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All by myself

How do I study chess in the most effective way? This is a question most chess players ask themselves at some point. Once in a while there comes a book that promises to deliver the definitive answer. And just a few months ago, such a book came out; How to study chess on your own. With such a title, this is a book that I just had to read. Should you read it too? In order to answer that, I think you should read this review and figure it out for yourself.

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What can you expect from this book?

Like many other books, the first time I heard about How to study chess on your own was on the perpetual chess podcast that featured an interview with author Davorin Kuljasevic. The interview made me curious about the book, so I decided to get it.

How to study chess on your own is a big book. It has 380 pages that spans 9 chapters (plus solutions), 71 annotated games and 34 tests of different kinds. As is customary for new books, the publisher has provided some sample pages where you will find the table of contents and a small taste to give you an impression of the book.

According to Kuljasevic, the core of your chess studies should be analysis. He argues that you should analyze your own games carefully and list your mistakes.  This is an idea that is also recommended by Axel Smith in his book Pump up your rating. However, Kuljasevic goes a bit further and suggests that you can do the same with other people's games. For instance, you could look up a few of Alekhine's games and analyze them on your own, and then compare your analyses to what Alekhine writes in his collection of best games.

Based on the mistakes that you find (in your playing and/or your analytical work), you should identify the areas of your game that are in need of improvement, and this should be the basis for your study plan. For instance, if you find that your calculation is off, you should do some calculation/visualization training. Or if you make tactical mistakes, focus on tactics. For me, personally, the main problem is positional evaluation.

For most club players, we will identify mistakes in all parts of the game. This means that the list of areas that need improvement will be quite long.  As I discussed in my previous post on chess improvement, a study plan can cover all parts of the game (opening, middlegames, endgames, tactics, calculation, visualization etc.) or it can be focused on one or a few areas. As I indicate in that post, distributing your study time over all areas that require improvement will lead to a sort of Bilbo Baggins effect - "like butter scraped over too much bread". If you spend 30 minutes per week on a certain area, your improvements will probably not be very substantial. And this is where the usefulness of the book starts to decrease.

The study plans recommended in the book require about 30-40 hours per week. That's the equivalent of a full-time job. For mere mortals like us, for whom chess is a hobby, this is simply not realistic. He does address this fact, and suggests that if time is very restricted, you should stick to a more focused plan. The problem is that with such an approach, a large proportion of his advice will not be very relevant.

Kuljasevic defines five different categories in his book. 

Intermediate:1500-1800 Elo
Advanced:1800-2100 Elo
Improving youngster: 1900-2200 Elo
Master-level player:2100-2400 Elo
Strong titled player:2400+ Elo

Most of the advice in the book presumes that the reader is at the higher rating levels. So as a reader in the "intermediate" category, I felt a bit neglected at times. For instance, how realistic is it for a player at my level to study openings and trying to find novelties? Not very likely at all.

Despite the fact that I felt that the book wasn't written for me, there are a few suggestions that I take with me in my further chess studies:
  1. Create your own personal study plan based on your goals and improvement areas.
  2. Study openings deeply, all the way through the endgame. (Also recommended by JJ Lang)
  3. Gradually build your personal databases for each part of the game (openings, middlegames, endgames). Each database should include things like:
    • Themes
    • Interesting positions
    • Model games
  4. Don't study tactics only through puzzles. Also study dynamic play and learn how to generate tactical opportunities.
  5. Analyze games,  your own and other people's. Study critical moments and important variations, and conclude each line with an evaluation.
Richard James reviewed the book in British Chess News, and he essentially captured my impressions in the following quote:
There’s a lot of great – and highly instructive – chess in the book as well, so you might enjoy it for that alone. Much of it, though, I felt, was aimed more at the higher end of the rating scale. It would also be good to read a book on how to study chess written more for average players with limited study time.
This is a "talky" chess book, almost philosophical at times. Those who are familiar with my reviews will recognize that as the kind of book that appeals to me. And while I did enjoy it, I will not recommend it to everyone.

When I picked up this book, I hoped that it would provide the guidance that I need in my studies as an amateur player. But I realized that complex plans are probably only relevant for advanced players with high ambitions. So for the time being, I’ll stick to my own plan.

But it was an interesting read.

Who should read this book?

This book seems to be written with advanced players or very ambitious players in mind. The average patzer without ambitions of world domination will not get the most out of the book. If you're a regular person with other things to do, it can be an interesting read, but probably not the best use of your time. This being said, it is very insightful and good. So if you are a titled player aiming to improve further, or if you're up and coming and aiming for a title (FM or higher), this book will most likely be very useful.

About this book

Author:Davorin Kuljasevic
Title:How to study chess on your own
Type of book:Book review, Chess improvement
Level:Intermediate, Advanced
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