4

Could someone recommend a book on mid-game strategy please?

Things I am especially interested in are

  1. Make plans (and foresee opponents plan and stop it)
  2. Evaluate current position
  3. Evaluate positions at the end of calculation

I guess 2 is somewhat blended in 1 and 3. My problem is that even though I may be able to do some evaluation for the current position, it's very hard to do the same at the end of each variation I calculated. So I'm looking for both a more involved way to analyse current position and also a quick way to roughly evaluate positions down the line. (Or maybe practice is the only way?)

Thanks.

(Not really interested in tactics as this is not my bottleneck)

2
  • 2
    Just out of curiosity, what's your rating?
    – magd
    Aug 6, 2015 at 19:40
  • Never played at a club or tourney, but playing white I'm beating my phone at 1800 setting (I have no idea on black opening)
    – jf328
    Aug 7, 2015 at 12:22

4 Answers 4

2

"Reassess Your Chess" by Jeremy Silman is a modern classic on planning and imbalances.

2
  • Thanks to all suggestions. I searched all of them. I finally bought this one mainly because of kindle availability.
    – jf328
    Aug 8, 2015 at 20:31
  • As has been said, How to Reassess your Chess by Silman 100%
    – Richard
    Aug 10, 2015 at 17:43
4

"The Art of The Middle Game" by Keres and Kotov comes to mind. And an older book,"Strategy and Tactics in Chess" by Max Euwe, was long considered a classic in this area. Of course study always has to be combined with practice.

2
  • "Judgment and Planning in Chess", also by Euwe, and "How to Win in The Middle Game of Chess" by Al Horowitz are two more books covering this area.
    – CConero
    Aug 6, 2015 at 19:14
  • And I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention Euwe's two volume treatise on the subject, "The Middle Game", co-authored with Hans Kramer.
    – CConero
    Aug 6, 2015 at 19:47
1

Two interesting books have been published recently that might be helpful to you:

Both concentrate on conveying "chess culture" - the knowledge how to handle certain typical positions and situations. This should be a good way to tackle your point 1.

Precise evaluation only comes with experience, practice and knowledge. Possibly you will have to train calculation instead of tactics.

1

Chess Strategy for Club Players, The Road to Positional Advantage by Herman Grooten is worth looking at.

1
  • This is the only one with an electronic version!
    – jf328
    Aug 7, 2015 at 12:26

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.