Excellent artictle how to get to master

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/guides/guide-display/-/1Q5THDKSJD8SU/qid=1152651315/sr=18-1/ref=sr_18_1/103-1508216-5665438

Very well detailed

Thanks. I've bookmarked it so if I ever do reach 1800(which I hopefully will eventually), i look at this guide

Originally posted by chesskid001
Thanks. I've bookmarked it so if I ever do reach 1800(which I hopefully will eventually), i look at this guide

actually i think the first article would be better titled, "1500 to 2000," I plan on starting this plan right now most of the books he recommends would not be over the head of a 1500 player. I think read RahimK's, "need help getting to 1400" is more than enough of a prerequisite to start this course. Go look under RahimK's posts to find it here.

Oh you know what guys, he has a 0-1200 1200-1400 and 1600-1800

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/guides/guide-display/-/39SYY4XAXZ5WW/ref=cm_aya_av.sylt_sylt/103-3183846-9189423

I can see the attraction with this guide. It recommends a lot of good books.

But is reading (and re-reading, as the guide suggests) such a vast amount of chess books the best way to improve? At one time I thought so, but not now. This isn’t to suggest that my opinion is correct or best… it’s just an opinion.

My approach was shaped by views such as:
- GM Davies, “The How and the What” (see Chess Café archives, http://www.chesscafe.com/text/davies26.pdf)
- GM Spraggett, “Becoming a Master” (http://www.kevinspraggett.com/reflecti.htm) In particular, see the section “Avoid the Information Trap”
- GM Rowson, “Chess For Zebras” book. Discusses skill versus knowledge in chess
- Dvoretsky’s training methods

Everyone must find what works for them - what works for me isn’t a universal approach for everyone. But for what it’s worth, my study time is approx. 50% playing and analysing my games; 40% studying GM games / instructive chess positions; 10% reading.

If you are going to do a significant amount of reading, then as Davies etc. suggest, it’s important to pay attention to *how* you read. i.e. there’s a big difference between passively browsing through pages, as opposed to forcing yourself to think continuously and work hard.

No one learns Karate reading a book.

Let me ask one question: Is the guy at Amazon a master? It looks like he's labelled as an "expert." Is that class A, B...?

Originally posted by buddy2
Let me ask one question: Is the guy at Amazon a master? It looks like he's labelled as an "expert." Is that class A, B...?

Expert in the USCF rating system is 2000 to 2199.

There is no Mehmet Gok in the USCF system, nor on the FIDE rating lists. More information is needed to confirm his claim of expertise.

I dont really care who wrote it, its the best guide Ive seen, Im going to start on this plan guys, Im finished with category 0-1200 as Ive read all the Yasser Seirawan books, and I only see one book on category 1200-1400 that I havent read. All of his recommendations look very solid in my eyes.

Originally posted by Wulebgr
Expert in the USCF rating system is 2000 to 2199.

There is no Mehmet Gok in the USCF system, nor on the FIDE rating lists. More information is needed to confirm his claim of expertise.

http://www.chess.ca/memberinfo.asp?CFCN=142979

Theres a Canadian by that name.

Originally posted by HomerJSimpson
Oh you know what guys, he has a 0-1200 1200-1400 and 1600-1800

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/guides/guide-display/-/39SYY4XAXZ5WW/ref=cm_aya_av.sylt_sylt/103-3183846-9189423

Thanks, I'm gonna start following the category 'd' info. Thanks a lot for the link homerjsimpson!

Originally posted by HomerJSimpson
I dont really care who wrote it, its the best guide Ive seen, Im going to start on this plan guys, Im finished with category 0-1200 as Ive read all the Yasser Seirawan books, and I only see one book on category 1200-1400 that I havent read. All of his recommendations look very solid in my eyes.

It's a good list, but one thing is wrong with it. It's TOO BIG. There's no need to read ALL of these books. I mean it helps, yes, but really quality is more important than quantity. Narrowing it down is much easier. Nobody wants to spend 3 years just READING some 30 or 40 odd chess books. So simplify, get a book or two on tactics, and practice on the internet. Get a book or two on endgames and study it. Pick three openings and get books DEVOTED to those specific openings-This is important. Getting books that are on ONLY the opening you play helps more than a book that focuses on tons of openings (in general). Get a couple of books on master games that they have annotated-More specifically The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal and Fischer's My 60 Memorable Games are very popular. And then move on to the advanced stuff, Art of Attack and things like that. 😉 At this point you taken that huge list and cut it down to 8-10 books.

Just a thought.

Very interesting read Varenka. It made me think a bit about which books had the most influence on my game. They were:
1. How to Reaccess your Chess by Silman
2. Best Lessons of a chess coach by Wieramantry.

Thinking about them, they have 2 things in common. They deal with positional chess (something I was just starting to notice that hey this bishop is useless, or I can't move this knight anywhere) at the time I read them. The books are written in an enjoyable fashion. It is not a dry tome that one has to struggle through, rather I sat there with my chessboard in front of me and was constantly having to reset back to the book position as I explored tangents that the authors alluded to or didn't mention at all. Books since then have not always been read w/ a chessboard present and with nowhere near the level of curiosity and enjoyment on my part.

I thik my observations bear out what was written in the two articles, and hopefully I can rekindle my enjoyment of chess study.

Originally posted by zebano
Very interesting read Varenka. It made me think a bit about which books had the most influence on my game. They were:
1. How to Reaccess your Chess by Silman
2. Best Lessons of a chess coach by Wieramantry.

Thinking about them, they have 2 things in common. They deal with positional chess (something I was just starting to notice that hey this bishop is ...[text shortened]... hat was written in the two articles, and hopefully I can rekindle my enjoyment of chess study.

It's Reassess Your Chess if others are interested and can't find it 😉.

Originally posted by cmsMaster
It's Reassess Your Chess if others are interested and can't find it 😉.

One other important point- Read what you can understand. "How do I know if I can understand it?", check out the list. Mr. Gok has done a superb job of splitting the books up into the proper categories. Books like Art of Attack and How to Reassess Your Chess aren't going to help 1300's or 1400's all that much.