There is no doubt that reviewing master games is one of the best methods to improve your chess. The question for me has always been which master’s games do I study first? There are schools of thought that answer this by stating that you should review master games starting in chronological order, since this maps to the way a beginner learns chess. Using this method you would begin with Steinitz, and work your way up to modern day masters like Kasparov and Kramnik. While this is a logical approach, the problem I find with it is that it might take a long time before you reach the games of some of the more modern day masters, and these might be the players with whom you have the most affinity in your playing style.
What I am planning to do, is to review one or two games from a list of masters in chronological order so that I might find the master whose games I would like to delve deeper into. I will be looking for games where the play is clearest and the outcome is artistic.
Master list:
1. Paul Morphy
2. Wilhelm Steinitz
3. Tarrasch
4. Emanuel Lasker
5. Akiba Rubinstein
6. Jose Raul Capablanca
7. Alexander Alekhine
8. Mikhail Botvinnik
9. Mikhail Tal
10. Tigran Petrosian
11. Bobby Fischer
12. Anatoly Karpov
13. Garry Kasparov
I will chose games based on the following criteria:
1. Won games
2. Preferrably annotated
3. In chronological order
4. Plays my openings
It’s a very interesting approach I’ve seen in a book written by Daniel King, titled How Good Is Your Chess. Well, I personally like a lot of Tal’s style of playing full of wonderful sacs.
Your idea is very nice, I’d like to ask you posting more oftenly, if possible.
I’m considering your thoughts of great importance and usefulness.
Thanks and I’m looking forward to hear it from you.
Marco
Thanks for the kind words. I will try to post more often, I have just been a bit frustrated with my improvement in the last few months…
For reviewing master games, I find the chessgames.com Guess the Move feature to be invaluable. It gives you a score, and it keeps me invested in the game. Here’s the link: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/guessthemove
There are two good books you might be interested in: “Development of Chess Style” and Lars Bo Hansen’s “Improve Your Chess – by learning from the champions”
Will check these out. Thanks.