Where to spend your money

I just found this you tube clip of helpful tips by IM Kostya Kavutskiy on where to spend your money (and time) to improve your chess. This is about 5 weeks old, so some of you may have seen it.

With so many chess resources available in books and on the internet, I found it helpful to have a guide on where to turn to maximize my resources and time. A list of suggested sites are discussed, and suggested books are listed in the description.



YouTube

Spend your money here on a membership and buy a classic chess book and then sit down with your board and learn. 😉

Edit: For those who haven't yet.

Tarrasch's Best Game by Reinfeld. (see my profile.)

As I say I can only tell you what book I know gave me a huge leg up.
There were others, ALekhine first book of best games, Tartakower's 500,
du monts 200 miniatures and the Jolly Rev Cunnington's opening traps.
But the Reinfeld book on Tarrach was the one.

Tarrasch 300 games. (I book I only got after I had been playing for 40+ years
is one I wish I had when I started. It's the Reinfeld book with extra Tarrasch bits.)

Edward WInter reckons it is the best book Reinfeld wrote and Bobby Fischer
thought Tarrasch was a good player as well as a humorous writer.

Reinfield was a good writer and a teacher by profession, him going over Tarrasch
(the great chess teacher) games aided by Tarrasch's own notes could not fail.

That bloke in the video looks like Bert from Sesame Street

Batsford's Modern Chess Openings, Nick de Firmian, is a good tomb to have in your arsenal.

@greenpawn34 said
Tarrasch's Best Game by Reinfeld. (see my profile.)

As I say I can only tell you what book I know gave me a huge leg up.
There were others, ALekhine first book of best games, Tartakower's 500,
du monts 200 miniatures and the Jolly Rev Cunnington's opening traps.
But the Reinfeld book on Tarrach was the one.

Tarrasch 300 games. (I book I only got after I had been ...[text shortened]... y Tarrasch's own notes could not fail.

That bloke in the video looks like Bert from Sesame Street

The books I've got to hand are:

Morphy's Games of Chess, Annotated by Philip W. Sergeant, with an introduction by Fred Reinfeld, Dover. The games are all in the old descriptive notation which isn't to everyone's taste. But, Morphy's games are must read.

Understanding Pawn Play in Chess, Drazen Marovic, Gambit. The chapter titles are: 1) Isolated Pawns, 2) Isolated Pawn Couples and Hanging Pawns, 3) Passed Pawns, 4) Doubled Pawns, 5) Backward Pawns, 6) Pawn-Chains, 7) Pawn Islands. The Chapter on isolated pawns, principally Isolated Queen's Pawns is particularly helpful and the longest in the book. A good approach against weaker players is to try to lumber them with an IQP and try to outplay them. French Defence players will find the Chapter on pawn chains helpful as they're a major feature in several lines of the French.

Starting Out: the <insert name of opening>, various authors, Everyman Chess. Probably the place to go for specific openings. These books explain what you're trying to achieve using complete annotated games rather than just give a mass of variations.

@the-pickled-walrus said
Spend your money here on a membership and buy a classic chess book and then sit down with your board and learn. 😉

Edit: For those who haven't yet.

I appreciate the OP and I agree with the video presenter on some points (e.g., the Chess24 videos being for more advanced players). As for me, I happen to enjoy the "5 Best Moves" series by GM Simon Williams and have learned from them.

Instead of spending money, it might be better to ask about how to spend one's time re: chess (sprouting meta-issues aside).

I write as someone with a scattered mind who could easily spend (and has spent) more money than focus on his hobbies (you are welcome, economic vampires!).

For beginners:

Learn how the pieces move, the castling rules, the stalemate rules. White in the right corner and Queen on the matching square.

Learn all the ways checkmate can be accomplished, so you know what to aim for. This might to some extent reduce your anxiety.

Learn tactics: forks, pins, skewers, diversions. I think knight forks are especially useful to study. Pins, skewers, and diversions are useful for letting you put an attacking piece where you would like to put it.

Also, play through some decisive (non-drawn) games by some of your favorite GMs, whom we can generally trust to make better moves each step of the way than we are likely to, and see what you can learn from those games at whatever moment you look at them.

@mchill said
There are thousands of "classic" chess books out there. Anything from the Zurich Candidates Tournament of 1953, 500 Master Games of Chess by Tartakower, to most Informants. It would help a lot to narrow that list down a bit, don't you agree?

@caesar-salad said
I appreciate the OP and I agree with the video presenter on some points (e.g., the Chess24 videos being for more advanced players). As for me, I happen to enjoy the "5 Best Moves" series by GM Simon Williams and have learned from them.

Instead of spending money, it might be better to ask about how to spend one's time re: chess (sprouting meta-issues aside).

I wri ...[text shortened]... n we are likely to, and see what you can learn from those games at whatever moment you look at them.

Even if your skint & have passion for the beautiful game. Set up B, N & King v King, see how long it takes you to perform mate. With a white Bish then a black Bish. master that & square control - You'll have Pandora's Box under control...

@mchill said
I just found this you tube clip of helpful tips by IM Kostya Kavutskiy on where to spend your money (and time) to improve your chess. This is about 5 weeks old, so some of you may have seen it.

With so many chess resources available in books and on the internet, I found it helpful to have a guide on where to turn to maximize my resources and time. A list of suggested sites ...[text shortened]... suggested books are listed in the description.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Deqa8sFnct8