I tried flicking through some game collections books, but didn't find it particularly interesting or helpful. Should I try more instructive books like those Dvoretsky endgame books, Jacob Aagaard middle game books etc.?
Analysing my own games is somewhat helpful, but takes a while to identify flaws in my play.
What did you find more helpful? Cheers.
Absoluetly! I recently got into studying some books. Here are some arguably best of them:
- My system by Nimzovitch. Will help you understand basic and advanced chess principles/ideas
- Silman's complete endgame course. Everything you will ever need for endgames. I value it higher than dvorevtsky, as I like silman's way of writing more.
- Chess for tigers. Featuring Lasker's playstyle of playing against opponent not the pieces. Helps you to understand how preparation should work, how to deduce which line your oponent wants to go for, etc.
- Chernev's Logical chess move by move. Many people play theory without understanding the reasoning behind the moves, or create 1 move threats without any long lasting plan. This book helps you prevent that.
- The reases your chess book by silman. MASTER THE BASICS!!! I, 1900~ fide player, after reading the first chapter found out that I do not know everything about opposition!Probably one of the most basic chess things!
Thanks for the suggestions sakram07! I have already read (well, skimmed through) My System and Reassess Your Chess. And that's what I wanted to ask, whether you read these books thoroughly or just looked at parts of the book that were of interest to you. Thanks again!
I never understood how playing through some games or opening lines can be helpful. For me the only thing that works is to analyse myself. It doesn't matter if you prefer endgame or tactics, just try to solve something with your own independent thinking. A lot of training books just give you some commented games. So what to do with them? Just playing through and reading the comments? I prefer the books that are based on exercises. You mentioned the ones of Aagaard, I think that's the right kind of stuff. You can also just take a grandmaster game and think about the moves by yourself. Think for an hour if you like, but then you will have understood something about this kind of position. Much more than by playing through 100 games.
I agreed with you Parellada, just yesterday I tried playing through an annotated game from one of the game collection books that I have. For the most part it just gave some long winded variations sprinkled with some general evaluation of the current position. That process of going through the game itself put me off game collections a bit, haha. Thanks for the suggestion!
In my opinion Games Collections are invaluable. As long as you actually like the player! You go into it knowing that the moves within are master quality. You have a chance to get acclimated to a certain style. Another thing I like about playing through them is that you soak up openings and move orders. Your subconscious picks them up and leaves an imprint. If you find yourself in a position similar to one you recently played through from a GC, a few good moves might pop into your head immediately. Of course they might not.
It might not have major effect on your game, but it can't hurt. Make sure that you pick up a GC for a reason though, not aimlessly expecting to gain 200 points just being in the same room as it. If you want a positional style? Grab a Kramnik, and throw in some Petrosian. You have a more tactical bent? Get some Tal, and spice it up with Anand. Mix old and new, new and new, old and old. It doesn't matter. Skip the comments half the time and just play through it till you have that game memorized. Then go read the comments and see if those chump 2700's are on the same page as you. Be specific. That's the key.
I hate going over my own games. The only reason I do it is because I have to pin down my own mistakes.
Chess by Laszlo Polgar
and
Encyclopedia of Chess Combinations by Informant
^--- Not Games Collections sure but really good books. Will sharpen your tactics and combinations.
Thanks for the input TheNaphtali, I think I will give game collections another go! I will try another player this time- more positional in their approach.
I too could never get into games collections, unless they are extremely well annotated. Otherwise, it feels like I'm only able to see the tip of the iceberg by not knowing what the players might be thinking, or home some sidelines are unplayable...unplayable for a super GM that is. This is where books like Silman's are great.
That said, I'm currently going though the 'Art of Attack' by Vukovic, I bought it some time ago, but never really got into it, seem to be doing better this time around.
After otb game I replay the game at home try to reconstruct what had happened during that game, I need to remember my opening choice, why I choose certain variation, try to remember the difficulties that I have in analyzing certain position. Does my choice at move 18 better? Why I hate a bishop pinning my knight in this position, is there an idea on how to best handle this. There are a lot of questions you can come with for each of those games. If I play this my opponent will play that and I don't want to enter that line because of this and that. Now you can answer most of those questions. Run the engine to verify your assessment. If you are not convinced play with the engine to prove that your assessment of the position is correct. This is the most helpful part in this activity. I am able to expand my knowledge of determining if a position is good or bad and on what grounds.
I mainly use book to find ideas applied in a position. So those annotated games similar to my opening repertoire will get collected first.
Look for some new games from strong tournaments. This is the part where I can see ideas introduced by professional players. These players prepared their lines carefully, knowing these ideas is like you pay someone to create that idea. You just need a good software to do this.
Then there is what I call maintenance. Train tactics, train strategic maneuvering and this will be done regularly.