How to Reassess Your Chess

Excellent deep dive on the main strategic concepts you’ll find in your games, my introduction to the concept of “imbalances”, which has – as far as I can tell – become part of the lexicon of every ambitious club player. Occasionally rambling and diverting from the point at hand, but Silman has enough charm in his writing that it doesn’t upset me much at all.

Very easy to read and entertaining. I especially recommend if you find yourself lost or without plans in the middle game, since it changes the approach of evaluating positions and makes it very clear how to find plans that work.

“How to Reassess Your Chess” by Jeremy Silman

This is almost a required read for intermediate players. Jeremy Silman is one of the most famous authors and he introduces you to his term 'Imbalances.' At first, the word might feel cumbersome but you soon realize it sums up the slight differences in White and Black's position. You can use these Imbalances to analyze and break down chess positions. What are these Imbalances? Superior minor piece, pawn structure, space, material, control of key file or square, lead in development, and initiative. Silman's book takes you by the hand and walks you through these positional basics. It is not a book of soulless engine analysis but a master level teacher guiding intermediate players toward better chess. I would personally place this book at the 1500 elo as that was my rating when I read it. If you are rated much below 1500 then I would suggest “Winning Chess Strategy for Kids” by Jeff Coakly. If you are around 1200-1400 I would suggest “Simple Chess” by Michael Stean.

Explains positional concepts in an easy-to-understand way but the author rambles at points in the book.

Silman’s How to Reassess Your Chess is a masterclass in making deep positional concepts simple and intuitively easy to grasp. It excels at building a rock-solid foundation of essential positional patterns that completely rewired how I see the board. Most importantly, it cured my habit of wandering aimlessly in complex middlegames. By training me to instinctively gut-check imbalances—not as a rigid checklist, but as a natural strategic compass—this book provided a framework that permanently upgraded my thought process.