NOUN
1.
2. A person who inspires fear and dread in others by their mere presence. This is often by reputation or physical appearance or both.
3. A person with Chuck Norris-like qualities (see def. 1 & 2)
sentence: "Chuck Norris is such a badass when he was born he came out feet first so he could kick the doctor in the face... no one delivers Chuck Norris but Chuck Norris."
ADJECTIVE
1.Meant to emphasize extreme quality.
2. Exuding manliness.
sentence: "I got this badass set of special edition A-Team DVD's for Christmas."
Let's face it. In the strictest sense of the word, no chess book will ever make you a badass. In fact chess books will probably have the opposite effect on you. The more you read, the more prone you are to getting your butt kicked by frat guys. What I mean to imply with the title of this blog entry is, these are the chess books that will make you good at chess. A viable mental badass if nothing else!
Note: If you are interested in an actual book that will make you a badass I highly recommend "The Alphabet of Manliness" by Maddox. Make sure you are wearing Depends when you read it though because it will make you wet your pants with laughter. Ok on to the goods!
With great respect to my friend Ralph Buske, I am blatantly stealing this idea from him. Not the content per se, but the actual idea and format. You can see Ralph's list of books by following this link.
http://rebs.50webs.com/chessbooks.htm
A Note about Chess Books:
There are a ton of amazing chess books out there. I can only speak for the group that I have read completely or partially. Also I can only speak for the ones I believe will help you get to Class A. Furthermore I believe owning chess books is not sufficient. A chess book will do you zero good sitting on a shelf collecting dust. You will farm treasures in chess books dependent on the effort you put into them. If you read through a chess book without a board glancing over variations and cutting out some sidelines, you probably wont get as much out of the book as if you went through it slowly and deliberately. I will present these books and try to give a brief mention of their value without giving a thorough review of the book.
These books are provided in somewhat of a cascading order. If you are new to math a book entitled "How to graph polynomials" will do you absolutely no good. However a book called "Math Basics" will probably have tremendous benefit for you. Chess books are written with the same approach. The hard part is sometimes players do not fully understand what they need and what they don't need. Therefore a CLASS F player for example, has no business trying to tackle "How to Think like a Grandmaster". It would be nice if there were a recommended rating range in each chess book to serve as a guide to what material is appropriate for what level. I believe reading certain books at certain levels can be somewhat counterproductive, or at least slow your progress towards efficient improvement. In this vein please be careful about what you choose to read! The best positional understanding in the world will do you no good if you habitually drop a knight for free. I have tried my best to make these books class specific.
The Area Codes (Class F <1000)
Class F players need a good foundation for improvement. These include tactical vision, an appropriate sense of danger and some basic mating patterns. I believe at this level opening play is negligible. The games are not decided based on opening knowledge, games are won by the player who makes the next to last blunder. Openings should never be completely ignored but they should not be the focus of your effort at this level.
This is probably where I would recommend beginning. "I already know all the basics of chess". Are you sure? What rank must a pawn be standing on to capture en passant? Do you know what a zwischenzug is? Triangulation? Do you know the difference between an absolute and relative pin?
If you are uncertain about any of these answers... read this book.
This book will serve you all the way up to Expert. However, specifically the first 306 problems (Checkmate in 1) I believe is a must for Class F players. In fact I would recommend doing them once a week for a year. This will concrete simple checkmate in 1 patterns into your mind so that alarm bells will sound off when you get a similar situation in a game. This is an excellent foundation for sound tactical play. Once you get to CLASS E or D the mate in 2 problems are excellent to improve calculation and pattern recognition. Class C and above will really benefit from the mate in 3 problems because they are tough!
Class E (1000-1199)
At this level you should realize chess is not easy. You will have to start working harder to improve. If you are willing to do the work here are some excellent tools to help you along the way. Tactics will remain your most important focus. However it is time to start introducing some more sophisticated concepts into your chess study. Openings become slightly more important at this level but are still not the reason games are won and lost at this stage.
Before I get bombarded with comments about how awful this book is from chess coaches, please read this. This is a controversial book. The main criticism of the book is that is purports to be a study plan to get you to 2000. Im not going to attack or defend this book or its criticism. What this book does however do correctly is provide an excellent study plan for you to work your butt off to become a sharp tactician. I hope you are seeing a pattern by now. I am a big fan of tactics study, especially at lower levels. The naysayers of this book have some legitimate claims, however the study plan is sound!
At this level, I believe players need some opening guidance but not being steeped in modern opening theory. This book provides a reasonable, easy-to-play repertoire and clearly explains the ideas and the goals involved in your opening play. It is a good and flexible approach that will allow you to get to a middlegame play with equality and activity.
If every chess book were this well written and this entertaining it would be so much easier to gain knowledge. Chernev is a fantastic writer and putting some serious effort into this book will allow you to glean some chess history, ideas and certainly some entertainment. What this book allows you the most is the sense that chess is not just a "he moves here I move there then I do this" kind of game. It helps to demonstrate that masters put so much more thought and principle into each move than class players do.
Class D (1200-1399)
Class D players are becoming more sophisticated chess players. But it's time for you to put your head down and power through the line. The amount of work you have to put into getting better at this level is going to get tougher. There is a wealth of knowledge at this level and the next so most of my recommendations will be in these two sections. At this level you should be able to dispatch just about anyone who is a casual, non-tournament player. Often times the difference between a Class D player and a Class C or B player is not knowledge, it's discipline. It is the art of taking what you already know and using it to maximize your potential.
Instead of spending countless hours pouring over and memorizing tomes of opening books... read this. You really want to know what white is trying to achieve in the Ruy Lopez or the London? Opening study is fine. However it is definitely more important to understand why a move occurs in this order or that before trying to memorize it. The knowledge contained in this book will be a tremendous benefit to you for all of your chess career.
You knew this one was coming sooner or later. Reassess your chess forces you to rethink your chess. The methods you have come to rely on will only take you so far. Tackling this book will provide a whole new perspective on the game of chess unlikely to have been explored by a Class D player up till this point in his or her career. Are you ready for a challenging but very rewarding book?
While I am recommending books by Silman, I would be remiss to neglect this one. This book is an excellent basis for any player who wants to improve (or even begin!) their endgame play. This book is loaded with technical information about performing certain endgame maneuvers such as Lucena and Philidor positions, etc. You cannot become a good chess player without absorbing the endgame material Silman presents in this book. This book is intended to provide information all the way up to master on technical endgames. This book is, however, only the beginning. A mastery of this book does not make you a good endgame player in its own right!
Another masterpiece by Chernev. Endgame technique is one thing, but endgame style and grace is quite another. What more could you ask for than 60 of the most beautiful and expertly annotated games of one of the greatest players of all time? Most great players study endgame tablebases... but endgame tablebases study Capablanca!
Whoa! I know you are thinking about a lot of new concepts; endgame, middlegame, openings, etc. But don't you dare forget chess is 99% tactics! This book is a little more sophisticated than the Seirwan book and is a fresh challenge for a Class D player.
Let me start off saying that this book is FANTASTIC! However it should not be named "Complete Book of Chess Strategy: Grandmaster Techniques from A to Z". Absolutely no disrespect intended for Mr. Silman but if any grandmaster picked up this book they would probably scoff. This book should probably be named "Things you absolutely must know to reach 1500". I picked up this book and skimmed through it for about 30 minutes one day. It is packed with great information but everything I read I already knew! I immediately called a friend of mine rated about 1200 and told him he needed to drop what he was doing and go to the store and buy it right now. There is so much good practical information in this book and I believe it is a great resource for any Class D-C player, however it is most certainly not Grandmaster secrets from A-Z!
Class C (1400-1599)
Look at you! Getting to be a pretty good chess player. Chances are you've beaten some people rated much higher than you and lost to some people rated much lower. When you are playing your best you are difficult to beat. Opening study is becoming a little more important at this point in your playing career while absolutely not neglecting the other things that got you here.
I believe this is Silman's best work. I am a big fan of the psychology of competition and Silman sets straight some very bad habits in this book. I laughed several times while reading this because my analysis of a position was just as faulty as one of the 1100 player's he was coaching. In a very de Groot style, Silman gets his students to think about positions and moves out loud and he presents them in the book and talks about their errors in both thinking and analysis. It is based on his imbalances method presented in full in Reasses Your Chess. However I think this book is more about psychology of analysis than the actual method of treating a position. It was also a very enjoyable read!
The book annotates excellent games played at master level while the master explains, literally, every single move and the thoughts behind it. All the way from 1. to #. What astounded me was there was nothing mystical or intimidating about how grandmasters chose most of their moves. "I place my bishop here because it gets a piece off the back rank, prepares for a pawn break at e4, connects my rooks and points towards his king." Wait a second... you mean you didnt see 10 moves deep that bishop belonged on d3 instead of e2?? What I am getting at is, the fact that this book is simple does not necessarily mean it is a beginner's book. I reserved this book for this section because it was an eye opener to me, even as a Class B player how much I try to calculate forcing variations while a master makes simple, clean and very sound moves. Less energy, more efficiency.
What is nice about this book is the fact that it is 600 problems. Now that you are versed in both tactics and positional play this book mixes both! The thing I like (and some hate) about this book is the fact that it gives you no direction. Just white to move. It might be mate in 3. It might be playing Bd3 to play the e4 pawn break, it might be a deeply hidden knight fork. This book should keep you on your toes and is challenging enough for you to stay sharp.
Oh man. You want to talk about an eye opener for bad habits? Did you know your mistakes in your manner of thought could be costing you an entire class rating? Heisman sets out to provide the user with practical advice on adopting a routine for each chess move including blunder checks, clock management, threat analysis. This book could benefit anyone of any level however if you want a serious reality check, give this one a look.
Class B (1600-1799)
You're on your way! Now it gets tough. These books are ones that I am currently reading and enjoying. I hope they deliver me to class A and I hope you can find some benefit in them as well.
Be aggressive. B-E Aggressive! The name says it all.
Perhaps my favorite chess book I have completed. It was a challenge as all I had was the (1.Pk4) type of translation... I don't even know what that's called! Anyone under 30 I'm sure has a hard time reading the old school notation, but I toughed it out and finished this book. "How to defend Difficult Positions" is a chapter in this book that will motivate you to fight like an animal when you are down material instead of just packing it up and going home.
I read once that 19 out of 20 Grandmasters have read this book. If it is good enough for them, it's good enough for you! This book is no cakewalk though. You better be prepared to put some effort into this one.
Very very very tough read. A wealth of information about pawn play however. This is an excellent resource for understanding pawns. Philidor said, "Pawns are the soul of chess, they alone form the basis for attack and defense." If you can get through this one you will have a whole new appreciation for middle game strategy based on pawn levers (or pawn breaks) and how to situate your pieces to achieve them while simultaneously preventing your opponents ideal pawn breaks.
None of these books contain the secret to being a master. Some of these books that worked great for my improvement may do nothing for you. Each chess player is different. Unfortunately there are many I may have left off and probably a few no other person would recommend. However, these are books recommended by me so you'll read it and you'll like it or else!
Very Interesting! It is always nice to get more feedback on the "level" of the different books.
ReplyDeleteI think Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual is a must read as well!
ReplyDeleteOf course to get to Class A all you have to do is read How to be a Class A player by Alex Dunne. ;)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI've chosen Silman's books for the sake of my chess playing improvement.
ReplyDeleteThis post is very useful, once it suggests books related to player's rating. I am very comfortable with Silman's advice, his books are wonderful and a delightful reading also.
Thanks !