Chess Books: Thoughts on Reading Program

I've started drafting a long-term reading program for chess improvement, and I'd like some feedback from more experienced players and coaches. Also, there is one particular book I am looking at, *The Science of Strategy* by Alexander Kotov, for which I have the following question: what other books should I read before *The Science of Strategy* to ensure that I truly benefit from it? I believe this book will help with what has been the major weakness in my play: that is, I have historically had severe problems with evaluation and forming a strategy when there isn't a clear attacking scheme and I am out of book (and can no longer rely on the particular strategy recommended in that variation). If you have any advice for me please share it.

**The Program**

*Build Up Your Chess 1* (Yusupov) READ
*The Soviet Chess Primer* (Maizelis, strategic & positional chapters) READING
*The Art of Sacrifice in Chess* (Spielmann)
*Practical Chess Endings* (Keres)

*Boost Your Chess 1* (Yusupov)
*My System* (Nimzowitsch)
*Chess Praxis* (Nimzowitsch)

*Chess Evolution 1* (Yusupov)
*Soviet Middlegame Technique* (Romanovsky)
*The Practical Endgame Bible* (Zlatanovic)

*Revision & Exam* (Yusupov)
*Questions of Modern Chess Theory* (Lipnitsky)
*Mating the Castled King* (Gormally)

*Build Up Your Chess 2* (Yusupov)
*Attacking Manual 1* (Aagaard)
*Attacking Manual 2* (Aagaard)

*Boost Your Chess 2* (Yusupov)
*Soviet Chess Strategy* (Suetin)
*Key Concepts of Gambit Play* (Razumaev)

*Chess Evolution 2* (Yusupov)
[??]
[??]

...

(&c., following the pattern of reading a book from Yusupov's course, then two books, usually one on strategy or positional play and the other on tactics and dynamics.)

**Wishlist**

*The Science of Strategy* (Kotov)
*Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual* (Dvoretsky)
*Dvoretsky's Analytical Manual* (Dvoretsky)
*Maneuvering: The Art of Piece Play* (Dvoretsky)

Game collections are not included in this program (even though I plan on reading several) because I consider them a separate form of chess instruction from these monographs and manuals.

Thank you for reading, and again, let me know your thoughts.

This issue is way above my pay grade, but I do feel that I can suggest that you not worry about planning too far ahead. Focus on finding a strategy book that you are comfortable reading now, and make further strategy-related decisions after you are done reading a large portion of it.

well I cannot advice on choosing a book but I can tell if you really study those books it will take several years. So maybe make shorter plan as your opinions will change anyway as you progress on such a huge plan.

@kindaspongey said in #2:
> This issue is way above my pay grade, but I do feel that I can suggest that you not worry about planning too far ahead. Focus on finding a strategy book that you are comfortable reading now, and make further strategy-related decisions after you are done reading a large portion of it.

@petri999 said in #3:
> well I cannot advice on choosing a book but I can tell if you really study those books it will take several years. So maybe make shorter plan as your opinions will change anyway as you progress on such a huge plan.

Fair points. I still wish someone could elucidate on what is necessary before reading Kotov's monograph for consideration however.

My guess is that being ready for a book is more a matter of experience than knowledge. I, for example, do not need anyone to explain to me that 3...f6 is probably a bad idea after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4. For someone who is more of a beginner, a little explanation might be helpful. An author probably makes many unconscious approximate assumptions about the ability of the target audience of a book.

I think there are two ways that you can not be ready for a book - one is that you just don't understand it (like, the annotations say things like "if Ng6 then Bf5!" but you can't see what's so good about Bf5 that makes Ng6 a bad idea so the point is just lost on you) and the other is that the book tries to teach you stuff that's too subtle to make a difference at the level you're playing at, eg there's no point learning how to use a minority attack to create long-term structural weaknesses that you can exploit in the endgame if your endgame play is nowhere near good enough to actually exploit such a structural weakness yet, or even more so if you and your opponents are still hanging multiple pieces every game.

Either way, it's hard to say where in a progression you'll be "ready" for any given book because even if the books progress naturally from each other then you may or may not have actually succeeded in integrating everything that's covered in one of them into your game before moving on to the next. That also depends how the other aspects of your training are going eg calculation / tactics, game analysis etc. It's probably going to be easier to answer based on your rating rather than based on what you've already read, although even that can be contentious...

@RamblinDave

Thank you for your reply.

Generally, you're correct, but *The Science of Strategy* in particular is more about helping with creating a systematic, methodical approach to identifying positional features and making a plan based on them rather than focusing on teaching the positional themes themselves (or at least, that's how it seems from the cover). Therefore it's reasonable to consider what knowledge of positional themes in (relative) isolation is necessary before studying Kotov to integrate them into a plan. If the prerequisite knowledge of individual positional themes is low, then acquiring a copy becomes a much higher priority. Otherwise, I keep it in mind and worry about it later.

I suppose that's a question only someone who has read the book could answer.

@forsoothplays said in #7:
> ... (or at least, that's how it seems from the cover). Therefore it's reasonable to consider what knowledge of positional themes in (relative) isolation is necessary before studying Kotov to integrate them into a plan. If the prerequisite knowledge of individual positional themes is low, then ...
In order to get an idea of what it is like to try to learn from a book, I always think that it is a good idea to look at an online sample.
www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/ScienceofStrategy-excerpt.pdf

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Here is an example of a comment from pages 188 and 189 of the book (on the position after 1 c4 c6 2 e4 d5 3 exd5 cxd5 4 cxd5 Nf6 5 Bb5+ Nbd7 6 Nc3 g6 7 Nf3 Bg7 8 d6 exd6 9 O-O O-O 10 d4 h6 11 Bf4 Nb6 12 Qd2 a6 13 Bd3 Kh7 14 h3 Be6). Alexander Alekhine was White.
"The opening stage is at an end. A careful study of the position allows us to conclude that the game is about even. Whether in the centre or on the wings, neither player has an advantage or any noticeable weaknesses. Both sides now have to draw up their plans. What should White be striving for? He needs to manoeuvre in a way that makes his opponent weaken his pawns and drives the black pieces from their good posts.
In this context we would again draw your attention to one important point. This type of play must not be viewed as though it consisted of disjointed, fortuitous moves independent of any unified plan. On the contrary: here more than anywhere else, the aim to be pursued must be precisely defined.
In the present case Alekhine sets out to accomplish the following tasks: first, to conquer the important d5-point; and secondly, to provoke some pawn moves on the queenside, so as to station his own pieces on the squares that those moves have weakened and begin an attack in that sector of the board.
The reader should pay attention to the way that White’s moves – which at first sight look unsystematic and repetitive – are actually pursuing a specific goal which is eventually achieved. Alekhine’s operations appear clumsy – manoeuvring is sometimes characterized by monotony and a sluggish pace – but they enable him to solve the task he has set himself, for the moves are all subordinated to a unified design."
This seems to be the game:
www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1013255
[Site "Kemeri URS"] [Date "1937.06.22"] [Black "Movsa Feigin"] [ECO "B10"] 15 Rfe1 Qd7 16 Bh2 Nfd5 17 Ne2 Rfd8 18 Nf4 Bf5 19 Nxd5 Nxd5 20 Bc4 Be6 21 a4 Rac8 22 Bb3 Qc7 23 a5 Qd7 24 Ba4 Qe7 25 Bg3 Rc7 26 Bb3 Qd7 27 Bh4 Rb8 28 Ba4 Qc8 29 Rac1 Rc4 30 Bg3 Bf8 31 h4 Nf6 32 Bb3 Rxc1 33 Rxc1 Qd7 34 d5 Bf5 35 Qb4 Be4 36 Qd4 Qf5 37 Nd2 Bxd5 38 Bxd5 Nxd5 39 Ne4 Bg7 40 Nxd6 Qe6 41 Qd2 Nf6 42 Qc2 b6 43 Qc7 Nd7 44 Nxf7 Rf8 45 Nd8 Qf6 46 Rd1 1-0
Perhaps the table of contents would be of interest:
1. The Pawn -- Its Strength and Weakness 7
Pawn structure in the centre 8
Closed centre 8
Open centre 20
Mobile centre 26
Fixed centre 50
Volatile centre 72
2. Attack in the Centre and on the Queenside 95
Characteristics of central and queenside attacks 95
Attacking with pieces 97
Pawn offensives 106
Open files 111
Pawn sacrifices for opening files 123
Other typical methods of attack 129
Transferring the attack from one wing to the other 137
3. Play on Both Wings 143
Tacking to and fro 158
4. Defence and Counterattack 167
Sense of Danger 167
Creating maximum difficulties 172
Transition to the endgame 175
Removing the king from the danger zone 178
Counterattack 182
5. Manoeuvring 187
6. "Simple" Situations 197
Simple situations of the endgame type 198
Simple situations of the combinative type 201
7. Major Piece Endings 207
8. Positional Evaluation -- Planning 213
Unified plan 215
Creative thinking 225
Game Index 235