EP 454 — Hanging Pawns (Stjepan Tomić) Shares Chess Book Recs for Every Level & Discusses His Big New Project

Oct 7, 2025

Stjepan Tomić, creator of the popular Hanging Pawns YouTube channel and founder of ChessReads.com, shares his love for chess literature and the origins of his new project aimed at helping players find the perfect book. They discuss the ongoing relevance of chess books compared to digital courses and dive into how to effectively utilize literature for improvement. Stjepan also offers recommendations across various skill levels, highlighting essential reads for beginners to advanced players, while sharing insights about the chess scene in Croatia.

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ADVICE

Do The Work Before Trusting Answers

Do the hard work yourself; coaching or books won't help if you don't apply the lessons personally.
Check positions with an engine only after you form your own evaluation and try to solve the problem first.

INSIGHT

Books Or Digital — Use What You’ll Do

Books and digital courses can be equally effective; preference and habit determine what works for you.
Reading with a physical board can improve retention and bridge online-to-OTB gaps for many players.

ADVICE

Use Readability To Choose How To Study

Check a book's readability score before buying to know if you need a board while reading.
Prefer high-readability books (narrative style) for relaxed study and low-readability for focused training with a set.

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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