10 Underrated Chess Books for Players of All Levels with FM Carsten Hansen

Book Recap #30- 10 Underrated Chess Books for Different Ratings Levels, with FM Carsten Hansen

This episode was recorded at Suite Recording Studios in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey.

Chess Books Recaptured returns, this time to discuss 10 books for the price of one! My guest co-host is FM Carsten Hansen, who returns to the pod to join me in selecting and discussing different chess books for different chess experience levels. Carsten is a prolific author, the book reviewer for American Chess Magazine and a Chess Life magazine columnist. In addition to a lot of book talk, we discuss Carsten’s chess improvement efforts and OTB plans, and a few of his recent collaborations with IM Cyrus Lakdawala. There is always so much to learn from Carsten, and I am confident we have selected worthwhile book recommendations for chess enthusiasts of many backgrounds.



02:00- How do we define an “underrated” chess book?
04:30- Aside from reading chess books, who are some of our favorite chess content creators?
Mentioned: IM Levy Rozman, GM Daniel Naroditsky, IM Andras Toth, IM John Bartholomew, GM Daniel King, Chess Feels, C Squared, Chicken Chess Club, Ladies Knight with Isabella Choko
8:00- Book #1- Open Files by Uhlman and Schmidt
11:00- Book #2- Arkell’s Endings by and GM Keith Arkell
15:30- Book #3- World Chess Championship 1948. Contact the translator, Jan Verendel via his website: https://verendel.com/
17:30- Book #4- Fundamental Chess: Logical Decision Making by GM Ramesh
22:00- Book #5- Learn to Play Chess Like a Boss by GM Patrick Wolff
Mentioned: Episode 189 with GM Patrick Wolff
25:00- Book #6- Instructive Chess Miniatures by FM Alper Efe Ataman
28:00- Book #7- Rewire Your Chess Brain by IM Cyrus Lakdawala
Mentioned: Episode 197 with IM Cyrus Lakdawala, Endgames Studies 101 on Chessable
35:00- Book #8- The Giants of Strategy by GM Neil McDonald
39:00- Book #9- Positional Chess by IM Shaun Talbut
Mentioned: Move First, Think Later by IM Willy Hendriks
Mentioned: Improve Your Positional Chess by FM Carsten Hansen, Episode 182 with IM Willy Hendriks
44:30- Book #10- Universal Chess Training by GM Wojciech Moranda
50:45- What is Carsten doing to work on his chess and blitz games?
Mentioned: The Checkmate Patterns Manual by CrafyRaf, The Dirty Harry Sicilian by IM Christof Sielecki, Play the Orangutan by FM Carsten Hansen, Episode 178 with IM Kare Kristensen
1:07:00- Bonus book talk! Carsten showcases a few books that aren’t translated to English but should be.
Mentioned: Larsen Volume 1, 30 Years at the Chessboard by Jens Enevoldsen
1:15:00- Which of Carsten’s recent books would he recommend most highly?


Mentioned: The Anti-Alapin Gambit, The Smyslov Workbook, The Chess Wizardry of Wotowa, Back to Basics: Chess Openings
1:20:00- Some of Our Favorite Books of 2022: . Masterpieces and Drama of the Soviet Championship, Albert W. Fox: A Life on and Off the Chess Board by John S. Hilbert, Evaluate like a Grandmaster, Think Like a Super GM

1:22:00- Thanks to Carsten for joining me in studio!
You can check out his books here:
https://www.amazon.com/Books-Carsten-...
Follow him on Twitter here:
  / carstenchess  

If you would like to join the Perpetual Chess Patreon community and be able to submit questions for guests and receive other perks, you can do so here:
  / perpetualchess  

#chess #chessimprovement #bluewirevideo