looking for books

Hi,

Anyone has any suggestions regarding books to help me improve my game. I need the name of the book, but also the author.

Thank you

I have a closet full of chess books and the only ones that have helped are how to reassess your chess, Jeremy Silmans complete endgame manual, sharpen your tactcs, the entire yasser seirawan "play winning..." series and pawn power.

I looked at a few of your games here.Imo you need better tactics and adhere to opening principles.

So,a cheap and very good book is chess tactics,Paul Littlewood.After that a tactics puzzlebook,any will do.

For free improvement,read this

http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/ten-rules-opening

and try to use it when you play.Afterwards,open the website and go over the game(win,draw or lose) to see if and where you breached these guidelines,if it was ok to breach them and how you could've done better.
After that ask better players how you could've improved your play.

Artur Yusupov has a great series called Build Up Your Chess, Boost Up Your Chess, and Chess Evolution.

It's basically a workbook full of positions that he thinks are appropriate according to ELO, the first books in the series are supposed to be fundamental things players under 1500 should know, the second books for Under 1800 and the third books up to master.

Of course since Yusupov was the 3rd best player in the world, he kind of overrestimates what "fundamental" skills are for weak players. I know some 2100 players who couldn't figure out positions in one of the U1500 books.

Still working through them gives you a great foundation on a lot of mating and middlegame motifs, and they are a challenge.

No matter what your rating, I think you should start with the first books and work your way up.

Originally posted by NorrisB
I have a closet full of chess books and the only ones that have helped are how to reassess your chess, Jeremy Silmans complete endgame manual, sharpen your tactcs, the entire yasser seirawan "play winning..." series and pawn power.

I don't know about you Norris, but it doesn't matter how many books I have, they will not help me improve, unless I read them. 😀

play a lot, get a mentor

buy chess books as a last resort- plenty of tactics sites on the internet.

Originally posted by Blondinette
Hi,

Anyone has any suggestions regarding books to help me improve my game. I need the name of the book, but also the author.

Thank you

Yeah, you don't NEED to buy any books. You can learn a lot from the Exeter site that torten mentioned, or Dan Heisman's chess site ( http://home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Main_Chess/chess.htm ). And as nimzo5 mentioned, you can do tactics online. I recently started with ChessTempo, and it's fairly nice. ( http://chesstempo.com ).

But if you want to get some books, there are many good ones to start with. Some suggestions to add to the other posts:

1) The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess, by Patrick Wolff - A good general introductory text. Don't let the "Idiot" title turn you off, it's a good book. The writing style is not for children under 10.

2) Winning Chess Strategy for Kids, by Jeff Coakley - (Don't confuse this book with the similar titles "Winning Chess Exercises for Kids" and "Winning Chess Puzzles for Kids" by the same author. The cover art and illustrations are definitely for kids, but the subject matter is very good for all ages.

3) The Chess Gospel According to John, by C. J. S. Purdy - I don't care for the title or cover art, but this book is actually Purdy's "Guide to Good Chess" in disguise, with three extra chapters from another book thrown in. If you can find an algebraic version of the out-of-print "Guide to Good Chess" for cheaper than this new book, then just get that one. (But I doubt you'll find the GTGC at a reasonable price, as it's hard to find.) This is a nice introductory book, but its one drawback is that it hardly mentions tactics. So if you get this one, you'll want to also get a book that discusses tactics in detail.


If you want to get a couple of tactics puzzle books instead of using online sites (or do both!), I'd recommend:

4) Chess Tactics for Students, by John Bain - A nice, basic (and easy) tactical set for us novices.

5) Back to Basics: Tactics, by Dan Heisman (2nd printing) - Get the second printing, it has the corrections. Again, not too hard. A nice mix of not too many mate problems, and enough of the "to gain material" problems.

Disagree with the opinion books are a waste of time. I love chesstempo.com for tactics, since discovering it a while back, but there are no internet substitutes for some areas of the game, like strategy and endgame fundamentals, in my opinion. Openings I think something like chessbase and being able to look through games on said opening, would be my preferred way to go.

If in need of a general guide on strategy, Euwe's Judgement & Planning in Chess, is a real gem.

Originally posted by Murchu
Disagree with the opinion books are a waste of time. I love chesstempo.com for tactics, since discovering it a while back, but there are no internet substitutes for some areas of the game, like strategy and endgame fundamentals, in my opinion. Openings I think something like chessbase and being able to look through games on said opening, would be my preferred ...[text shortened]... If in need of a general guide on strategy, Euwe's Judgement & Planning in Chess, is a real gem.

I don't know if you were referring to me or nimzo5, but I for one never said that books are a waste of time... only that you don't NEED them. You can become a decent player (even a good player) without the use of books. (Internet, CDs, DVDs, tutors, coaches, etc.) But of course, books can be very helpful if they're geared to your level, and they can also be an enjoyable experience. I have too many books to think that the right books are a waste of time.

I find deep study of opening theory to be most helpful. Play move by move through opening theory and try to understand the reasoning behind each move. Grab a good opening book or book set (e.g. ECO, MCO) or use an online resource for chess openings.
(e.g. Open Encyclopedia of Chess Openings)

Originally posted by torten
For free improvement,read this

http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/ten-rules-opening

I like the way the top ten is expressed. And the additional (and some similar) viewpoints listed after that.

A helpful insightful web page.

ty to all who posted books, and chess sites. I appreciate
Blondinette

I totally forgot about "My System" thats a classic read that every chess player has

Originally posted by PureRWandB
I don't know about you Norris, but it doesn't matter how many books I have, they will not help me improve, unless I read them. 😀

Here here. I have too many books Ive never read.

My favorite book is Chess by Laszlo (sp?) Polgar. I had it stolen from me a while ago though and never ordered it again.