How to Use Books to Actually Improve

Stjepan emphasizes active work, personal effort, checking analysis with engines, and the limits of passive reading.

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Stjepan Tomić has built a sizable following through his beloved Hanging Pawns YouTube Channel, but good old-fashioned chess books remain his true passion. That passion has led to his ambitious new project, ChessReads.com, a free platform designed to help players of all levels find the right book for their needs through crowdsourced reviews. The project already features its own YouTube channel, Discord server, and a growing website filled with helpful writeups.

To celebrate the site’s launch, Stjepan joined me for a wide-ranging conversation about the enduring value of chess literature. We answered listener questions about whether books are still as vital as ever, how Stjepan chooses what to read next, and we shared recommendations across nearly every rating band. Stjepan also updated us on his own chess improvement goals and upcoming tournaments.

As a fellow chess bibliophile, I’m excited about the ChessReads project and enjoyed catching up with Stjepan. Timestamps for all topics and rating ranges are below, along with Amazon affiliate links to the books mentioned.

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Below are shortened show notes, for more complete show notes with links for all of the book recs, click here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19Io2RMjGWDpncNDRcUMOlNmYHKMvdxUP1TGmGJFtdB4/edit?tab=t.0

0:03- Stjepan joins the pod! What is the chessreads.com origin story?

Mentioned:

Chessreads Discord-

https://discord.gg/gbFZGDw4

0:07- Patreon mailbag question: 1) Are chessbooks useful/optimal as chess improvement tools in the modern digital era? 2) Are modern books and older classics equally useful?

19:00- Patreon mailbag question:

Could Stjepan recommend a few books that can be read without a chessboard?

Mentioned: Perpetual Chess Improvement, Thinking Inside the Box

23:00- Patreon mailbag question: How does Stjepan select which chess book to read next?

25:00- Patreon mailbag question: What recommendations does Stjepan have for books about thinking processes?

30:00- Book Recommendations by rating range, starting with under 1000

36:00- Recommendations for the 1000-1200 level

37:00- - Recommendations for the 1200-1400 level

41:00- Recommendations for the 1400-1600 level

45:00- Recommendations for the 1600-1800 level

49:00- Recommendations for the 1800-2000 level

52:00- Recommendations for the above 2000 level