10 Jan '08 18:24>
Could really use some advice on how to get past the 1700 wall I feel that I'm stuck at and start making some progress. First a little bit on what I think are some of my strengths and weakness:
1. I have a fairly solid opening repetoire. Its not perfect and has some holes in it, but I usually come out of the opening ok. My only real blind spot is probably the English, since I don't have a systematic answer to it. But I rarely ever see it anyway so I don't feel its worth spending time on right now.
2. Blunders. I do a systematic blunder check that I've done for so long now that its second nature and in a CC game I'll almost never commit a 1 move blunder that simply loses. Also not an issue.
3. Tactics. I could definitely be better here but I'm not convinced its worth dedicating much, if any time to right now. I'm satisfied with my tactical ability currently and don't think its holding me back presently.
4. Judgement/Planning/Position play. At my level I think this may be one of my biggest weakness. I know positional concepts but my problem is in the implementation. And I'm sometimes stuck for what to do when there's no positional weakness to exploit or tactical idea in the air.
5. Endings. I know many of the basics and can usually handle simple endings ok. But I wouldn't call this one of my strengths either, I basically know just enough to get by and am pretty content in most endings (ie: I don't avoid them unless I know they're bad for me).
So with that self-assessment out of the way, how to proceed? I have a modest library of about 25 chess books but deciding on what books to read and in what order is very daunting. I'll list some with the hopes that, with what I wrote above & my 1700 rating in mind someone can suggest some to start with (no new book suggestions please, I have enough unread books now) and any other improvement ideas they have. Book list to be continued in next post...........
1. I have a fairly solid opening repetoire. Its not perfect and has some holes in it, but I usually come out of the opening ok. My only real blind spot is probably the English, since I don't have a systematic answer to it. But I rarely ever see it anyway so I don't feel its worth spending time on right now.
2. Blunders. I do a systematic blunder check that I've done for so long now that its second nature and in a CC game I'll almost never commit a 1 move blunder that simply loses. Also not an issue.
3. Tactics. I could definitely be better here but I'm not convinced its worth dedicating much, if any time to right now. I'm satisfied with my tactical ability currently and don't think its holding me back presently.
4. Judgement/Planning/Position play. At my level I think this may be one of my biggest weakness. I know positional concepts but my problem is in the implementation. And I'm sometimes stuck for what to do when there's no positional weakness to exploit or tactical idea in the air.
5. Endings. I know many of the basics and can usually handle simple endings ok. But I wouldn't call this one of my strengths either, I basically know just enough to get by and am pretty content in most endings (ie: I don't avoid them unless I know they're bad for me).
So with that self-assessment out of the way, how to proceed? I have a modest library of about 25 chess books but deciding on what books to read and in what order is very daunting. I'll list some with the hopes that, with what I wrote above & my 1700 rating in mind someone can suggest some to start with (no new book suggestions please, I have enough unread books now) and any other improvement ideas they have. Book list to be continued in next post...........