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I have an Elo score of about 800 and I am looking for book series to improve (projecting even up to very high scores). Do you have any recommendations? Possibly even more than one series, so as to cover more score ranges. For example:

One series to go from 800 to 1300

One series to go from 1300 to 1700

Obviously I have taken example scores.

Preferably series that cover the 3 main macro-areas quite completely: opening, middlegame and endgame.

I already know some book series, a couple of them: Seirawan's series and the Yusupov series, but I suppose there are many others. The problem is that I don't know what their level (in terms of Elo score) is in order to read them. So I would need some kind of plan based on the score. Example: from 800 to 1300 use Seirawan's series, etc..

Luckenberg
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  • Welcome @Luckenberg to chess . stack exchange! any tries to find any books? or is it a more "general" question(kind of)? – William Martens Apr 08 '23 at 13:09
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    Hi there! Yes, I already know some of the book series, a couple of them: Seirawan's series and the Yusupov series, but I suppose there are many others. The problem is that I don't know what their level (in terms of Elo score) is in order to read them. So I would need some kind of plan based on the score. Example: from 800 to 1300 use Seirawan's series, etc.. – Luckenberg Apr 08 '23 at 13:14
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    idk if this is a answer but (this is only a single book so far) but "300 most important chess positions & ideas" (Alburt Lev) and also, a bit off topic but still on topic: thanks for asking this question, to me it looks good. and it is useful! – William Martens Apr 08 '23 at 13:22
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    I feel like I know that book, I've seen it mentioned often, so it's definitely good. I have a preference for book series because, in my humble opinion, they have a definite thread that they follow (very often), so you finish one and immediately link it to the next, without jumping back on the Internet looking for more individual books. This does not detract from the fact that single books also allow for considerable growth, but I put it more as a continuity issue.

    Anyway, I appreciate that my question may also help others!

     – Luckenberg Apr 08 '23 at 13:30
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    Yes! Indeed ^_^ – William Martens Apr 08 '23 at 13:32
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    Have you looked at Where can one find a complete chess curriculum? – SecretAgentMan Apr 08 '23 at 17:28
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    @Luckenberg Here we also have this one Paul Keres world championship 1948 as said, one book only. but I guess it can be helpful as well ! – William Martens Apr 09 '23 at 09:26
  • The number 800 refers to actual rating, or some online rating? Besides that (not beeing an expert on this), but I do not think that you benefit from reading books at this early stage. Instead of learning opening theory and this stuff, you should maybe learn from miniatures. These are short games, where one opponent is crushed because he falls for some kind of trap. This helps you to avoid falling for this stuff yourself, and sharpens a tactical view. Normally a player of 800 rating is not able to play concentrated (without blundering, or missing obvious failures of the opponent). – Cornman Apr 09 '23 at 21:42
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    Before benefitting from theory, you first should learn not to blunder. Which is hard enough at the beginning. :) – Cornman Apr 09 '23 at 21:42
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    @Cornman 800 Elo on chess.com (i'm not sure if chess.com uses the Elo score). However, where can i find theese miniatures? – Luckenberg Apr 11 '23 at 08:46
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    There is a nice video series on these kind of miniatures by Mato Jelic on youtube. I find them very instructive for beginners, because the videos are very short, present a tactical idea (and you are asked to find the "killer-move" in the crucial position), and you see all kind of openings, which helps to fix opening ideas without having to learn theory yet. I have not watched his videos in a long time. I see he has changed his name to "Chess Lessons". I think his older videos are more of these miniatures. Also I can recommand to you the lectures by Ben Finegold. There are U1400 ones. – Cornman Apr 11 '23 at 09:17
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    What is good about the videos by him, is that he is not over explaining, but only gives short ideas. I do not like youtube at all, but to learn chess it is acutally very helpful. – Cornman Apr 11 '23 at 09:20
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    @Cornman This is a great comment. People (some times, in my own experiences) Look down on resources found on YouTube (don't ask me why) But in my opinion YouTube is actually useful In some cases! so I totally agree :) – William Martens Apr 11 '23 at 09:21
  • @Cornman I follow GothamChess on youtube, some videos are really instructive, very often I watch them to relax and at the same time learn something, especially from a strategic point of view. But I don't feel very comfortable with his lessons on openings (as often happens to me, in fact I still have to figure out how the hell to approach the study of openings), because it seems to me that he offers many lines in a mnemonic way. But I find the videos where he plays and explains his plans formidable, or when he makes tutorials for other streamers. Anyway thanks for the tips, I'll take a look! – Luckenberg Apr 11 '23 at 10:29
  • @Cornman Off topic: why don't you like following chess on youtube? – Luckenberg Apr 11 '23 at 10:29
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    @Luckenberg I do not dislike following chess on youtube. I dislike youtube in general (besides listening to music, or some educational purposes like chess for example). As it stands by now youtube is mostly filled with fake-gurus that try to sell you something. Basically watching youtube is watching hidden advertisement. There is some light, but I am mostly annoyed by it, and try to avoid this plattform. I feel like GothamChess thinks that screaming makes chess more entertaining. If you want to tell your user name, maybe we can play some chess. I am always happy when I can teach. :) – Cornman Apr 11 '23 at 14:27
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    @Cornman this is so true. I have seen many gibberish videos (not to mention, the clickbaits "time travel is now possible!! according to science!" uh.... wha?) not that this has anything related to this with to do but.. it's just.. nearly tragic. but it is good sometimes* in youtube; so yes ^_^ the hidden-ad is a good analogy. anyway good day everyone – William Martens Apr 11 '23 at 15:25
  • @Cornman true, you have to be careful to select the right videos, because there is so much garbage. But if you pay attention it is very instructive. Sure though, my nickname on chess.com is LouCagotti. – Luckenberg Apr 12 '23 at 09:21

1 Answers1

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You appear to be asking for a concrete plan. It is almost like a factory. But learning chess isn't a factory and what you learn when at what rating is different for everyone. As such, I will give not give book specifically for (x-y) rating, but I will categorize them by whether they are meant for beginners, intermediates, masters, etc. You will notice some categorized as both, because not every book fits nicely into a box.

Beginners

  1. "Winning Chess" series by Yasser Seirawan (really aimed for both beginners and intermediates)
  2. "Chess for Kids" series by Michael Basman
  3. "Chess Tactics for Kids" by Murray Chandler
  4. "Starting Out" by Everyman Chess
  5. "Chess Openings for White Explained" by Roman Dzindzichashvili
  6. "Modern Chess Openings" by Nick de Firmian
  7. "Chess Strategy" by Edward Lasker
  8. "Winning Chess Endings" by Yasser Seirawan
  9. "Chess Tactics" by Martin Weteschnik
  10. "Chess Skills" by John Nunn

Intermediate

  1. "The Yusupov Chess" by Artur Yusupov
  2. "Silman's Complete Endgame Course" by Jeremy Silman
  3. "Winning Chess" series by Yasser Seirawan (really aimed for both beginners and intermediates)
  4. "The Chess Structures" by Mauricio Flores Rios
  5. "The ChessBase University" by Dorian Rogozenco
  6. "The ChessCafe Puzzle" by Karsten Mueller
  7. "The Art of Attack in Chess" by Vladimir Vukovic
  8. "The Reassess Your Chess" by Jeremy Silman
  9. "The Soviet Chess Conveyor" by Mikhail Shereshevsky
  10. "Positional Play" by Mark Dvoretsky

I am going not going to add master here, but these should be helpful. I know that I gave you a lot of options. And that goes back to what I said earlier. One chess book (series) will not help everyone. Also, even if you read every single book on this list (please don't) then there is no gaurantee that you would improve to 1300 or 1700 ELO.

Starship - On Strike
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