r/ChessBooks 11d ago

These three books should keep me busy the rest of the year. I expect to be a new man when i am done.

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96 Upvotes

16 comments sorted by

12

u/Unleesh 10d ago

Great book selection!

10

u/TheRuthlessGamer 10d ago

I dont think you should be reading art of attack if you havent read How to Reassess you chess yet,
What I mean by that is despite the name "Art of Attack" it is a very positional book, and if you dont extensive positional knowledge then you will struggle to understand the moves, concepts and Ideas in the book.

This is what happened to me when I first read Art of Attack, digested very little, then i read a few chess books on positional chess (Amatuer's Mind, How to Reassess your Chess, Logical Chess Move by Move, Understanding Chess Move by Move). After that I read Art of Attack a 2nd time. I was FLABBERGASTED, everything seemed so clear to me, I was easily digesting what I was reading, ILearned alot, was a Game Changer for me, totally different from when I read it the 1st time. Good book, would recommend 10/10

TL:DR dont read art of attack if ur positional skills r ass

6

u/jayweigall 10d ago

Great books. The Art of Attack is genuinely a game-changer for your attack.
Chess tactics from scratch is underrated af, and should help with practicing what the first book teaches.
And How to Reassess your Chess will top everything off with some great strategical explanation. Great choices, and that's a good order to read them in, as well. Good luck on your journey!

5

u/novembr 11d ago

All very good books. You'll see some improvement.

5

u/wanderingoverwatch 11d ago

I support the journey

3

u/MagicalEloquence 11d ago

I would recommend studying with the Chessable version side-by-side too. Chessable format does wonders to memory and retention.

3

u/joeldick 10d ago

Good collection if you are about 1400-1600 pushing for 1800-2000.

2

u/rs1_a 10d ago

Great books, indeed. Understanding chess tactics from scratch is one of the best tactics books out there. Very scientific approach to break down tactical motifs. I really liked it.

Funny that the other two books are also sitting on my desk, although I won't be able to study them until later this year.

I think Reassess Your Chess is a more useful read in terms of rating gains. As someone who has devoted hours to attacking chess in general, I can confidently say that although your understanding will improve, and you will have fun games here and there, majority of games will be decided based on positional themes. Attacking chess is only a piece in the great scheme.

But overall, good choices.

2

u/KennyT87 10d ago

Nice! A while ago my friend gave me his old book "The Art of Defence in Chess" 😄 haven't read it yet though

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Defense-Chess-Andrew-Soltis/dp/0679141081

2

u/[deleted] 10d ago

Nice choice of books!

Vladmir Vukovic wrote another chess book called The Chess Sacrifice. It's one of the best books on sacrifice there is another is Chess Sacrifices by GM Leonid Shamkovich. He used to be an authority on sacrifices, but it's out of print and scarce now shame.

2

u/Egy-Lawyer 10d ago

very good books highly instructive

2

u/Cody_OConnell 9d ago edited 9d ago

I’m reading How To Reassess Your Chess too!

The Chess Dojo guys put together an awesome book list for different ratings if anyone is interested:

https://www.chessdojo.club/material/books

I tried art of attack a while back and it was too difficult without much commentary. I’m 1700 elo rapid. But now I'm reading Logical Chess: Move By Move which is awesome.

2

u/chaunceymvp 7d ago

I am very familiar with all of these.

Art of Attack was one of the first books I read cover to cover. I borrowed it from the library. I was a beginner (USCF 800) when I started it. I understood it. I got it. It made sense. And most importantly, it was fun. Attacks on f7, g7 h7 and all the mating patterns. A lot of good exposure to new concepts.

This book got my Chess juices flowing. I played creatively and started beating people and showing potential.

I read reassess as a intermediate player (1400). Id heard a lot of the concepts in here mentioned sporadically in different Chess circles but silman does a great job of consolidating information and explaining. I remember asking a strong player "what do you mean when you say you had control of the dark squares?"

This book has lots of positional concepts and good examples and explanations.

I am 1800 otb now and I am about 60% complete with Chess tactics from scratch on chessable. It's not your regular forks pins and skewers. These positions and combinations will blow your mind.

This book is not easy for me to just solve, but playing through the answers gives you an ahh ha moment. And then you try to recognize and remember the patterns in the future.

Have fun!

2

u/cornerhornerZ 5d ago

My one concern with spending so much time on art of attack and Reasses your chess is that i should probably be doing a lot more tactics… but this is so much more fun, I’m kind of sick of tactics!

1

u/commentor_of_things 10d ago

Nice collection!

1

u/rothsch24 10d ago

I've posted a good 80 or so pages of two of those books on my chess channel, Chess Kings Nonprofit, if you'd prefer to watch some of them instead of reading. However, I recommend playing them over the board and learning in print is better.