions where their "tactics, tactics, tactics" mantra will be of any use. It is important to know principles in all stages and Nimzowith's book is a classic. I hear good things about Silman's books as well, though I haven't read any (the books I learned chess from were written in the 60's or earlier). Tactics is really the easiest part of chess; any decent tactics book will give you useful info on pins (the most important tactic in practical play), forks, mate threats, etc. If there's a Chess club anywhere near you, join it; the higher rated players are almost always willing to discuss your play and give useful tips. Keep playing and look over your games afterward and try to figure out what you did right and where you went wrong; engine analysis is somewhat helpful to see where you missed tactical opportunities.
Hi all, ive recently started playing chess a lot more and would like to improve my game. Any recommendations for a beginner/Intermediate player. Looking for decent book/s which cover openings, tactics and strategy. My provisional rating is about 1500 at the moment but doubt it will last coz im playing like a turkey in my current games.
Originally posted by no1marauderHow is opening theory going to help you when you're playing OTB and your opponent deviates from the theory? The theory itself was created my GM's so most of the time you will have to be a GM to be able to punnish your opponent for his theoretical mistake...
First, stop listening to idiots who tell you to ignore opening theory; if you're not playing solidly in the opening chances are you'll never get to many positions where their "tactics, tactics, tactics" mantra will be of any use. It is important to know principles in all stages and Nimzowith's book is a classic. I hear good things about Silman's bo ...[text shortened]... went wrong; engine analysis is somewhat helpful to see where you missed tactical opportunities.
Originally posted by LordOfTheChessboardBecause opening theory isn't just about memorizing specific lines; it's about knowing what you shoud be doing in the opening. If you really think that you have to be a GM to punish someone when they play 2 Qh5, then you're sadly mistaken.
How is opening theory going to help you when you're playing OTB and your opponent deviates from the theory? The theory itself was created my GM's so most of the time you will have to be a GM to be able to punnish your opponent for his theoretical mistake...
Originally posted by no1marauderYou can learn that by reading a good strategy book.
Because opening theory isn't just about memorizing specific lines; it's about knowing what you shoud be doing in the opening. If you really think that you have to be a GM to punish someone when they play 2 Qh5, then you're sadly mistaken.
Anyway you have to be a GM to punnish black for playing ng4 in this line:
1. e4 - e5
2. nc3 - nf6
3. bc4 - bc5
4. d3 - d6
5. f4 - ng5
6. f5 - nf2
7. Qh5 - g6...
Mr eduard gufeld just leaves out the 10 pages of analysis required to show you how to finnish this...
Originally posted by LordOfTheChessboardYes, a good book on chess strategy will have something about openings. Our friends above said you should ignore that and just worry about "tactics, tactics, tactics". That's a good way to insure you never improve very much.
You can learn that by reading a good strategy book.
Anyway you have to be a GM to punnish black for playing ng4 in this line:
1. e4 - e5
2. nc3 - nf6
3. bc4 - bc5
4. d3 - d6
5. f4 - ng5
6. f5 - nf2
7. Qh5 - g6...
Mr eduard gufeld just leaves out the 10 pages of analysis required to show you how to finnish this...
Bruce Pandolfini writes terrific chess books. I just started one which looks very promising: "Priniciples of the New Chess: Superb New Techniques Developed in the USSR and the USA." Covers the opening, middle game, and endgame. Another good book of his is "Chess Target Practice" -- this is a book on tactics. An excellent book by Irving Chernev is "Logical Chess: Move by Move." This one explains every move in every game he annotates. Excellent instruction.
Another great way to improve your game and have a great time at the same time is play live chess at FICS (freechess.org) or instantchess.com.