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Hot Topic (More than 10 Replies) Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame (Read 7666 times)
FMCharless
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Re: Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
Reply #16 - 10/30/21 at 16:45:51
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Israel Gelfer's "Positional Chess Handbook"

is a book that should be in every players library in the digital age. it sorts the themes in the index and then shows examples from grandmaster play on how to win with the given advantages
  
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TopNotch
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Re: Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
Reply #15 - 08/18/21 at 19:23:56
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cathexis wrote on 08/16/21 at 13:43:31:
@doefmat et al,

I was intrigued by your suggestion of the book, "Chess Structures." So I went over to Amazon to check it out as I always get ideas from the reviews, especially if the book is highly rated. This book has 146 ratings at about a 4.5/5 numbers. For Amazon, that's pretty good. But I found one review thought-provoking for this one comment within it:

Quote:
The only way you gain something from the book is if you first amass some experience playing a certain structure, and you analyze your games, and keep accumulating experience about everything that can go wrong, everything that can go right, etc. Then you read this book, and draw upon your experience and relate what you now learn to your experiences in the past. It is only when you do that do[sic] you really understand, assimilate, and hopefully be able to apply what you learn in your future games. The mistake I made when I first read these chapters was to do it without the necessary experience.


Seems sensible and somewhat in-line with Topnotch's reply above. But it also could be interpreted as saying general books on the middlegame are of very limited use since planning will have to be based on structures specific to the various openings. And further, that you won't gain much understanding of those structures (and hence be very limited in planning abilities) until you have first accumulated a "book" of your own games, by a given opening, for study. For example, middlegame planning is less about general principles than studying the structures that arise from the 1, vs. the Petroff let's say. But, of course, you have to learn the 1 first. And what do we mean by "knowing the 1?" Seems like it could be an endless loop. This could be relevant to the OP's question. I wonder if forum members would care to comment on this?

P.S. Many of the reviews were very favorable, so no 'dis to any.



You are overthinking it. Play games, analyze them afterwards, learn from the experience and draw some conclusions. Rinse, repeat and re-calibrate where necessary.

You can't learn to swim by only reading a book, you have to take the plunge and do it. Overthinking leads to indecision and paralysis and a fear of playing practical games.

As the Nike motto goes: "Just do it!"

Postscript: I decided to share that for the first time in many years I have not renewed my subscription to chesspublishing.com. I have grown thoroughly disgusted with the lack of interaction between the columnist and the forum here and have re-directed my limited funds to chessable where the authors are expected to and do interact actively with the forum connected to it. 

I wish Tony all the success going forward, but for me it has to be good-bye for now.  
  
The man who tries to do something and fails is infinitely better than he who tries to do nothing and succeeds - Lloyd Jones Smiley
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doefmat
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Re: Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
Reply #14 - 08/17/21 at 07:47:32
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About Chess Structures:

You are right it doesn't cover all the fundamentals of planning like OP asked for. So it shouldn't be the only book ofcourse. Maybe indeed Grooten, Silman and Stean are better suited for this.

However, for me, it helped a lot. For example, I play the Gligoric system against the KID. When I looked at the KID pawn structures from that book it helped me a lot. Did I understand everything? No. But it certainly gave me some guidelines and ideas to work with in those structures.
  
Chesspub; where people devote their whole life to find novelties on move 26 just to blunder on move 27
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cathexis
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Re: Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
Reply #13 - 08/17/21 at 00:07:01
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Ok.

Some might've noticed I recently posted a glowing appreciation of Simple Chess in another thread. So I wondered if I had made good use of my time or convinced myself of what I wanted to believe. I believe Simple Chess is a great intro to this subject. 
I think all the replies here were very helpful.
  
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an ordinary chessplayer
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Re: Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
Reply #12 - 08/16/21 at 18:32:24
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cathexis quoted an amazon review:
Quote:
The only way you gain something from the book is if you first amass some experience playing a certain structure, ...

One needs to do both, but it's quite okay to read a book first and amass the experience after. It's an individual thing, but some (most?) people learn faster with experience first, other people learn faster with reading first.
  
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an ordinary chessplayer
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Re: Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
Reply #11 - 08/16/21 at 18:23:11
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dfan wrote on 08/16/21 at 15:21:09:
(I have no idea why the forum software replaced "QID" with "2624312D203D2C364501".)


I answered that in the QID vs QGD thread, see Reply #28:
https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1581603626/28
  
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TopNotch
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Re: Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
Reply #10 - 08/16/21 at 16:44:42
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Good positions - "Congratulations, you have the advantage! But what do you do next? The first step is to judge whether your advantage is of a short-term or long-term nature. If it consists of better development or attacking chances, then it is probably short-term; if it based on better pawn structure or superior minor pieces, then it's probably long-term. Many advantages, such as control of an open file, may be either short or long-term depending on whether the opponent has a means of challenging the asset. This step will provide you with a clue as to whether you should be thinking of quick action to exploit your advantage before it disappears, or whether you can afford to manoeuvre slowly, tidying up your position before getting ready for further action."

That apropos excerpt was taken from one of my faves as I listed in a previous post.
  
The man who tries to do something and fails is infinitely better than he who tries to do nothing and succeeds - Lloyd Jones Smiley
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Re: Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
Reply #9 - 08/16/21 at 15:21:09
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(I have no idea why the forum software replaced "QID" with "2624312D203D2C364501".)
  
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dfan
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Re: Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
Reply #8 - 08/16/21 at 15:20:13
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cathexis wrote on 08/16/21 at 13:43:31:
For example, middlegame planning is less about general principles than studying the structures that arise from the 2624312D203D2C364504, vs. the Petroff let's say.

I disagree. The most important components of middlegame planning are all general (you can look at the table of contents of Grooten or Hellsten for a sample list). You cannot become good at chess without knowing how to use (and defend against) open files, bishop pairs, weak color complexes, advanced pawns, outposts, etc.

Individual openings do indeed have characteristic pawn structures / piece configurations, which do lead to some standard "recipes" for using the general components mentioned above. But knowing general middlegame principles absolutely has to come first. Otherwise you won't know why you are using one of those recipes, or how to exploit the ensuing position when you do use one of them.

Chess Structures is a good book but it presumes that you already understand general middlegame principles.
  
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cathexis
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Re: Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
Reply #7 - 08/16/21 at 13:43:31
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@doefmat et al,

I was intrigued by your suggestion of the book, "Chess Structures." So I went over to Amazon to check it out as I always get ideas from the reviews, especially if the book is highly rated. This book has 146 ratings at about a 4.5/5 numbers. For Amazon, that's pretty good. But I found one review thought-provoking for this one comment within it:

Quote:
The only way you gain something from the book is if you first amass some experience playing a certain structure, and you analyze your games, and keep accumulating experience about everything that can go wrong, everything that can go right, etc. Then you read this book, and draw upon your experience and relate what you now learn to your experiences in the past. It is only when you do that do[sic] you really understand, assimilate, and hopefully be able to apply what you learn in your future games. The mistake I made when I first read these chapters was to do it without the necessary experience.


Seems sensible and somewhat in-line with Topnotch's reply above. But it also could be interpreted as saying general books on the middlegame are of very limited use since planning will have to be based on structures specific to the various openings. And further, that you won't gain much understanding of those structures (and hence be very limited in planning abilities) until you have first accumulated a "book" of your own games, by a given opening, for study. For example, middlegame planning is less about general principles than studying the structures that arise from the QID, vs. the Petroff let's say. But, of course, you have to learn the QID first. And what do we mean by "knowing the QID?" Seems like it could be an endless loop. This could be relevant to the OP's question. I wonder if forum members would care to comment on this?

P.S. Many of the reviews were very favorable, so no 'dis to any.

  
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Re: Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
Reply #6 - 08/16/21 at 10:14:52
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Chess Structures is pretty good and suitable for all levels.
  
Chesspub; where people devote their whole life to find novelties on move 26 just to blunder on move 27
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TopNotch
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Re: Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
Reply #5 - 08/15/21 at 15:31:52
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Secrets of Practical Chess - John Nunn.
Dissect and Study Your Own Games - TopNotch.
Any well Annotated Games Collection - Any Good Player.
Play a lot vs Slightly Better Players - Conduct Joint Post Mortem.

You're welcome.
  
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Re: Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
Reply #4 - 08/15/21 at 04:20:49
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Thanks All!
  
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Re: Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
Reply #3 - 08/15/21 at 02:19:57
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There's also Chess Success: Planning After the Opening and The Art of Planning in Chess Move by Move both by Neil McDonald, and and the old classic Judgement and Planning in Chess by Max Euwe.

Edit: And I forgot to mention Modern Ches Planning by Grivas and Find the Right Plan by Karpov and Matsukevich
  
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Re: Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
Reply #2 - 08/14/21 at 20:17:31
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I really like Chess Strategy for Club Players by Herman Grooten.  There is also How to Reasses Your Chess by Jeremy Silman and Pawn Structure Chess by Andrew Soltis.  

Silman's book attempts to help you to make a plan in any position, and it's pretty good at doing that.  Pawn Structure Chess is more about the opening and early middlegame, explaining many of the typical plans in common pawn structures (the Advanced French e5 pawn chain, the King's Indian d5 pawn chain, the Open Sicilian pawn structure, the Stonewall structure, etc, etc). 
Grooten's book is the most advanced: I found it interesting and challenging at USCF 2200 level.  Not that I hadn't seen the concepts before, but the chosen games and examples were fresh and required some work.
  
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Re: Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
Reply #1 - 08/14/21 at 17:13:37
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My favorite book about middlegame strategy is Hellsten's Mastering Chess Strategy. FIDE 1600-2000 is a perfect rating range in which to read it. I felt that my ability to formulate a reasonable plan in any position increased a lot while reading it.
  
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Books to Find a Plan - Middlegame
08/14/21 at 16:34:18
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I would like to know whether there are any books to "Find a Plan" in middle game, exactly right after the opening phase is over.Well the book should cover all the fundamentals of planning which is suited for Fide Rated Players in the range of 1600-2000.Can anyone suggest some of the best books for this purpose?
  
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