Positional Chess Handbook - Gelfer

I lose games in lots of ways, mostly tactics, some in openings.  I think I know how to work on those.  The games that have frustrated me most are where I get a reasonable position and either I have no idea how to proceed and drift into a position where I'm worse, or I pick a plan that turns out later to be just wrong.

I've been looking for a way to better evaluate positions so I can pick better plans so I can win more games :)  There are lots of books out there that claim to help, but some (Dvoretsky et al) are aimed at 2200+ realistically, and others are aimed at beginners or are unreadable (Silman...).  After several posts and buying and working through the first chapter or two in several books, I've decided my 2025 strategy study time will be spent on:

• Israel Gelfer: Positional Chess Handbook (this post)
• Valeri Bronznik: Techniques of Positional Play
• Herman Grooten: Chess Strategy for Club Players (on Chessable)

These seem usable for A/B/C players and we'll see how it works (I've been ranging between 1650 and 1800 in 2024).  

The reason I started with the Gelfer book is that it's 495 positions - similar to a puzzle book - organized in 21 chapters with specific themes.  These start with material combinations (Bishops-Same Color, Good N v Bad B, etc), and move to more abstract concepts (Key Squares, Choosing an Endgame, etc)  The light analysis for each explains how this game/position relates to this theme.

I've been adding each position and analysis into a ChessBase db, so I can review these easily later without having to set up a board.  I've also been building a private Chessable course with these to study with repetition, but I'm not sure if this is the perfect delivery method, at least for me.

I'm about 1/2 way through the book, and I have been trying to think about these ideas in recent games.  I think, especially for those used to studying out of a puzzle book, that this is a great way to introduce positional concepts.  I find that I'm thinking more about the chapter concept after working through 5 or 10 explanatory examples than I would if there would have been much more text first.  If you're looking for 3 pages of text to explain "Diagonals" for example, get Reassess Your Chess :)  For me this is a better approach.  Once this book gets some of these ideas in my head, other books may help refine them.  We'll see.

As always, find me if you want to talk more about it.

John D