Chessreads

What makes a chess book good or bad? Here's my take: youtube.com/watch?v=lnYyaJlr…

Most chess books show you what the right plan was. The best ones teach you how to find it yourself. Here's my list of the best books on using pawn structures to formulate a plan: chessreads.com/books-about-f…

3 Books for improving Positional Play (by difficulty) 1. The Power of Pawns by Jörg Hickl (for beginners) The author illustrates broad themes through high level games, which he only sparsely annotates. The games covered in each chapter are unified by a theme, but mostly you have to work that out for yourself because Hickl appears to assume it’s so obvious that he doesn’t need to comment most of the time. Overall, Hickl presents the reader with full games where pawn structures play a critical role, but he doesn’t always spell out the key lessons or distill general principles. chessreads.com/review/the-po… 2. Chess Structures: A Grandmaster Guide by Mauricio Flores Rios (intermediate) Winning or losing most often comes down to understanding what should be done in a position. That always depends on the pawn structure. The pawn structure determines strategy, creates tactical opportunities, and is essential in creating long-term plans. Mauricio Flores Rios has created the ultimate guide to 28 most common pawn structures in chess. Each pawn structure is explained on a human level with plans for both sides, and plenty of well annotated example games, each with its own lessons neatly listed at the end of the game. chessreads.com/review/chess-… Video review: youtu.be/6hdK3Ozmwlo?si=v2XE… GM Mauricio Flores Rios, the author of Chess Structures, recetly began expanding on his work on specific structures, check out his masterclass on the Closed Spanish and KID: chessmind.ai/video-product/m… 3. The Hidden Laws of Chess by Nick Maatman (advanced) The Hidden Laws of Chess is a book that teaches how to know what to look at and what to look for in a chess position. It goes way beyond simple concepts, and delves deep into complex problems such as evaluating a space advantage, how to make a difference when positions are symmetrical, how to find value in doubled pawns, and much more. It’s intended for strong players who are trying to make a leap to Master level, despite that, most lower rated players will have no trouble understanding what Maatman explains, which is why I believe this should be a must-read for any ambitious player, regardless of their strength. chessreads.com/review/the-hi…

2 Opening Books that go beyond theory 1. The Zaitsev System by Alexey Kuzmin Kuzmin has written one of the best, most detailed, most descriptive, and most entertaining opening books of all time. I would go as far as to put his Zaitsev System alongside my favorite opening book, Squeezing the Gambits. To put things into perspective, Kuzmin is a Russian GM, and he used to work with Karpov from 1987 to 1991. He was Karpov’s second during the matches with Kasparov. And Zaitsev, the inventor of the system, was who Karpov learned the opening from. So Kuzmin is one of the biggest experts on the opening in the world and he has first hand experience from his prep sessions with Anatoly Karpov. chessreads.com/review/the-za… 2. Squeezing the Gambits by Kiril Georgiev Georgiev wrote an almost perfect guide on how to deal with four very annoying openings most 1.d4 players dread facing: the Benko, the Budapest, the Albin, and the Blumenfeld. Instead of going over tens of lines that are unlikely to ever happen over the board, giving engine sidelines and weird ideas hard for humans to understand, Georgiev gives applicable strategic tools you can use even if your opponent deviates from book moves. chessreads.com/review/squeez… There's an ongoing debate between chess books people and chess courses people. I think both are equally useful, depening on what you need, and how advanced your chess is. I haven't read any books on the Scandi yet, but I have been through some of John Bartholomew's excellent new Scandi course. The Scandinavian Defense (1.e4 d5) has been a mainstay of renowned chess YouTuber and Chessiverse co-founder IM John Bartholomew's opening repertoire for over two decades. Now after more than 2 years and 1,000+ hours of painstakingly-researched work, John is thrilled to share his ENTIRE repertoire (yes, EVERYTHING!) with you exclusively on Chessiverse! chessiverse.com/l/scandi

Chess Imbalances is a great resource for ambitious chess players. It's a great read for those of you who are willing to put in the work! @GMFloresRios launched a great chess learning platform, chessmind.ai/ They are currently running an easter sale and you can get 50% off their monthly or annual membership or $60 off the lifetime membership. You can also get a lot for free, even without signing up!

IM John Bartholomew on why he prefers the Scandi to the Caro-Kann. The Scandinavian Defense (1.e4 d5) has been a mainstay of renowned chess YouTuber and Chessiverse co-founder IM John Bartholomew's opening repertoire for over two decades. Now after more than 2 years and 1,000+ hours of painstakingly-researched work, John is thrilled to share his ENTIRE repertoire (yes, EVERYTHING!) with you exclusively on Chessiverse! Use the code "SCANDI50" and get it at a 50% discount until April 5th! >chessiverse.com/l/scandi @fins0905

Winning or losing most often comes down to understanding what should be done in a position. That always depends on the pawn structure. The pawn structure determines strategy, creates tactical opportunities, and is essential in creating long-term plans. Continue reading: chessreads.com/review/chess-… Or watch the Video Review: youtu.be/6hdK3Ozmwlo Try out the Structures Masterclass by GM Mauricio Flores Rios, the author of Chess Structures: >chessmind.ai/video-product/m…

John and I have gone over the basics of the Scandinavian, an opening John has been playing for over 20 years. John tried to explain what the Scandi is about, why he likes it, what the upsides and downsides are, and I tried to learn as much as I could! You will notice that John is both very knowledgable and very humble, and, unlike me, he questions openings and doesn't jump to quick, often incorrect evaluations like I do. It was a great pleasure to have a player and an opening expert of his caliber teach me chess! Watch the video below. youtu.be/A8nEjPD_fpY John's Scandi course: chessiverse.com/l/scandi Use the code "SCANDI50" and get it at a 50% discount until April 5th!

The Scandinavian Defense (1.e4 d5) has been a mainstay of renowned chess YouTuber and Chessiverse co-founder IM John Bartholomew's (@fins0905) opening repertoire for over two decades. Now after more than 2 years and 1,000+ hours of painstakingly-researched work, John is thrilled to share his ENTIRE repertoire (yes, EVERYTHING!) with you exclusively on Chessiverse! Use the code "SCANDI50" and get it at a 50% discount until April 5th! chessiverse.com/l/scandi #teamscandi

Stuck around 900 Elo? These 2 chess books will level you up ♟️ 📘 Silman’s Complete Endgame Course 📗 Play Winning Chess (Seirawan) Most players ignore endgames and fundamentals, that’s where free rating is. GM Mauricio Flores Rios, the author of Chess Structures, recently expanded on his work on specific structures. Check out his masterclass on the Closed Spanish and KID! here: chessmind.ai/video-product/m…

Chess books are so hard to read. Will reading them become easier once I improve? chessreads.com/everything-yo… Yes. As you get better at visualizing, you will not have to rely on having a board on the side for every position. You will also have a database of knowledge to compare what you're reading to and you will begin drawing your own conclusions. There is no better feeling than seeing that something you're learning is falling into place! Serious chess study should also include openings. Here is what I use to study openings and build repertoires effortlessly chessbook.com/chessreads #chess #chessreads #chesspunks

Most players rated around 1200 need to work on tactics. And not just solving tactics, but having a strong player explain patterns and what leads up to tactical play! Challenge chess bots who have distinct playing styles to practice tactical, defensive, or strategic play: Play the Hunter, Aggressive and Simplifying - plays like Fischer and Kasparov chessiverse.com/l/hunter Play the Savage, a wild tactician who plays like Tal or Nezhmetdinov chessiverse.com/l/savage Play the Guardian, a defensive and simplifying style, plays like Karpov or Capablanca chessiverse.com/l/guardian I would recommend three books perfect for improving tactics like this: Tune Your Chess Tactics Antenna Learn Chess Tactics 1001 Chess Exercises for Club Players chessreads.com/review/tune-y… chessreads.com/review/learn-… chessreads.com/review/1001-c…

Happy birthday !

Find this book and many more on Chessreads.com! "The short version of Chess Fundamentals is highly recommended for adult improvers who have gained most of their rating through playing thousands of online games and perhaps only encountered the basics of chess as a child. Since this edition is not too bulky, it serves as an excellent starting point for players who would like to bring more clarity and structure to their game before moving on to more demanding books." #chessreads #chess #chesspunks #capablanca