What book caused in a significant change in your life?
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What book caused in a significant change in your life?
Respond with the book's title, author, and explain why/how it changed your behavior/outlook/habits/etc
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@brad_frost One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich by Solzhenitsyn. Because it does so much with so little.
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@brad_frost Lasker’s Manual of Chess by Emanuel Lasker which is both one of the best books on chess every written (Lasker was a many times over World Champion of chess) and one of the best books of philosophy (certainly the best one disguised as a chess manual). My first copy (I’ve bought many copies over the years to give as gifts) I bought used and it was stuffed with clippings of chess games and puzzles by a previous owner.
Read as a teenager this book changed how I think about chess & life
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@brad_frost for context I was a very serious chess player - captain of my high school chess team for 3 1/2+ years, probably roughly 2100+ strength at my peak a few years after high school (in tournaments 2200+ rated players would beat me, but I would win or draw vs 2100 - this was with tournement times not speed chess).
Lasker’s book is still innovative 100 some years later because it starts at the endgame and ends with openings and teaches about how to learn and think as well as chess.
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@Rycaut WILD! That's so amazing. That perspective is really fascinating, though I admit to being a mere chess novice.
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@brad_frost it’s still one of the better ways to learn or improve your chess game. Look for the 2009 edition that uses modern chess notation. The final chapters about openings are now more than a bit dated (after 100+ years chess theory moved on around openings) but the rest of the book remains one of the best ways to approach getting better at chess as well as learning/relearning it for the first time. And crucially IMHO it doesn’t do so via suggesting rote memorization