After reading this nice post #1612951 on learning openings and seeing @Dash_1971 distaste for chess books I was reminded that I love chess books! They can be difficult to get through and I concede there are more pages on my shelf that haven’t been looked at compared to those that have but two books really shaped me as a chess player.
Accompanied by the
reassess your chess workbook
By International Master Jeremy Silman
Reassess your chess is very good. The key idea in the entire book is to look at board and find the imbalances between supposing sides. Is it opposite color bishops? Is it 3 pawns vs 2 ok the queen side? Is it knights vs bishops in a closed position? The book covered many famous chess games always challenging you how to recognize the imbalance in the position. Once you recognize the imbalances forming a clear plan for either side becomes much more approachable.
The book itself shows you many imbalances and in great detail describes the key ideas behind them. The work book is much less writing and much more puzzles to solve. It’s a puzzle book for chess players! It’s a great great tool for anyone looking to improve.
The next book you need is
100 end games you must know
By Grand Master Jesus de la villa.
This book goes through every vital end game and their key ideas. Rook and king vs rook and king. King and pawn vs king. Bishop end games. Knight and pawn end games. He goes over 100 end games in a workbook puzzle solve style while explaining the key easy to remember ideas in each.
Studying end games is vital because it will help guide your middle game decisions. How can you plan your middle game correctly if you haven’t any idea what a favorable or unfavorable end game scenario looks like? With familiarity you will be able to either force the position into an endgame you know and approve of or perhaps avoid one you recognize as unfavorable.
With these two books and some time and effort you can really boost your chess game to the next level.
If you like books of course :)
Love anything Silman. HTRYC maybe a bit advanced for me though. I think of it as taking you to the next level after Amateur's Mind. I've gone through that so I am well acquainted with the imbalances. I think most of all, Silman teaches you to think and to fight which is the opposite of what your instinct wants to do as the "typical adult improver". Secretly, myself included, many of us just want to checkmate with some cheesy opening trap (Fried Liver, anyone?!) And when the going gets tough on the board, we are too quick to hit the resign button. If you can really make Silman your Jedi trainer, you should be proving to your opponent that your Botez Gambit is actually a NvsQ imbalance, and in a time scramble those tricky f**kers are worth at least 8 points!!
Ugh this post is a mess. I’m pretty bad with markdown and I spent all my edit time fiddling around with those damn links and missed so many typos.
The board*
Opposing sides*
On the queen side*
Challenging you to recognize*