Thursday, August 21, 2008

That Pile Next To My Bed

Not much posting going on here lately, mostly due to time constraints - you know, stuff like work, relationships, travel, etc. Anyways, over at Likesforest’s blog, he shared his current reading list, and I thought that was cool so I’ll do the same. These are the books that I am currently working trough:




Other bloggers have commented on Heisman’s Tactics book before, and if you haven’t read it, take a look at it. It covers all the tactics you need to know and working through it a couple of times will definitely pay off.

Jepser Hall’s Chess Training for Budding Champions has one of the dorkiest covers in my chess library, but I really like the book. It’s a great comprehensive chess course for the intermediate player that not only addresses the fundamentals (pawn structures, how to develop a plan, etc), but also talks about HOW to study.

Then there is Kasparov’s My Great Predecessors Part II, which one could spend a lifetime studying… it’s got material that is way over my head (and probably many masters’ heads), but I’m mainly using it to study Botvinnik’s games, which I have really come to love (thanks mostly to drunknknite).

Last but not least, I continue to work with Alburt’s Chess Training Pocket Book. I’ve commented on this book before, and I still think it’s one of the best little chess books out there, period. It’s very compact so I take it most everywhere I go, and the 300 positions offer great lessons – not just tactical lessons, but positional, endgames, etc. If I had to make a top 5 list of books in my library, this one would be on it. And I was really excited to see that a sequel is coming out soon!

Well, that’s about it for today. I’m hoping to put up some posts soon taking an in-depth look at Rybka 3, which is on its way into my greedy little hands. Stay tuned.

6 comments:

drunknknite said...

Botvinnik is a bulldozer. I think looking at Botvinnik really taught me how to win games. I was actually looking at that book last night. Everyone in that book is amazing... Euwe, Bronstein, Tal, that era is just really instructive I think.

Chessaholic said...

He wasn't really much on my radar until you and I talked about his games at one point. I find that looking at his games provides a lot of ideas in typical positions I reach with white. Very instructive.

Hiddenleaf said...

But where is Olga on the cover of part II of Alburt's book?

;)

Chessaholic said...

I know, the cover is the real reason I bought the book ;-)

Our Sword said...

Dude, I read the title "the pile next to my bed" and then see the cover-picture of "Chess Training Pocket Book" and think to myself:

Wow, that looks like a chess porno movie! Sweet!

Why they have that blonde in the short black skirt leaning over that guy I do not know, but it really looks like the cover of a porn dvd.

So that's all I have to say.

From the patzer said...

So how does one develop a plan?