I saw some of you were interested in chess. I’ve read some theory books, some of them being (very) good.
I wanted to advice beginners to read the “Breviary of chess” (le “Bréviaire des échecs”) by Tartakower, but I just found out that it isn’t translated in english.
It’s a very good yet simple book written by one of the very best players in the 20’s. It’s perhaps translated in other languages, by the way.
More experienced chess players should read “My system” by Nimzowitsch. It’s fundamental. Even if you don’t read the second tome, read the first. I haven’t read “The praxis of my system” by the same author. This last book mainly comments his games, it’s probably less interesting.
I’m just reading “Pawn Power in Chess” by Kmoch. It’s a very great book. It’s very inspirated by “My system” yet it’s better organized by themes and it’s perhaps deeper. It gives a very good understanding of both openings and middlegame, IMO. It’s for experienced players too.
On the other hand, I didn’t like at all “Ideas Behind the Chess Openings” by Reuben Fine. The only thing which is vaguely studied is some open openings (1.e4 e5). When it comes to other openings, it’s no more questions of “ideas behind”, just listings of moves which were fashionable in the 50’s. A very weak work, IMO, confusing tactics and strategy, etc.
Anyways, have you read other chess theory books which enlightened your understanding of it?
I’ve buildt up quite a few chess books over the last few years. Some of my favourites are John Watson’s intant classics Chess Strategy in Action and Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy, John Nunn’s enlightening Understaing Chess Move by Move and Alexander Kotov’s classic Think Like a Grandmaster. If you want thourough analysis rather than a lot of commentary, then Igor Stohl’s Instructive Modern Chess Masterpieces is a good choice, it takes a bit more effort to work on, but is a very good book in it’s way.
If you’re interested in computer chess (like me), then Robin Smith’s Modern Chess Analysis is a must-have. Brilliant book about how chess computers think and work, very fun to read.
One of absolute favourite books of all the ones I have is Pirc Alert! by Lev Alburt and Alex Chernin. It covers only one opening, the Pirc, but this happens to be an opening I play alot.
The book does a magnificent job of describing not only the theoretical aspects of the opening, but also the ideas behing it, how these ideas carry over to the middle-game andso on.
If you’re interested in the historical aspects of chess as well, then there really is only one modern series to pick, Garry Kasparov’s My Great Predecessors series. If not the entire series, at least the volume on Fischer is a must. All the bizarre stories about him are an incredible read, for example the stories from the 1974 Reykjavik world championships, where he refused to play at all until he had his special chair flown in from the US, among other things. (In fact, I got to sit in this chair when I was playing in an international youth tournament in Reykjavik, having been picked as one of four juniors representing Norway. It’s usually kept locked up in a museum, but they made an exception for the visiting international chess delegations
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Hi Kenneth,
Do you know a good book about plan in middlegame? Especially how and on which basis to decide the plan you’ll have ?
You sat in Fischer’s chair?
Waw! 
Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any specific book to recommend. I’m at my dad’s place for the weekend, so I don’t have my books here to check them… I’ll go through them when i get home on sunday and see if any of them has more on this then I remember.
I know some of them deal with planning in the middlegame, but I’m not sure how well or to what extent. I’ll see if I can recommend one or more of them.
Also, you might want to check out Gambit Publications, one of today’s leading chess book publishers. If anyone has made a good modern book about this sort of thing, I’d expect it to be them. Emailing them to ask what book they would recommend might be worth a shot, though I don’t know if whether people who answer the emails would know anythig like that, or if they are more like customer support people, who don’t know a lot about chess. Contacting other publishers might of course be worthwhile too. 

Oh my God. This topic is like the best topic evar.
When I was still interested in chess, I remember my favorite was The Art of Attack in Chess (I forget the author, but apparently it’s not exactly unknown on chessgames.com). Probably because my middlegame was (and still is, as of a few weeks ago) extremely centered around attacks and sacrifices.
However, for planning in the middlegame (and for both other games), I found Chess Strategy by Eduard Gufeld and Nikolai Kalienchenko addressed the issue. I don’t remember if it was good or not, because I haven’t reread it…
Hmm The Art of Attack in Chess… that rings a bell somehow, but I can’t remember where I’ve heard it before. I’ve always preferred attackig too though. 
Btw, how long have you guys been playing? I’ve been playing for 6-7 years or so.
On and off for probably 10 years.
I’ve tried to play seriously during 3-4 years, it was from 1995 to 1998. Then I stopped until last year. I’m an average chess player (1750 elo).
Probably Vladimir Vukovic.
It seems somebody advices me this book.
Does someone know Ludek Pachman’s three-volume “Complete Chess Strategy”? I’ve found some interesting comments about it on Amazon:
“The book is basically a compilation of the classic texts by Nimzowitsch and Euwe, in a clear and readable style.”
“Maybe some people are going to be upset about this but the book is clearer than Nimzo’s “My System” and It is more complete than “Judgement and Planing” by Euwe.”
“I am still a strong club player (best rating: 2250 ELO). I read Pachman on my teens, and it had a very positive influence on me. Therefore, the earlier in your carrer you read Pachman, the better. When you advance to the ELO 2000 level, you should also read John Watson’s “Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy” which is a very nice complement to Pachman’s classic book.”