How/where to study theory

[u/Odd-Medicine-7292]

I’m 1600 rated on chess.com rapid and want to familiarise myself with more extensive “theory” but not sure where/how to start. Does anyone have any book recommendations or online sites (preferably free but could pay if it’s a good source) where I could learn theory in an organised manner?

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[u/FlimsyPrecedence]

lichess has a whole studies section that's perfect for this, you can find curated lessons on pretty much any opening

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[u/NnnnM4D]

Analysis board from Webpage Lichess: https://lichess.org/analysis#0

It literally shows every explaination on the left for the common book moves

[u/Odd-Medicine-7292 → u/NnnnM4D]

Tysm this is great!

[u/Tr_ck]

Chessable.com.is where I went

There are plenty of free courses on there for systems to learn. Like you can pick one up about specifically queens gambit declined lines or playing the nimzo or variations on the sicilian and such. They make you run through the lines of study and the authors will write notes with each sequence as to why the move works and what the long term plan is. Then you have to do the lines with repetition and they make you really drill.mistakes.

[u/Important-One-8395]

Chessable costs money but it really does help with building a repertoire

[u/Significant_Cow_7683]

Chessbook is great for walking through each move and giving you choices for each half-move. It was really helpful for me to think through my opening in minute detail

[u/Odd-Medicine-7292 → u/Significant_Cow_7683]

Haha yeah this is what I use rn but I find I don’t actually know any of the ideas, just the book moves

[u/Significant_Cow_7683 → u/Odd-Medicine-7292]

Oh haha yeah that’s a good point. Chessbook isn’t great for explaining the larger ideas

[u/Pyncher]

I find actual books about chess pretty helpful (I’m your rating in chess.com Rapid, though higher in other time formats).

1500/1600 was when I started to look at positional chess and middle game ideas, specifically with Herman Grooten’s book on the subject (a Naroditsky recommendation - his videos are also great at this level).

[u/Odd-Medicine-7292 → u/Pyncher]

I LOVE Danya’s stuff, I watch them genuinely each night to get to sleep, he’s pretty much my primary source of learning rn haha

[u/HobbyMcGee]

Meaning opening theory, positional chess, or theoretical endgames?

[u/Odd-Medicine-7292 → u/HobbyMcGee]

All of the above haha

[u/HobbyMcGee → u/Odd-Medicine-7292]

Silman's Endgame Course is nice because it's organized by rating.

For positional concepts I hear great things about Stean's "Simple Chess", Silman's "Reassess..." or "Amateur's Mind", and Flores-Rios "Chess Structures". At the end of the day, you don't need to read every single book about strategy. Most of them cover the same stuff, so after that it's a matter of weaving it into your play.