If you enjoyed HTRYC so much, why not pick up the HTRYC workbook? Similarly, if Silman's style works for you, meister has recommended his Endgame book. It would seem logical that those might be logical next steps.

Out of curiosity, when do you plan to move to part two of your studies? Not timewise, more, what benchmark will make you feel you've concluded the middlegame study?

Best of luck with it!

I'll second the HTRYCW recommendation and also suggest 'The Amateur's Mind' by Silman.

Another good book I think you should buy if you haven't already is Sokolov's 'Winning Chess Middlegames', especially if you are a 1.d4 player as White.

Silman's Complete Endgame Course is excellent. I highly recommend it to anyone below master level.

--Fromper

I'd also recommend it to players up to International Master level, since it's surprising how often even master players misplay a theoretical position, and it's important to frequently revise previously studied endgame theory to ensure it is remembered and understood. This mainly applies to the theoretical 'must know' endings, the obvious examples being Phillidor (including how to draw a 'bad Phillidor', Lucena and the opposition).

From the reviews I've read, Silman's Endgame book is definitely a very good book, but Dvoretsky's is much more thorough and comprehensive, so I'm leaning towards that one as of now.


@JimSardonic, I don't think I'll ever be done studying the middlegame. In fact, I consider it the most important area since that's where advantages are created and nurtured into the endgame. It's also my weakest area. The next stage will be a mixture of opening + more middlegame + tactics. It seems like the opening is more about memorization, so I'm not too worried about it, I just have to get the major lines down. I'll still be studying the middlegame.


@Meister, you answered my question about an openings book in the other thread!! lol But thanks anyway, I think I know which book to buy now.


Still waiting for anyone who's read or has any thoughts on the Dvoretsky books I'm thinking of buying. I'm putting the link again in case you missed it. Any other thoughts are also welcome.

10 BOOKS BY CHESS TRAINER MARK DVORETSKY - eBay (item 200392500902 end time Apr-06-10 14:42:07 PDT)

thanks

While I've heard that Dvoretsky's book is excellent, it also sounds like the type of thing that's not for beginners. I like that Silman explains things very clearly, assuming that his reader has never seen any of this stuff before. Dvoretsky's book seems more like it should be used for further study after already having read a very clear beginner's endgame book like Silman's. But that's just the impression I've gotten from what others have said - I haven't really looked at Dvoretsky's book myself.

--Fromper

I've read the endgame manual, and it's really good. Yeah, it's tough, but if you're ambitious I think you could learn a lot from it. The only other Dvoretsky book I've looked at is the Analytical Manual, which is ok, but I have set it aside for awhile in favor of other material.

Out of interest, how many of the exercises have you tried in the Analytical Manual? About 9 months ago, I tried the first two exercises, but they were close to impossible! So I haven't looked at it of late, maybe I should read it again.

I don't know...maybe 4 or 5. I'll usually take the initial position, analyze for 20-30 minutes, then see what the next move is, play it on the board, then begin analyzing again. It takes a long time, and I'm not sure if it helps or not. I haven't really studied it since August.

I had the same issue - I would spend some time between half an hour and an hour with one position, end up discouraged and wonder: what did I gain out of it?

Perhaps I would gain more from the book today, since my analytical abilities have improved significantly since I last read the book. Or I could work through Forcing Chess Moves again as preparation for studying DAM.