Best book on the middlegame

In another thread, Hugh_T_Patterson asked what the best book on the middlegame was.  I'm not sure what the best one is, but here are a few that probably deserve consideration:

Aron Nimzowitsch. My System.  - OK, so GM Kevin Spraggett doesn't like it.  Even so, it covers a wide range of key topics: the two bishops, passed pawns, the seventh rank, pawn chains, doubled pawns, isolated pawns, attacking your opponent's pawn centre, etc.  Quite clearly a classic and one of the most influential books on the middlegame.

Jeremy Silman.  How to Reassess Your Chess. - Often recommended by North American chess trainers for intermediate players.  Silman examines various imbalances (e.g. bishop vs knight) and what impact these have on planning.

John Watson. Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy. - Watson takes Nimzowitsch as a starting point, and argues that modern GMs try to exploit the specific peculiarities of each position even if it means ignoring general positional rules.

Vladimir Vukovic. The Art of Attack in Chess. - Vukovic tries to figure out under what conditions certain king hunt sacrifices will work.

Jose Raul Capablanca. Chess Fundamentals. - Explores clear moves for building up an advantage that can be exploited in the endgame.

Eugene Znosko-Borovsky.  The Middlegame in Chess. - A lightweight book but fun to read.

Andrew Soltis. Pawn Structure Chess. - Tries to build a framework for deciding how to proceed based on the type of pawn structure.

Alexander Kotov. Think Like A Grandmaster. - Probably the first book to describe the ways in which grandmasters build up a tree of variations and evaluate the resulting positions to decide which move is best.

Emanuel Lasker.  Lasker's Manual of Chess. - Obviously very old now, but it contains an excellent summary of Steinitz's ideas on the accumulation of small advantages, the necessity of attacking when you have the advantage and how to determine where to attack.

David Bronstein. Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953. - A games collection rather than an instructional book, but Bronstein offers plenty of fascinating insights into seizing the initiative, weak colour complexes and how to develop rapidly.

Are there other good books I have left out?

Of all the chess books I have read my favourite is 'New Ideas in Chess' by Larry Evans, first published in 1958!

He expounds his chess theories of Pawn Structure, Force, Space and Time.

It is an easy read with lessons with diagrams set out on each page - open the book anywhere.

You can still get it for about three bucks!

My next favourite is 'Bobby Fischer: My 60 Memorable Games' with his inimitable annotations.

Also by Kotov The Art of the Middle Game

If possible you might want to track down the unabridged version of Pachman's work, the 3 volume set Complete Chess Strategy.

For the price though Modern Chess Strategy is probably the more practical choice.

There also is Euwe & Kramer's 2 volume work The Middlegame.

Romanovsky's Middlegame Planning and Middlegame Combinations are supposed to be good.

Euwe's Judgement and Planning in Chess

Tisdall's Improve Your Chess Now as a complement to Kotov's Think Like a Grandmaster.

The Art of the Middle Game by Kotov and Keres is a good book.  Kotov has an excellent description of how to conduct an attack when the two players have castled on opposite sides.

I'm reading Tisdall's Improve Your Chess Now at the moment.  The first chapter offers some interesting suggestions on calculating variations. He recommends trying to work out a strong line first, and only switching to drawing up a list of candidate moves when the line you have chosen doesn't work.  He also suggests that when you are about to make a move committing yourself to a sharp attack, you should examine weak defenses first because if the attack doesn't work even then, it should be discarded.  When on the defensive though, he suggests working from what appears to be the strongest candidate down to less plausible ones.  Another point he makes is that examining one variation can often give you ideas that can be tried out in a different line.  That whole chapter is very interesting and thought-provoking.  I wish he'd expanded on it more.  Later chapters are on using blindfold chess to train for OTB play and the how the position affects the value of the pieces.

John Nunn's Secrets of Practical Chess and Andy Soltis' How to Choose A Chess Move also offer some interesting elaborations on Kotov's tree of variations.

Tactics for advanced players, by Yuri Averbach.  Worth every penny.

I have really enjoyed the portions of Nunn's Secrets of Practical Chess that I have read.

The hard part is finding a copy of Tactics for Advanced Players. I managed to find a new paperback copy for sale a couple years ago for $25.

Danny Kopec has an interesting little book, that is probably a good primer on some middlegame issues, called Practical Middlegame Techniques. It discusses pawn levers, mating patterns, minority attacks, and other things.

Some other pawn structure books:

Pawn Power by Kmoch. If you can get past the terminology used, it is supposed to be good.

Winning Pawn Structures by Baburin. Deals with IQP

Understanding Pawn Play in Chess by Marovic

Dynamic Pawn Play in Chess by Marovic

I have never been able to find Tactics for Advanced Players or Kmoch's Pawn Power, although I've heard they are both good.  I've just been dipping into Nunn's Secrets of Practical Chess.  He's obviously well read, and his writing is clear, but I find that he just briefly touches on a wide range of subjects instead of going into depth.  I guess he is trying to keep it accessible.  Soltis really goes out of his way to simplify, but he covers a lot of interesting points in passing.

There's an obscure but very readable book which I heartily recommend written by Englishman John Love called Positional Ideas In Chess. Good luck finding it, but pick it up if you do.

I just finished his Understanding Chess Move by Move this past week, and I enjoyed that immensely. I need to add Grandmaster Chess Move by Move and Grandmaster Secrets: Winning at Chess Quickly to my library. Everything I have read of Nunn's I have enjoyed.

I just would like to say that this topic is really interesting. I read J.Silmann's How to reassess your chess and I found it very helpful, now I'm reading Kotov's Think like a Grandmaster. Bye!

  I like PAWN STRUCTURE CHESS, by Andy Soltis along with 1001 BRILLIANT CHESS SACRIFICES AND COMBINATIONS, by Fred Reinfeld.  A study of Emmanual Lasker's and Capablanca's games might also be helpful in this area. 

                                                   BillyIdle

billy,  you  know more  the  i,  but  for  my  easy  reading,   my  authors  would be  john watson and  larry  evans

hope your fine buddy.,  i  am  only  going to  chelation every other  week now,  so my wife when she  goes  will drop me off at  barns and nobles  to  read  chess books and drink  coffee(any  good  books can you  recommend on  caro kann(panov-botvinnick attack) and  slav  openings?

thanks  buddy   tony  (antne003)

xMenace, can you explain a little what is so good about John Love's book, please? 

Thanks.

Rethinking the chess pieces is an excellent book for advanced players . It gives clear instruction on topics which are not dealt with by other middlegame books .eg. What to do when you play with R+B+P against Q. Rook and 2Ps against minor pieces etc. A very instructive book  for advanced players.I wish we had more books like that.

what is the best book out of all of these?