How To Effectively Use Chess Books To Improve

Studying chess books can be one of the best ways to improve at the game. You can learn from some of the greatest chess minds of all time. If you do it right, this knowledge can help take you to the next level.

However, many chess players are unaware of how to maximize the benefits of their chess books. They may own a vast library of excellent titles, but fail to properly absorb the lessons their books contain. This can lead to a frustrating (and all too common) problem: being unable to recall what they had studied when in the midst of an important game.

In this article, we cover the most effective way to study chess books, including:

• Selecting which books to study.
• How to learn the material deeply - so that you will not forget it.
• Putting your newfound knowledge into practice.

Step 1: Choose The Right Books

It is vital to make the right choice of book upfront so that you can provide the maximum return on the time you invest in it.

We have written previously about how to choose the right chess books. There are three main factors to consider for those trying to improve their game:

• Which aspect of the game to work on: Every chess player has certain strengths and weaknesses. It is usually most effective to work on the weakest parts of your game. What is that for you? Openings? Middlegame strategy? Tactics? Endgames? Pick a chess book to help you fix your biggest weakness.
• Your current level: Different chess books have different audiences in mind. A book meant for beginners will be too trivial for players who are already advanced. The book’s description should explain the level of player the book is intended for.
• The book’s reputation: Let’s say you have narrowed your search down to a middlegame strategy book for intermediate players. Even within that, there will still be many options to choose from. To help decide, check out book reviews from other readers. See what others have said about the book you are considering buying. Try to find a book that you are likely to enjoy, so as to make reading it a part of your day that you will look forward to!

Related: The 10 Best Beginner Chess Books.

Step 2: The Study Method

Chess books should not be read in the same way as one would read a novel. Novels present the reader with a beginning at page one, proceeding sequentially through the book to the end, one page at a time.

Chess books are different. Think of them as more similar to instruction manuals. You can (and should) jump around to whichever topic you need most. It can be worthwhile to re-read certain sections several times, while skipping other sections of the book entirely.

For example, 100 Endgames You Must Know by Jesus de la Villa is one of the most popular theoretical endgame chess books for club-level players. The author does not advise attempting to study all of the material contained in his book all at once. De la Villa recommends ignoring certain endgames until the reader has reached a FIDE rating of around 2000. The reader should instead concentrate on mastering the more essential endgames first.

Here are our top tips for getting the most out of your chess books:

Create A Daily Reading Goal

The sad reality is that many chess books sit on shelves gathering dust because the buyer has not made the commitment to actually read them. No matter how good the book is, you learn nothing from books you don’t read.

Consistency is key. So too is self-discipline.

Set a realistic daily reading goal for yourself. For example, you may aim to cover ten pages of your book per day. That may not sound like much, but if you can be consistent, then you will be able to consume a 300-page chess book in a month. Just think how much that would improve your game! Repeat that over the course of several months, and you are well on your way to real chess improvement!

Highlight, Underline, Make Notes

Your learning will be dramatically enhanced if you make the book your own by highlighting the most critical parts. This does two things:

• It engages your mind more deeply in the reading process.
• It highlights the most essential parts of the book, making them easier to locate and refer back to later.

Highlight both important pieces of text as well as an instructive series of moves. Then, play out these instructive moves on a physical chess board to help build your muscle memory.

Related: Tips To Improve Your Chess Analysis.

Do Not Skip The Sidelines

As you work your way through your chess book, it can be tempting to ignore the sidelines and instead just focus on the main lines so as to save time.

However, this lazy approach will lead to missing important information. Your game will inevitably suffer as a result.

Remember, the author included these sidelines for a reason. Sometimes the most powerful lessons lie in variations from a game that did not end up happening - for example:

• Tempting moves which the master player rejected.
• Tactical shots that justify why a certain move could not be played.
• Defenses that were possible, but which the master player did not see.

Although it takes longer to go through everything the book contains, you must view it as time well spent. After all, you are getting a window into how a strong chess player thinks and trying to build that way of thinking into your own play. There are no shortcuts for this process. 

The Power Of Repetition

This is the greatest secret to gaining the most out of your chess books.

You cannot expect to read things just once if you want to remember them forever. Placing information into your long-term memory takes repetition. As the American entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker Jim Rohn once said, “Repetition is the mother of skill.”

If you want your chess knowledge to be readily available when needed, and to be able to recall it even when tired, under pressure, and with the clock ticking down, re-reading the material is essential.

This is where the highlights you made in your book come in handy. Whenever you find yourself unsure of a particular concept, refer back to the book and take a moment to refresh your understanding. Do it often enough, and formerly complex chess concepts will become second nature to you.

Step 3: Apply What You Learn

You may have heard the phrase: “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

The idea behind this proverb is to emphasize the importance of experiential learning. This is as true in chess as it is in any other field. You will retain the material with far greater fidelity if you look for opportunities to use what you have learned.

The positions that occur in your own games will not be precisely identical to those that appear in your chess books.

For example, consider the following position, which appears in "The Art of Attack in Chess" by Vladimir Vuković, one of the most highly regarded books for intermediate to advanced players seeking to enhance their attacking play. It comes from the game Coria vs. Capablanca, 1914.

Capablanca, with the Black pieces, played 16. …Bh3! This excellent move brings another Black piece into the attack against the White king. It is worth pointing out that the bishop is untouchable. If White were to capture it via 17. gxh3, then Black would have a forced mate in two with 17. …Qg5+, 18. Kh1 Qg2#.

The next position occurred in a club-level chess game played by the author of this article: Rose vs. Darr, 2025.

This shows how I was able to apply an idea from a game played over 100 years earlier. The move 15. Bh6! was found thanks largely to my prior study of Capablanca’s game.

The colors are reversed and many pieces are configured differently, but both games have a pattern in common:

• a well-placed knight and queen,
• combined with the bishop flying in to join the attack.

Recognizing this pattern, I was able to gain a decisive attack and eventually went on to win.

Summary and Next Steps

Writing in his book “Meditations”, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius chided himself to not be satisfied with merely getting the “gist” of things.

This is perfectly applicable to chess. Improvement takes deep, attentive, repeated engagement with the material. Do not be content with superficial understanding. Chess books can be an amazing tool, but only if you take the time to read them deeply and deliberately. Then, put what you have learned into practice.

If you need a new chess book to help improve your game, the USCF store has a vast range to suit everyone, no matter where you are on your chess journey. Click here to check out our full range!