Schacksnack

In this video, I, IM Thomas Engqvist, take you on a journey through some of the chess game collections that have influenced him the most as a player — from Paul Morphy all the way to Garry Kasparov.

Around 34 world-class players pass in review, including every World Champion from Wilhelm Steinitz to Kasparov, as well as many of the great players just below World Champion level, such as David Bronstein, Paul Keres, Viktor Korchnoi, Bent Larsen and Svetozar Gligorić.

The structure of the video is inspired by a Serbian-Croatian series written and edited by Dr S. Petrovic and Mr D. Marović, but I also discuss many other game collections and explain how I have personally approached these books and the players featured in them.

I also explain the two fundamental methods I have used to study chess games:

1. Simulation — a deeper method of studying games, which I also discuss in greater detail on the Chesslovers Academy members’ channel.

2. Playing through games with my own note-taking system — a method that has served me particularly well for understanding a player’s technical development and identifying ideas that I have subsequently been able to incorporate into my own thinking and games.

For me, studying chess history through game collections has never simply been about memorising games. It has been about understanding how the strongest players thought, how their technique developed, and which ideas can still be useful to us today.

The books discussed are primarily in English, with some Swedish titles as well.

This is a video for anyone interested in the development of chess, the greatest players in chess history, and — most importantly — how we can learn from their games.

If you enjoy this kind of chess content, consider subscribing and exploring the Chesslovers Academy or Advanced for more in-depth material on chess improvement and the study of master games.