GOOD CHESS BOOKS FOR A DEVELOPING CHESS PLAYER
Chess has been modernized and evolved largely due to technological advancements and the availability of chess engines. However, it is still impossible to bid goodbye to the classics and books. A chess book is essential for a player’s development, from the beginner to the elite level. There has been no Grandmaster who has not read plenty of books while improving and reaching their status. A chess book holds huge significance and guides players to improve and shape themselves, but one needs to know the right fits. Just as in education, we have different textbooks for each class, chess books are also written and designed based on the strength and level of the reader. In this article, I will dive into books based on the strength of the readers, discuss and shortlist a few must-reads, share my experience of reading books and provide insights on making chess books an essential key to development.
Chess Books for a Total Newbie
Once a player learns the absolute basics like the piece movements and starts looking for a book, there can be plenty of options by both top-level and local authors, but the most helpful one in this segment is the Susan Polgar Series. Susan Polgar Series completes all the fundamentals of chess in a very easy-to-understand way; it covers up all the basic concepts of tactics and slowly increases the calculating strength of the player.
The books are-
- A World Champion’s Guide to Chess: Step-by-step instructions for winning chess the Polgar way
- Chess Tactics for Champions: A step-by-step guide to using tactics and combinations the Polgar way
- Learn Chess the Right Way: Book 1: Must-Know Checkmates
Apart from this, a hugely beneficial book is Chess 101 by Dave Schloss, Sharpen Your Tactics & How to Beat your dad at chess.
These books as a child helped me understand the basics of chess at a very elementary level making the base strong. It also helped define the significance of logic and the importance of calculation, getting me hooked on solving puzzles. A healthy habit of solving puzzles can be a guiding line to a huge improvement.
The insights of top players such as Susan Polgar herself are both an addition to wisdom and addition to motivation.
The Beginner Stage (1000-1500)
After reading these books and getting cleared with basic concepts of tactics, the next best step to go about it is to learn openings. The best reference for opening books is undoubtedly the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings (ECO), which comes in 5 volumes; A, B, C, D & E all representing the openings as to their respective codes. This book is a gem for not just beginners but also intermediate players. The book contains every opening to learn with evaluation for both sides and is a mandate.
The Intermediate Stage & Master Stage (1500-1900)
For Players rated at the range of 1000-1400 best-suited book along with openings in the Build Up Your Chess series by Arthur Yusupovfor calculation and tactics and 100 endgames you must know by Jesus De La Villa. Along with this, Arthur Yusupov’s series on Chess Evolution is also a great insight on understating and learning the skill to assess positions.
There are great books for calculation for players rated in the range of 1400+, such as Encyclopedia of Chess Combinations, which comes in a total of 5 editions. The best of the five is the fourth edition of the book. The strength of puzzles varies so players can solve according to their strengths. Other notable and great Puzzle books are 1001 winning moves, The art of attack, Perfect your chess& Positional Play.
Few mandatory books for Game Analysis are listed below:
- My 60 Memorable Games by Bobby Fischer,
- My Great Predecessors by Garry Kasparov,
- Fire on the board by Alexei Shirov and
- Mikhail Tal’s best games.
A very important Endgame book for a Chess player in this segment is the Dvoretzky Endgame Manual.
Along with these books, a brilliant book and must-read for any serious chess player are the MY SYSTEM by Aron Nimzowitsch. The book is a comprehensive guide, which defines chess at a better level of understanding. It is recommended by every 9/10 Elite Grandmasters, perhaps when asked about the best books to study.
The content and understanding of these books will vary based on the strength of the reader but will help a player improve on a huge scale.
The books have undoubtedly shaped me and helped me reach even the very little dignified position I stand in the chess fraternity and accomplish the achievements I have made.
There are numerous other books undoubtedly which are very insightful and helpful and can be referred to as an individual grows in the Chess ladder.
- Grand Mater Preparation by Jacob Aagard series
- Lasker’s Manual of Chess by Emanual Lasker
- Chess Fundamentals by Jose Raul Capablanca
- How to Think like a Grandmaster and Play Like a Grandmaster by Alexander Kotov and
- School of Chess Excellence series by Mark Dvoretzky
The author Ambarish is working with Junior Masters as a chess coach and engaged in shaping many of the beginner level students to club players and above.
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