The globalized and technological world we live in has all sorts of advantages, and chess, the most traditional of all board games, has also benefited a lot from this.
Nowadays, you can find excellent chess material online, and computers have made it a lot easier for players and lovers of the game to improve: it’s easier to have access to books, there are plenty of great DVDs, you can quickly check what your opponent usually plays and prepare against it… all sorts of advantages!
Today, we are going to
Maybe you have been playing chess for a while now, and you are starting to feel frustrated; you are not earning any rating points (whether that is online or in competitive tournaments) and your play does not seem to be improving.
If this is the case, and you are willing to dedicate yourself so that you can climb up the ladder, you may consider diving into chess literature.
Obviously, many books could be included in this “top 5” that we are building - but the idea is to keep it short and concise, so that all of them can be instantly added to your reading list.
“Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do; strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do.” – Savielly Tartakower
Does the above quote ring a bell? Do you often feel lost in the chess board looking for plans or ideas when there is no concrete tactical solution?
Don’t worry - that is perfectly normal. Strategic play is, arguably, the hardest field to dominate for any beginner, simply because you have not yet developed a deep understanding of the game.
"The pleasure of a chess combination lies in the feeling that a human mind is behind the game, dominating the inanimate pieces with which the game is carried on, and giving them the breath of life." Richard Réti
If you are reading this article, you either feel this way right now or have before: being stuck in a loop with your chess openings, not knowing what you are doing wrong or why your opponents always seem to get the best of you from early on in the game.
While many beginners have the wrong mindset of focusing too much on opening theory instead of learning the basic principles of the game, it is true that you must learn how to act in the early stages of the game if you wish to achieve an interesting middlegame.
