Best chess book for a player like me.

Originally posted by Ragwort
I think we have to believe that a successfully conducted chess game should be more than a series of random tactical events. If you don't focus your forces there must be less chance of victory.

1. At a human level, you are right. Strategy is human's strength, tactics are a weakness. Strategy is crucial because of our limited horizon.

2. Tactical events don't pop up randomly if you have really deep vision. Under that premise, strategy is superfluous and often even wrong.

Originally posted by tvochess
1. At a human level, you are right. Strategy is human's strength, tactics are a weakness. Strategy is crucial because of our limited horizon.

2. Tactical events don't pop up randomly if you have really deep vision. Under that premise, strategy is superfluous and often even wrong.

Re:2

You are really talking about a game that has been solved and thus all moves and counter moves can be seen - much like an endgame tablebase. As chess has yet to be solved (prior to tablebases at any rate) it is reasonable to find schemes of development and plans of attack which will tend to swing the "numbers" in our favour given less than perfect defence.

If chess-solved turns out to be a draw it will be interesting to see which if any dodgy gambits were sound, whether hyper-modern openings also draw and if so whether their only purpose mathematically was to increase the available number of moves and therefore the potential number of pits into which the opponent could fall.

Originally posted by Ragwort
Re:2

You are really talking about a game that has been solved and thus all moves and counter moves can be seen - much like an endgame tablebase.

Yes indeed. It's a theoretical concept of course.

A game is defined by its rule-set. For chess this is focused on the movement of pieces, captures and ending conditions (mate, draw, resignation). Intrinsically, only tactics follow from this rule-set. Strategy is a human approach to playing it. But an effective one, I admit.

Originally posted by bikingviking
Register a username at chesstempo.com , that is what I would do in your position.

Study tactics ( and later on, endgames, because then you know how to win won positions, but without tactics you are screwed and you basically never train tactics enough).

Players with a rating below about 2000 should deffinately benefit from tactics at chesstempo.com ...[text shortened]... think, not sure).

Consider bying those two books, they are great!

----- cheers mate ! 🙂

absolutely right, that chesstactics tab on chesstempo is marvelous.