tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265274275777233377.post8957486416264949708..comments2023-07-17T08:51:00.972-07:00Comments on Lost in Chessland: Buying Chess BooksRalphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03530693196687104804noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265274275777233377.post-34912580119125697472012-01-07T02:23:37.352-08:002012-01-07T02:23:37.352-08:00Chess Blueprints arrived. It is slightly beyond m...Chess Blueprints arrived. It is slightly beyond me at my current stage. The remedy is to read a primer. Fortunately, my stash has an appropriate book for that; Reuben Fine's The Middle Game in Chess. I have the 1973 reprint, not the latest edition that is panned for being butchered on the amazon.com comments.<br /><br />A 'thank you' goes out to chesstiger in his 'My footsteps in chess' for showing the benefits of organizing my stash of chess books. I now have several books that I already own on my to-be-read list. I am sure my sagging bookshelves will appreciate not having more weight added to them.<br /><br />Sigh! So much to learn and so little time.Ralphhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03530693196687104804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265274275777233377.post-1881573193509142602012-01-04T17:22:18.318-08:002012-01-04T17:22:18.318-08:00I will take a good look at ANY game collection. I...I will take a good look at ANY game collection. I LOVE them. Not everyone of them is a gem but I just love reading through a good game collection.<br /><br />As far as other book types:<br /><br />Openings: I ain't buying another opening book for a LONG time. It has been two years. I feel that I can learn openings better with analysis and comparison. (and a little help from the ChessOk Modern Chess Openings Software)<br /><br />Middlegame: I think here I tend to stick with a few authors. Silman, Silman and Silman. :) Again, I am relying on good annotated game collections for much of my strategy study. Only Silman seems to understand how to write a TEXT book! I have read "The Amateur's Mind", and loved it! And in a bit I will read his new Reassess Your Chess edition. I will also eventually read a book or two on attack.<br /><br />Endgames: Pandolfin, Nunn! Those are my guys! I don't need any new endgame books. And won't look at any for awhile. Pandolfini's Endgame Course and Nunn's, "Understanding Chess Endings" does it all for me (with a little Silman thrown in for good measure--especially his chess mentor endgame courses at Chess.com)<br /><br />So I guess what I am really saying is that I have gotten to a point where I am maximizing training and practicing the information I am gathering. My book splurge days are over. (which I must admit, makes me kind of sad!)Tommyghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04836893561110796499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265274275777233377.post-7035546016066106132012-01-02T06:16:57.466-08:002012-01-02T06:16:57.466-08:00It sounds like you do your best to research books ...It sounds like you do your best to research books before purchase, I don't think there's much more that can be done beyond Googling to find the reviews. I don't fully trust any one site for reviews - even good reviewers can sometimes be lazy or biased - but if there are 3-4 sites out there with useful descriptions that match what you're looking for, that's usually enough of a critical mass for me.<br /><br />I'm careful about buying new books these days, although in the past few months I've augmented my collection a fair bit. I now largely limit myself to a few categories, including: classics that have stood the test of time (and are now in algebraic notation with perhaps some cleanup of editing and analysis); high-quality annotated game collections of prominent players that show insight into chess thinking; and well-reviewed books on chess principles (tactics and strategy) that have been around for a while. Opening books need to have extensive game annotations rather than only looking at theoretical lines.<br /><br />I'd take the assessed rating guidelines for books with a grain of salt, since a rating reflects a player's chess performance rather than their chess knowledge. If you're a serious Class C player who's read a fair amount in the literature and understands the fundamental positional concepts, I'd say anything with a minimum 1800 should in fact be comprehensible and applicable, assuming it's well-written. Whether it can then be successfully integrated into your play is another issue, but that's always the case with new study material.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com