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| ccmcacollister play-chess-online.com chess 2/09/2006 16:02:19 play online chess |  Subject: Great Chess BooksMessage: For me: 1.Modern Chess Brilliancies - Evans 2.200 Games of M. Tal 2* Its not a book, but its GREAT; Game of The Month articles of Gligoric 3.The Games of RJF 4.MCO-10 & 12 5.Amatuer's Mind - Silman 6.Oxford Chess Companion 7.200 Open Games (of/by GM D.Bronstein) 8.Chess Catechism - Evans 9.My 60 Memorable Games - RJF 10. to be decided ... *** not necessarily in the order given What do you think? }8-) |
| basbos play-chess-online.com chess 2/09/2006 22:45:32 play online chess | for me.... Message: 1-play like a grandmaster by Kotov 2-My system by Nimzovitsch 3-Modern chess strategy by Ludek Pachman( A unique book for middle game) I have not finished reading them yet , but they are wonderful and I learn a lot from them. |
| drtimer play-chess-online.com chess 2/10/2006 02:06:00 play online chess | best one so far Message: I've only been playing proper chess for last 18 months, this book made me a better player |
| ionadowman play-chess-online.com chess 2/10/2006 02:40:21 play online chess | There are... Message: Openings: Several old Batsford opening treatises, Keene and Levy's 'Opening repertoire for the Attacking Player', and Yakov Estrin's monograph on the Two Knights' Defence (great book, but it did cause my first defeat on GK)... Middle Game: My System, and Keres and Kotov's 'Art of the Middle Game in Chess', Capablanca's 'Last Lectures'... End Games: Averbakh's 'Queen and Pawn Endings' and Levenfish and Smyslov's 'Rook Endings' (Batsford)... Anthologies: Clarke's "Tal's Best Games..." (up to 1960). Haven't got RJF's 'My 60 memorable Games' but though not a Fischer fan myself, I found the book very impressive at many levels, as well as an enjoyable read. 'Bedside Companion': I wish I still had Irving Chernev's "Bright Side of Chess"... Some snurge made off with it several zillion years ago, and I still mourn its loss :-(let's get lachrymose)-: Its most attractive feature were its several endgame studies, a fascinating aspect of chess... Of all my volumes, that would probably have best stood the test of time, too. |
| ccmcacollister play-chess-online.com chess 2/10/2006 13:49:05 play online chess | How could I forget ... Message: And of course "Play The French" by Watson did more for my postal rating than any other single source of opening recommendations. The Tal book was also a big rating gainer I think, as it develops a new way of thinking if one has been restricted to Nimzovich-like play in the past. It shows you how to open lines, and utilize activity, in a Big Way. }8-)) |
| ccmcacollister play-chess-online.com chess 2/11/2006 15:15:13 play online chess | I got a new Chess book today! Message: *** But really wanted to mention one I saw today at the used bookstore that looked quite interesting to me, tho I did not want it $20-worth. Still i think it could be a Very useful and instructive book to intermediate players especially. It is called " ChessMasterVsChessAmateur " by WC/GM Max Euwe & Walter Mieden. YES, it annotates games of Masters vs Amateurs, as you suspected. Which I think is a great subject of study for those who wish to learn How to Do Things, and What to Do; besides just showing how to capitalize upon errors. I haven't read it, but did enjoy my previous Mieden book quite a lot, titled " TheRoadToChessMastery " and is similarly annotated and very understandable. If you have read either of those, I'd like to know what you thought of it/them ? Regards }8-) |
| doctor_knight play-chess-online.com chess 2/13/2006 20:47:59 play online chess | Message: Does anyone have a favorite book on combinations to solve? |
| ccmcacollister play-chess-online.com chess 2/13/2006 21:30:33 play online chess | Smpyjrt pmr od /// Message: *** This one keeps coming up. Mlazar was telling me this is his fav. Also wschmidt mentions it in the Coaching Club Forums; and the writer "Purdy" has been acclaimed by Fischer in the past as well! So based on all that, plus my curiosity and the good advice I've already glimpsed in small tidbits, from this book, I have placed my order at the Amazon dotcom for : C.J.S. Purdy's Fine Art of Chess Annotation and other thoughts....compiled and edited by Ralph J. Tykodi ... which is a veritable major bargain, starting at $4.95 for NEW editions; or $5 to 6 dollars for USED copies. I don't know why USED is more. Perhaps they are loaded with previous owners Chess secrets scrawled in the margins?! So who knows, if you go used you just Might get a copy RJF used to own?!! (As he has said that many items he had in storage in the USA were seized from him ... and I assume sold or auctioned. I think I am joking ... but then, who really knows what treasure may lurk in a good used book?! ) I can't wait to get this. See this link for some sample advice of Purdy, from the great GK Coaching Club forums : |
| ccmcacollister play-chess-online.com chess 2/13/2006 21:33:09 play online chess | hyperlink promised ... Message: -> Chess.com |
| schnarre play-chess-online.com chess 2/14/2006 14:37:33 play online chess | Hmmnnn... Message: Morphy's Games of Chess Opening Systems for Competetive Chess Players Oxford Chess Companion Karl Marx Plays Chess My System Dynamic White Openings Dynamic Black Defenses ....to name just a few. |
| ionadowman play-chess-online.com chess 2/15/2006 00:57:15 play online chess | Purdyisms... Message: Cheers, Ion |
| nottop play-chess-online.com chess 2/15/2006 15:57:29 play online chess | missing Message: However I think, if you really want great chess books that will improve your game, I suggest you look at any books by Dvoretsky. In my opinion they are the finest chess books ever written. As for Silman - I think he's a mediocre hack with little to say. Skip the Silman - do the Dvoretsky. |
| nottop play-chess-online.com chess 2/15/2006 17:15:04 play online chess | More on Silman Message: Well - like - duh ... How do these imbalances occur in the first place? You just notice them?? Imbalances start with the first move - and it is not a circumstantial event. Imbalances are planned with like duh .... a plan. His one correspondence game was a joke - he lucked into a draw and accused his opponent of cheating - even after receiving analysis from his opponent that he admitted was convincing. And the "computer generated move" he accused his opponent of making - was actually in the databases (as his editor reluctantly pointed out). What a total loser. And yet - when I see books recommended I always see Silman - people that write about chess that might actually improve you (like Dvoretsky) are ignored. So stop with the Silman nonsense - the man is a total loser with nothing to say. He will actually decrease the quality of your play. Aside from Dvoretsky I suggest you look at books by Watson - his reinterpretation of Nimzovich is wonderful. What the grandmasters say - and what the grandmasters do - is completely different. They tell you to study the ideas of chess - but what they do - they study their openings and keep up to date on the latest twists. It's a lot more pleasant to fight for the win than fight for the draw. |
| wschmidt play-chess-online.com chess 2/16/2006 12:22:19 play online chess | Wow, nottop, Message: I'll start with a few of caveats. First, I've got to say I'm hesitant to question the judgment of someone up in the 2000+ range, although that's more with regard to actual chess play than in judgement about chess books. And second, I only know Dvoretsky's books by reputation (which is, generally, excellent but for advanced players). Finally, I don't know anything about the correspondence incident you referred to, so I have to plead ignorance about that. That said, I'm frankly amazed at the vehemence of your post. First, in all the messages posted prior to yours, Silman was mentioned once. And that was for a beginning/intermediate book, The Amatuer's Mind, that doesn't really spend a lot of time on the imbalance concept. I can't imagine any player in the intended audience for that book who wouldn't benefit from studying it. And with regard to the issue of imbalances, Silman doesn't simply say "notice imbalances" Both "Reassess Your Chess" and The Reassess Your Chess Workbook" spend a lot of time talking about playing to create imbalances. He encourages intermediate players (neither is a beginner's book) to look hard at the board and formulate plans based either on imbalances that exist or imbalances that can be created. There are surely other ways of thinking about chess, but, as a roadmap, it ain't bad. Most of us are never going to get to the point where we are completely free from applying general principles ("Castle early", "a knight on the rim is dim") or using planning principles suggested by stronger players ("look for candidate moves and calculate the outcome of each only once", "make plans based on imbalances or potential imbalances"). And I remember reading some grandmaster's observation when asked about the Silman principles to the effect that "if you're spending your time at the board thinking about imbalances, you're not a grandmaster". Well, duh. But for a lot of intermediate players, Silman provides a pretty good set of principles. And maybe Dvoretsky is a better mapmaker or provider of principles that we all should look into. But to suggest that Silman is a "mediocre hack"' a "total loser with nothing to say" who will "actually decrease the quality of your play" seems a little extreme. ws |
| ccmcacollister play-chess-online.com chess 2/16/2006 19:22:21 play online chess | wschmidt ... Message: For that matter, if you Plan you are not a GM! Unless in a very strange new position :) GM's dont really plan, they only tell us to. Theyve seen it all before. They know what to do in anysimilar position. Just need to prove things out with analysis, and look for exceptions. They dont even play "positions" as such for 1/2 the game. They play transpositions. Imo. Someone tell me if I'm wrong. ... I think SIlman does have some deficiencies in print. Besides being less than kind to his students in A/M, he only addresses dynamics, not statics. Which is only 1/2 the picture. Maybe he covers it elswhere, I dont know. Have only read the one. Nontheless I consider it good for players of many levels. Mainly thru intermediate, but I picked up a couple things I didnt know in the first 50 pages. And why not, he is an IM. And he does get things across. And like Kotov Think Like A GM, it seems a good explicative read to me for most anyone. But they tell me its easier than that great text. So I defend the book on that basis. The author, I have never met. BTW, he DOES stress planning in A/M. From the first 1/2 dozen moves yet. Now to me that does seem excessive and a bit silly. But I've seen FM/NM's go down in a dozen or so moves, from inattention & following something less than good (I wont say unsound:) they saw before...so if it promotes thinking about the game... well I guess one could ponder move 5 of the Ruy?! If it helps!? I think Evans is the best Chess author ever, Imo. But give high marks to Dunne & Watson & Kotov. Gligorich is a great Chess writer & superhuman opening innovator. I'd probably add Benko for his endgame series, but havent read his last book. I guess some I enjoy are a bit dated. Perhaps you have that glazed look in your eyes like I get when people start into Capa's games or Laskers writing. I just havent gone there. But doenst mean I dont think I could learn from it! :) |
| ionadowman play-chess-online.com chess 2/17/2006 00:47:51 play online chess | From the little I've seen... Message: Cheers, Ion |
| ccmcacollister play-chess-online.com chess 2/18/2006 23:15:15 play online chess | GREAT POINT ... Message: ["Russian (Soviet) writers used to follow a kind of formula that worked for me: Beginning the annotation of a game by outlining, in prose, the course of the game - as it were a story - before getting into the detail."] * * * I did not know that it was a technique common to Russian Chess writers, but I like it too! And found that my book by GM DAvid Bronstein IS just like you suggest, with a little summary aor story pertaining to the game, just in preface of it. That is especially enjoyable to me, since i enjoy Chess tales and annecdotes very much, but you just don't seem to be able to find such personal aspects of Chess players at play, out there in the Publication World. *** }8-) |
| wschmidt play-chess-online.com chess 2/21/2006 14:17:15 play online chess | I like short chess books.... Message: Micheal Stean - "Simple Chess". In my opinion, this should be every beginner/intermediate player's first book on positional play. Two by Botvinnik - "Botvinnik on the Endgame" and "Fifteen Games and Their Stories". The latter conforms to the "little story before the game score method" described above and is well done. Edmar Mednis - "Practical Rook Endgames". Mednis has a whole series of short "Practical" endgame books. I've read that 50% of all endgames are rook endgames so this is a good one to have. One of the most exciting games I ever played was a draw I salvaged based on what I learned from this book. Ray Keene - "The Twelve Best Games of Chess". OK, this is not "My 60 Memorable Games" or "The Art of Attack in Chess" or "My Great Predecessor, Vol. 1." But it is a short collection of well-annotated historic games with an introduction to each player and the circumstances surrounding the games. Keene has another collection of twelve games for the same publisher called "Gary Kasparov's Best Games" which I haven't seen, but my guess is, it's good. Two other short game collections and I'm outa here: Seirawan's "Winning Chess Brilliancies" has 12 annotated games with a bit more pedagogy than Keene's collection. And finally, there's Pandolfini's "Russian Chess". This is a whole book built around move-by-move annotations of 6 games. Some folks think Pandofini is too simple. I'm a simple guy and he works for me. And yes, as mentioned earlier in the thread, I'm a big Purdy fan (his books are often for sale on EBay by Carsten Hanson at at great price), but they're all closer to 150 pages, so they didn't make the cut for this post. ws |
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