Known as the game that is “beautiful enough to waste your own life for”, chess has inspired many artists to portray it in their work throughout the decades. But could chess be, in its essence, an art? Harold Osborne (1964) mentions the concept of intellectual beauty and states that chess can be regarded as an art form since it allows for the creation of intellectual objects characterized by beauty.
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
