/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.20899540]

Any books that can help someone improve their chess skills?

[Anonymous No.20899551]

Bobby Fisher said you're either good at chest or you ain't. It's like asking for a book to increase your intelligence. It doesn't work like that.

[Anonymous No.20899564]

>>20899540
Just play it.

[Anonymous No.20899568]

>>20899551
I can tell you're on mobile because you misspelled chess
The t and the s keys are far apart from one another

[Anonymous No.20899570]

>Practical Chess Exercises: 600 Lessons from Tactics to Strategy
By Ray Cheng
Someone on /pol/ recommended this to improve. I personally haven't read it though.

[Anonymous No.20899573]

>>20899564
I have been and I want a book that can give strategies and insider knowledge

[Anonymous No.20899574]

>>20899568
I spelled it wrong on purpose to trigger the midwits. Delete your post and I'll delete this reply so we can keep fooling them.

[Anonymous No.20899575]

>>20899551
If you study for real you'll start noticing patterns and themes and you will improve. That doesn't mean you are going to become a gm, but you can surely get to 2000 elo online.

[Anonymous No.20899577]

>>20899574
No
No I don't think I will

[Anonymous No.20899582]

>>20899574
So you were just pretending to be retarded?

[Anonymous No.20899585]

>>20899574

[Anonymous No.20899649]

>>20899582
>>20899585
I wasn't pretending and it wasn't to get a laugh. I genuinely hate people of average intelligence and always set up stumbling blocks for them so that I can immediately filter the wheat from the chaff.

[Anonymous No.20899681]

>>20899540
Chess is basically autism. You have to literally just map out countless possible trees over and over. I really do not enjoy chess but I like watching videos analyzing high level games because they are like extreme condensations of mental effort

[Anonymous No.20899724]

>>20899540
Logical chess by chernev as a start.
Play 10 or so tactics puzzles a day, really thinking before making any move.
Once you get the basics down and develop enough game sense you'll understand which area of the game you should work to improve (opening, midgame, endgame, tactics,calculation,ect.). Each component has their respective books and courses.

[Anonymous No.20899735]

>>20899724
Also ignore the retards saying that IQ is the determining factor for chess elo. All gms are autistic, not necessarily high IQ, so I'm sure you can compete.

[Anonymous No.20899765]

>>20899540
>>>/tg/85782289
here's some books https://pastebin.com/VykJGpzS

[Anonymous No.20899829]

>>20899540
Just play

[Anonymous No.20899872]

People who say "just play" are unironic morons. It's like telling someone who has never driven "just get in the car and drive lmao".

OP, just download some basic Foundations book, do all the exercises there; play around with puzzles on lichess.org and when you get more comfortable start reading about openings, middle game and end game etc.
Keep in mind it will take you a lot of time just sitting alone and moving the pieces and analyzing sequences (on the computer or a physical board).

[Anonymous No.20900331]

>>20899649
Ah, so you're actually retarded

[Anonymous No.20900338]

>>20899872
I was captain of my chess team. I never learned a single opening.

Just play.

[Anonymous No.20900370]

>>20899540
GM Secrets by Igor Smirnov and GM Ram by Zaitnav

[Anonymous No.20900381]

>>20900338
They made you captain ironically as a joke.

[Anonymous No.20900402]

If you master these endgame principals you will be ahead of the curve up to around 1500 or so elo

[Anonymous No.20900471]

>>20899540
>>>/tg/

[Anonymous No.20900473]

>>20899735
Chess gms have extremely good memory and visualization ability. Like multiple SDs away from average

[Anonymous No.20900479]

I like watching chess YouTubers
Gothamchess aka Levy is pretty instructive on defenses and openings and general plans.
I like Eric Rosen for all his traps and ‘funny lines’. Rosen taught me my new favorite opening, the Quaade Gambit, a variation of the King’s Gambit. If the opponent falls for the traps it’s a lot of fun. Unfortunately a ton of guys play the Sicilian or Caro Kann so I don’t often get to play it

[Anonymous No.20900543]

https://lichess.org/1hkkxaK9
PLAY AGAINST ME, COWARD!

[Anonymous No.20900825]

>>20900543
you there anon?
let's do some post-game

[Anonymous No.20900873]

fun for a minute tier
>playing chess against someone when neither of you know how to play chess
over quickly tier
>playing chess against someone who knows how to play chess without knowing how to play chess
sweet spot tier
>getting just enough into chess that you can play the occasional game, enjoy the occasional video dissecting a legendary game, and unlock your own natural talent if you have it, perhaps reading a book of openers and strategies here and there
pointless tier
>getting better than sweet spot tier good at chess but not good enough that it is your main hobby and dominates your life
why though? seriously why even bother? tier
>making chess your main hobby and letting it dominate your life, staying abreast of the meta and devoting countless hours to it, all so that you can still be a middling shitty scrub compared to anyone noteworthy and maybe get mogged by some east european streamer skanks
well that's nice for you, but still who even cares? tier
>being good enough by lucky innate talent to mog the east european patreon whores, all so you can be a shabby autistic blunt affect ethnic man making chess videos that still do 1/4 of the east euro skanks' videos' numbers anyway
well that's nice for you, but nobody really actually cares, it's basically worth one good "did you know i'm the worldwide chess god" icebreaker on a first date tier
>literally being magnus carlsen

[Anonymous No.20900881]

>>20899872
>just get in the car and drive lmao
yeah pretty much, even Chris-Chan can fucking drive

[Anonymous No.20900905]

>>20900873
Magnus always looks so incredibly smug kek

[Anonymous No.20900957]

>>20900873

agreed. every few months I meet up with a good friend and we cook breakfast and enjoy strong coffee over a few sets of chess. playing online pales in comparison.

[Anonymous No.20901103]

>>20899540
The usual advice for people under 2000 elo is to focus on tactics and endgames, but this usually means you end up in the middlegame not knowing what to do when there are no obvious tactical plays, and this feeling of not knowing what to do, of not really understanding chess, can be more frustrating than losing to simple tactics where it's obvious that what you had to do was be more alert to tactics.

I think it makes more sense to focus on tactics and middlegames. Middlegame books (typically containing "middlegame," "positional," or "pawn structure" in their titles -- forget about Silman's derivative books that lose the logical structure, completeness, and planning precision of the better books from which they're derived) will eliminate this feeling of not knowing what to do. If there aren't any tactical plays, you'll know how to improve your position, what weaknesses to eliminate, what pawn breaks to strive for, etc. You'll have good ideas available for pretty much any opening without even studying lines of those openings. For instance, Euwe's middlegame books will show, among other pawn structures, exactly how to play the pawn structure with a White pawn on e4 vs. a Black pawn on d6, and this is a typical structure that arises from many 1. e4 openings and that beginners tend to encounter again and again.

[Anonymous No.20901242]

>>20900873
I agree, this goes for most competitive games. If it matters heavily to you whether you're winning or losing you've gone too far, just have fun

[Anonymous No.20901451]

>>20899540
POST ELO
1198 :B been playing for a year

[Anonymous No.20901470]

>>20899540
Just watched GothamChess videos and buy his basics courses

[Anonymous No.20901493]

>>20901451
>POST ELO
Worthless without saying which website and what time control.
t. 1300 3 min blitz Lichess

[Anonymous No.20901503]

I just had a thought about using anki to learn Chess, is that possible?
I'm kind of obsessed with anki atm, I'm using it to memorise Shakespeare lines and learn French so I wonder if it'd be possible to learn Chess with it?
I know chess has a lot of worked out moves based on states so would that kind of information be suitable for anki?

[Anonymous No.20901521]

>>20901503
It's not only possible, it's probably the most effective method there is. I converted Manual of Chess Combinations into anki cards and its insanely effective.

[Anonymous No.20901613]

>>20901503
I'm sure anki would work, but there's tons of spaced repetition trainers built specifically for chess repertoires and tactics. Chess position trainer is my favorite and you can find it for free

[Anonymous No.20902082]

>>20899540
My System - Aron Nimzowitsch
100 Endgames You Must Know - Jesús de la Villa

Do tactics daily on Chesstempo or Lichess
>>20899872
Playing (longer time formats) is unironically good advice, just analyze your games after as well.
>>20900473
It's all repetition
>>20901103
This. Study endgames, middlegames, and then openings.
>>20901451
2000 lichess rapid, 1 year
>>20901503
It's possible. Look up Neal Bruce, he trains his chess with flash cards, Anki should be the same.

[Anonymous No.20902102]

>>20899575
most people can't get to 2000 elo. you need to have some natural talent AND study really hard or have coaching to get to that level. you can't just throw around 2000 elo like its nothing.

[Anonymous No.20902106]

>>20901503
anki is just digital flashcards right? are there like premade anki for subjects?

[Anonymous No.20902141]

>>20899540
Memorise few openings and study end games. Don't waste time with books.

[Anonymous No.20902611]

>>20901451
>get to 2200 rapid on lichess in 6 month
>everyone tells me I have a lot of talent
>start taking it more seriously
>one year later still 2200

[Anonymous No.20902664]

>>20899872
Practice always trumps theory. Someone who learns about basic controls and then drives a car from 10000 hours is going to be a better driver than someone who spends 9000 hours reading about the driving techniques and then drives himself a little bit. I used to be in a chess club when I was in school and being older than most other beginners (I started playing at 14, basically an ancient boomer by modern chess standards), I thought I could just read my way into quick mastery. This plan got quickly murdered after I got destroyed by kids who simply played a fuckton since like 5. They simply had chess in their blood.

[Anonymous No.20902723]

Only book I ever used, can't go wrong with Capablanca. Got me up to a decent amateur level. Then I blitzed tactics daily, watched games, and played until 2000. I wouldn't recommend reading My System and studying the endgame in great detail until after you hit 1600. K+P and K+R endgames are essential at all levels but those are in pic related.

[Anonymous No.20902772]

>>20899540
ITT: LOSE

[Anonymous No.20902783]

>>20901451
Been playing on and off for years, but since march on chess.com
>rapid 1347
>blitz 1129
>bullet 1066
>puzzles 1901
one day I want to actually start studying some theory and stuff, but for now I play a few games every day & solve the 3 puzzles for fun

[Anonymous No.20902788]

>>20899540
I hate these green cheap as shit plastic chess sets

[Anonymous No.20902835]

>>20900402
why's there a grownup ass man on the cover

[Anonymous No.20902876]

>>20902835
It gets recommended to grown ass men all the time. You’d be surprised how far people can go without knowing some basic endgames

[Anonymous No.20902879]

>>20899551
Definitely true at the grandmaster and super grandmaster level. Maybe even IM level. But for fun hobby amateurs it is possible to improve. You might even get to FM or win your local club’s tournament.

[Anonymous No.20902937]

>>20900873
So many words to just say that it's a hobby with rapidly diminishing returns.

[Anonymous No.20902957]

Chess is just Starcraft for the slow

[Anonymous No.20903033]

>>20902141
This, kinda.
A book on some reputable opening (preferably an older edition, when they where still talking about ideas and not just repeating lines from databases and engines) will cover your middle game plans, strategy and tactics as well and it will all be directly applicable to your games. Then the endings will be crucial to convert the advantage/save your ass.

[Anonymous No.20903053]

>>20902957
What's the best Starcraft equivalent worth playing in 2022?

[Anonymous No.20903163]

Learn ENDGAME and tactics. That's how I became an FM at 16, despite being laziest midwit ever. 2200 and below players have solid openings and don't do stupid shit in the midgame often enough, yet they suck in the endgame. Having really good endgames will win you many equal endgames and will save you many losing endgames. It also allows you to simplify. I had many games where I would exchange, exchange, exchange and get to the equal endgame and crush him there. It will also improve you midgame, because you will have better understanding of what kind of endgames you prefer to arrive to. Learning endgames is easy and fast, there are fewer lines and they are more thematic. You just need to learn it. Now there are too many good endgame books to count, but I recommend just these two books:
>Batsford Chess Endings by Jon Speelman
>Van Perlo's Endgame Tactics
Batsford Chess Endings is very comprehensive, well written and covers everything you need. Jon Speelman himself was one of the best endgame players and it shows in this book. Van Perlo's Endgame tactics goes through hundreds of unusual situations that occur in endgame positions. Fantastic book. Not only it improves your endgame tactics, but it also makes you pay attention and go through different lines in your head, that you could miss otherwise.
>tactics
Of course you need to know tactics, do I need to tell this? I recommend two books by Maksim Blokh: Combinational Motifs and Combinational Art. I like these books because they explain step by step logic behind tactics.
>openings
Lastly I want to briefly talk about openings. I always hated learning openings and when I started taking openings seriously I hated it even more. Especially, as black playing against d4. Holy shit how many lines you need to know and they all lead to slightly worse positions where black are playing to equalize. Learning to play against d4 is like full time job with no pay. Which leads to the next logical suggestion. Learn to play d4 as white. If you master most common lines you will have ton of games where only you playing to win. I recommend opening books by Lars Schandorf.

[Anonymous No.20903236]

>>20899540
chess is a solved game, you faggots just memorize patterns don't kid yourself in thinking that you are in any way shape or form making grand strategies.
bunch of retards fed the lie of chess = intelligence from years of programming from tv and bourgeoisie faggots.

[Anonymous No.20903368]

>>20899540
Most of what books can teach you is also possible to learn through web resources. Lichess and Chess.com both have good tools for learning and lots of puzzles, but be warned that Chess.com is greedy and will limit you to 4 puzzles a day MAX unless you pay them. Lichess, on the other hand, is completely free and doesn't require an account.
That said, this is /lit/, and you asked about books, so I'll recommend some. Have a chess set in front of you or the lichess board editor up on computer/phone so that you can recreate situations being described and play them out yourself while reading.
If you're really bad/barely know a thing, Fischer Teaches Chess is a good starting point.
After that, I'd say it's time to learn an opening. Get Modern Chess Openings and be ready for chess notation autism (the notation isn't very hard to learn, and so long as you are playing out the moves on a board and not just trying to read it then it's not actually that autistic [actually it's still autistic]). I'd say pick d4 or e4 for white and read about what some good options are going from those, but remember that while learning a couple openings is important you still do need to be able to think about/improvise off of your opponents moves in a way that just memorizing a list of moves won't help with.
After that, well, it's up to you. You should try to get practical experience by playing while reading these, be it over-the-board or online. It does you no good just reading about the game without actually using the ideas/applying them and reinforcing what you've learned.
>>20903236
Filtered by openings eh?
Also, define solved. Chess is still a ways off from being solved from what I think that means, but it's definitely MUCH closer than the superior Nipponese Game of Generals.

[Anonymous No.20903411]

What about that Polgar guy books?

[Anonymous No.20903468]

>>20902611
okay but 2200 lichess rapid is maybe 1300-1400 on chess.com lmao

[Anonymous No.20903484]

>>20903468
More like 1800

[Anonymous No.20903489]

>>20903484
cope, lichesslet

[Anonymous No.20903587]

>>20900957
>playing online pales in comparison
It's obvious that any kind of game, be it board game or video game, are better when playing with friends face to face, not online. I enjoy playing fighting games, but I have 0 interest in playing them online.

[Anonymous No.20903590]

>>20902106
>there like premade anki for subjects?
Yes, anki has a database full of them.

[Anonymous No.20903626]

>>20899551
And many other masters recommend books. Kasparov recommends lots of them.
Fischer was extremely opinionated so statements like this are not be taken seriously. Given he also put his name to ‘Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess’ there is even less reason to credit this quote with any meaning.

[Anonymous No.20903655]

>>20903163
How did you read these? Did you play out the endgame positions against a computer? And for the puzzles did you just run through them all once or do careful analysis? Do you remember how long you spent on each book?

[Anonymous No.20903923]

>>20903655
most books usually have diagrams after every few moves.
it's good to play the moves in your head. keep trying to do it even though you practically can't when starting out. it gets better with practice, and helps calculate positions when playing.

[Anonymous No.20904107]

>>20903655
I wrote summaries in my notebook after learning with several examples from my head. Puzzles I just solve in my head. Occasionally would take out a chessboard and move pieces until I solve it. Combinational motifs is amazing. It has more than thousand problems ranging from easy to advanced. Big, clear diagrams and good, conceptual explanations

[Anonymous No.20904126]

>>20904107
Did you review your notes at all or just the act alone (plus regular play I assume) was enough? Also the combinational motifs book doesn't have explanations (unless you're just talking about the variations/solutions in the back).

[Anonymous No.20904127]

>>20903626
Kek true but I could also see him putting his name on the book just to scam pazers and resenting anyone who actually buys it.

[Anonymous No.20904134]

Russel and Norvig

[Anonymous No.20904209]

>>20902788
They’re chess club core, get some taste.

[Anonymous No.20904238]

i'm pondering getting a wooden chess set, preferably those briefcase style folding ones.
what do you anons think?

[Anonymous No.20904269]

>>20904238
I have a silicone mat with weighted pieces. I like it. It can go anywhere. The box of wooden ones seems impractical outside of a particular room in a particular home.

[Anonymous No.20904281]

>>20904269
got a pic?

[Anonymous No.20904305]

>>20904269
it would usually just stay home, yeah.
still, not that awful to carry around.

[Anonymous No.20904352]

>>20904238
I got pic related, because I have no friends and I can't see a situation where I would be carrying it outside. It's just a board that's like 1cm tall (squares are 58mm). I would recommend getting a folding one if you want to put it away sometimes.

[Anonymous No.20904408]

>>20904352
nice set.
i like the better "portability" of the folding, mostly.

[Anonymous No.20904571]

>>20902937
I agree, say it in 140 characters or less or don't say it at all.

[Anonymous No.20905108]

>no more replies
come on lads

[Anonymous No.20905128]

>>20899540
>>20905108
play winning chess was pretty nice for me back when I was pretty much a complete beginner

[Anonymous No.20905132]

>>20905108
You got your replies, bro.
I remember getting a 30 day ban for starting a chess thread on /lit/ one or two years ago.

[Anonymous No.20905136]

>>20905128
by yasser sereiwan or

[Anonymous No.20905144]

>>20905128
>>20905132
i'm just another poster, not op.
chess threads are comfy.

[Anonymous No.20905153]

>>20905144
True. Ironically the chess general at /tg/ is not comfy.

[Anonymous No.20905155]

>>20905144
I'm taking a break from chess tonight because I had an incredibly frustrating loss yesterday :)

[Anonymous No.20905333]

anyone up for a match?

[Anonymous No.20906754]

>>20899568
You have no idea what you’re stalking about

[Anonymous No.20906771]

>>20905333
Sure.

[Anonymous No.20907402]

>>20899551
yes chess is the one thing that you can't practice and get better at for some reason

[Anonymous No.20907408]

>>20902664
Yes, but for most people, a driver who drives 950 hours and spends 50 doing a more in depth study of, for example
>his own vehicle's weight distribution and drivetrain
>what brakes his car is equipped with
>what range his engine produces the most power
>braking techniques, or other advanced techniques, etc.
...will be a far better driver than someone who just learned the basic controls and drove for 1000 hours.

Similarly if you supplement your chess practice (or any practice) with reading theory and then applying it it'll be really helpful.

[Anonymous No.20907437]

>>20907402
What the fuck are you talking about? Of course you can get better at chess through practice.

[Anonymous No.20907456]

>>20907437
my dear anon, please read the post I replied to and try to interpret my post once more

if you reach the same conclusion again, ask me and I'll explain.

[Anonymous No.20907720]

>>20899551
>Bobby Fisher
Who is he?

[Anonymous No.20907754]

>realize chess is simply memorizing the board + possible moves
>people waste their lives on this
>it's literally just a binary tree of choices to memorize
>even computers are better at it
>people think chess shows intelligence
>people waste their lives on chess

[Anonymous No.20908370]

>>20907754
>t. can't beat Stockfish level 1

[Anonymous No.20908415]

>>20907754
I don't think a frogposter should be a judge of people's intelligence.

[Anonymous No.20908435]

>>20899551
Bobby Fischer also said "I'm very concerned because I think the Jews want to drive the elephants to extinction because the trunk of an elephant reminds them of an uncircumcised penis. I'm absolutely serious about that... Jews are sick, they're mental cases."

[Anonymous No.20908456]

Read The Soviet Chess Primer by Maizelis

[Anonymous No.20908472]

>>20908435
Makes sense to me

[Anonymous No.20909873]

>>20905136
yeah exactly

[Anonymous No.20910514]

>>20908435
any books on becoming this based?

[Anonymous No.20910652]

>>20899551
*youre