Other Books / References

Hi all,

I was just wondering if there were other references / sites / books that you would recommend for learning positional chess? Starting from the beginning!

This course is quite advanced. I'm coping, but I get the feeling that I am missing some more basic learning for positional clarity. The course seems to take for granted some of these elementary "positional rules".

Can you recommend anything?

My favorite books right now are Issac Lipnitsky's Questions of Modern Chess Theory and Israel Gelfer's Postitional Chess Handbook.

Lipnitsky's book is a 2008 translation of his book originally published in 1952 and is charactarized by its clear verbal descriptions of classic games and positions through Botvinnik.

Gelfer's handbook is collection of 495 positions originally published in 1991. It's not a puzzle book, it's a collections of positions organized around the common stategic themes to play over. What I like about this book is the short, instructive examples; I always get that feeling that I "got it" after playing through the positions. I think this book will be a good companion to the ICS course.

If you use a computer to study/analyze games Robin Smith's Modern Chess Analysis is an outstanding survey of the various techniques of chess analysis with computers for all phases of the game. The book itself is a bit dated for a technology book (published in 2004), the the advice on when to use deep analysis, multivariation analysis, engine tournaments, etc. etc. etc.... is still very relevant. The positional concepts addressed include "schematic thinking", "box canyons", "fortressess" and others, and discusses the strength and weaknesses of computer analysis in terms of these chess themes.

There are plenty of good puzzle books available, Nunn's in particular are very good. However, one of the lessons learned from the sports world is that when you are constantly testing yourself you are holding yourself back and not training to maximum efficiency. The books I've suggested here are for playing over and easy to digest, opium for chess players.

Excellent, thanks! I'll have a hunt around and see if I can find these books.

The ICS do have a recommended book list as well located here: http://www.chessarea.com/chess-instructions/. They say these are the best books to buy and that you should study them all. I am not sure why this site is not linked to the ICS course site. I assume it's because the ICS course was created after this book list was produced and they simply forgot to create a link. The chessarea.com site though is created by the same people who created the ICS course and there is a lot of useful tips there as well as the book list. Atm I have just bought their recommended beginner book list and will begin making my way through the books alongisde studying the ICS course.

I believe their recommended endgame books are very good as well, from the research I've done these appear to be the top endgame books. However I would also like to recommend a few additions that I came across through research into endgame study: silmans complete endgame course from beginner to master and 100 endings you must know by Jesus De La Villa. Both of these books came out after their list was published and have recieved glowing recommendatons by many top players.

StarByrne wrote:The ICS do have a recommended book list as well located here: http://www.chessarea.com/chess-instructions/. They say these are the best books to buy and that you should study them all. I am not sure why this site is not linked to the ICS course site.

Thanks for the link, I had no idea there was such a thing.

I have Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual, what I like about this book is that it is the only one I've seen that is color coded, so you can go in and work the essential positions, then go back and work the details later if you want.

PawnCustodian wrote:

StarByrne wrote:The ICS do have a recommended book list as well located here: http://www.chessarea.com/chess-instructions/. They say these are the best books to buy and that you should study them all. I am not sure why this site is not linked to the ICS course site.

Thanks for the link, I had no idea there was such a thing.

I have Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual, what I like about this book is that it is the only one I've seen that is color coded, so you can go in and work the essential positions, then go back and work the details later if you want.

I only came across the link by accident myself. I was googling for best chess book list and the chessarea.com site was by the best I found. Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual is on their list as well under Intermediate>>Expert link I believe. I will definitely purchase it once I made my way through the beginner section books for sure. They recommend a lot of Dvoretsky's books if I remember correctly, must be a very good chess teacher.

StarByrne wrote: I will definitely purchase it once I made my way through the beginner section books for sure. They recommend a lot of Dvoretsky's books if I remember correctly, must be a very good chess teacher.

You have to be careful with Dvoretsky, his books generally are pretty advanced, and always place a lot of effort on the reader. I think that the Endgame Manual is an exception.

Better than the book in my opinion is the software by A. Panchenko, Theory and Practice of Chess Ending. You can race through the the basics very quickly using the software.

Silman's complete endgame course is great, though might be too easy for you...

This is GOLD! Thank you very much, I am very appreciative!

Now I just need another lifetime to study all these books ^^

great content, thanks

"Simple Chess" by Michael Stean is good on basic positional concepts.

For really beginner positional ideas, believe it or not 'The Idiot's Guide to Chess' is really good. I read it and was surprised by how useful I found it!

Haha! It's interesting how all those "idiot guide" are quite successful... I think it would be a bit embarrassing to be caught with one... you'd be labelled an idiot forever!

So? I have no problem being labeled a chess idiot. Afterall my otb chess ratings of 1853 (-54, belgian federation), 1931 (Fide) and 2051 (antwerp commercial chess federation) proves i am just a mere idiot mortal trying to be good at chess.

Yes, chess players in particular are loathe to pick up the Idiot's Guide. But it is the perfect book for beginner to lower-intermediate. Just a great book written by a US Champion Wolf.

I wouldn't mind being labelled an idiot, it's the forever part that bothers me! ^.^

Could use it to play mind games on your opponents. Just so long as the kids don't show up with How to Beat Your Dad at Chess.

For me i need books "why you are doing such bad moves" and "why you still keep doing them vol.2"

lol... I am dreading the day my son starts beating me at chess, but I know it will happen if he doesn't quit.

HangingKing wrote:For me i need books "why you are doing such bad moves" and "why you still keep doing them vol.2"

lol... yeah, and for me: "I have shown you this opening line 400 times, why the hell can't you remember it??!"

I need to read
If you still lose to 2-move tactics, why are you studying strategy? Vols 1-3

This topic is awesome!

"When will you remember to check for enemy threats every move?" by BorgsConscience!

Just spent a few hours looking up the best chess books for the openings that ICS recommend, and heres my results:

Sicilian Kalashnikov
Sicilian Kalashnikov by Jan Pinski and Jacob Aagaard
The Killer Sicilian: Fighting 1 E4 with the Kalashnikov (early 2011)

French Defence
Play the French by John Watts
The French (Dangerous Weapons Series) by John Watts
The Complete French by Lev Psakhis
The Flexible French by Viktor Moskalenko
Mastering the French by Neil McDonald and Andrew Harley
Winning with the French by Wolfgang Uhlmann
The French Winawer by Neil McDonald
The Main Line French: 3 Nc3 by Steffen Pedersen
The French Tarrasch by John Emms
Attacking Chess: The French by Simon Williams (2011 release date)

Scandinavian Defence
Scandinavian Defence by James Plaskett
Starting out the Scandinavian by Jovanka Houska
Scandinavian Defence: The Dynamic 3...Qd6 by Ian Rogers and Michael Melts
The Scandinavian by John Emms

Dutch
Starting Out: Dutch Defence by Neil McDonald
Win With the Stonewall Dutch by Sverre Johnsen and Ivar Bern
Dutch Stonewall by Jacob Aagaard
Classical Dutch by Jan Pinski
Play the Classical Dutch by Simon Williams

Semi-Slav Defence
The Meran System by Steffen Pedersen
Chess Explained - The Meran Semi-slav by Reinaldo Vera
Play the Semi-Slav by David Vigorito
The Botvinnik Semi-Slav: Full Coverage of the Sharpest of Opening Systems by Steffen Pedersen
The Triangle System: Challening White in the Semi-slav by Glenn Flear (2010 Dec release date)

I'm about to start month 4 which goes through the Scandinavian Defence, just bought the 4 books listed off amazon. Hoping they'll complement the ICS material. Will write a review on each book after I've read them. I think we should have a book reviews subforum, I'll make a post in the suggestions box now .