Anand's former coach Saravanan recommends 20 must-read books

by Rasika Ratnaparkhi - 19/05/2026

What does the study room of a former World Champion's trainer look like? IM Venkatachalam Saravanan has shaped some of the best minds in Indian chess. He is very wise, and that wisdom comes from the books he has read. He is also well known for his deep love of chess books. A few days back, we visited his house in Chennai for a tour of his study room, where he gave several book recommendations. In this article, we present 20 books from Saravanan's personal recommended list.

20 books recommended by Saravanan

IM Venkatachalam Saravanan is one of the most respected figures in Indian chess. Over the years, he has played a crucial role in shaping the careers of several players through his deep understanding of the game and thoughtful approach to training. One of the highlights of his career has been serving as a trainer to former World Champion Viswanathan Anand. But what truly makes Saravanan stand out is not merely his deep chess knowledge; it is the way he approaches learning itself. Six years ago, we made a video with him where he taught an often overlooked but essential skill: "How to read a chess book." You can watch it below:

IM Venkatachalam Saravanan teaches us how to read a chess book. | Video: ChessBase India

Recently, we visited his study room in Chennai, where he shared recommendations of some of the chess books he believes every chess player should explore. Here is a list of the books along with what they are about:

Analyzing the Chess Mind - Boris Gulko and Joel Sneed

Analyzing the Chess Mind is an exploration of psychology in chess. Psychology affects the chess moves we make, as the authors entertainingly illustrate in expertly annotated examples, but our personal chess psychology is not fixed. We can improve our chess psychology, and the authors show how.

Rock Solid Chess - Sergey Tiviakov

Sergei Tiviakov was unbeaten in a streak of more than a hundred chess games as a professional player. Who better to share the secrets of Rock Solid Chess and the activity and value of pieces than Tiviakov? In this second volume of the book, Sergei discuss piece play and unique chessboard situations. Topics covered include the bishop pair, opposite-coloured bishops, centralization and the almost-ignored question of when and whether to castle.

Techniques of Positional Play - Valeri Bronznik & Anatoli Terekhin

Techniques of Positional Play is a practical guide to understanding the middlegame better. Considered an improved edition of a Russian classic, the book explains 45 important positional concepts in a clear and easy-to-grasp manner. From restricting your opponent’s pieces and making the right exchanges to understanding file control, rook placement, and artificial castling, the book focuses on skills that frequently arise in practical games. What makes it especially useful for aspiring players is its simple explanations, carefully chosen examples, and training exercises that help reinforce the ideas learned.

Chess Coach: The Profound and Lasting Influence of Mark Dvoretsky - Vladimir Barsky

This remarkable book is a tribute to a man who is probably the greatest chess coach of all time. Mark Dvoretsky was a fascinating, intelligent, honest, decent, hard-working and good-natured man who dedicated his life to chess and its players.

The Mental Game - Alexander Galkin

We all have an intuitive feeling of the stress, pressure and frustration on the path to winning a World Championship in sport, but rarely will you get as unfiltered and raw an insight into the struggle to succeed as in The Mental Game. The author reveals the highs, lows, jubilations and frustrations that were experienced when he won several championships.

Winning - Nigel Short

GM Nigel Short realised that every tournament win has a unique narrative and challenge. In this exceptional chess book, Short discusses eight of his foremost tournament wins, describing the drama with insightful game annotations and entertaining anecdotes. For those wanting to win in chess, this book is the place to start.

Tiger's Chaos Theory - Tiger Hillarp Persson

Tiger’s Chaos Theory will take you on an inspirational journey, featuring concepts such as extreme Hecatomb sacrifices, Houdini-style pawn breakouts and even becoming another player at the board. With thought-provoking chess content, amusing anecdotes and candid reflections on the author’s games and career, this book is unmissable.

Tiger's modern defense - Tiger Hillarp Persson

The Modern Tiger offers a complete repertoire against 1.e4, as well as against 1.d4 when White continues with c4 and e4. For added flexibility, both a Modern line and a Pirc line are given against the critical Austrian Attack.

Perpetual Chess Improvement - Ben Johnson

Perpetual Chess Improvement brings together practical advice from several strong players and coaches on how to improve at chess effectively. The book covers topics such as studying openings, endgames, tactics, tournament games, and online chess, while also offering guidance on finding the right coach, building a chess community, and making better use of modern training tools through instructive examples and positions.

Games and Goals - Simen Agdestein

Games and Goals is a gripping biography of a unique double talent, revealing his insecurities and ambitions, his doubts and dreams. The author had access to Agdestein's private letters and diaries and conducted numerous interviews with relatives, friends and Agdestein himself.

Grind like a Grandmaster - Magnus Carlsen and David Howell

Carlsen and Howell show how you can keep a game alive, how you can keep posing problems to your opponent, how you can recognize the first small mistakes, and how you can grind your opponent down until he cracks.

The Lightning Kid - Vishy Anand

The book dives into the most dramatic moments of Anand's life and career – wins, losses, comebacks, and masterstrokes – along with 64 bite-sized lessons, one for every square on the chessboard. Whether it's learning how to stay calm under pressure, bounce back after a loss, or think several moves ahead, this is the tale of a true champion – and a guide to thinking big, staying humble, and playing your best game.

Bobby Fischer and his World - John Donaldson

IM Donaldson examines Fischer's life and career from his days as a child prodigy through the height of his World Championship triumph and into his tumultuous final years. Donaldson's meticulous research has uncovered previously lost games and a wealth of unknown material about Fischer, ranging from his close friendships with players and supporters to his acrimonious relationships with organizers, journalists, lawyers, and publishers. Bobby Fischer and His World is brought to life through a potpourri of first-hand accounts, interviews, letters, and articles by and about the colorful characters that inhabited Fischer's world.

My 60 Memorable Games - Bobby Fischer

One of the most important chess books ever written, reissued in celebration of a chess genius, Bobby Fischer. The American takes the reader through 60 of his games, describing his thoughts, the intricacies behind his and his opponent's strategies, the tactical justification of moves and the psychological battle in each one. You will find beautifully simple positional play next to out-of-this-world combinations that are just breathtaking.

Life and Games of Miguel Najdorf - Zenon Franco Ocampos

This is a chess book, with 275 commented games, it covers all of Miguel Najdorf's chess career, but it also has many stories. Najdorf was the most important Argentine chess player, and he was an exceptional person. Oscar Panno said that Najdorf reminded him of Don Quixote, in the part of the book where he tells Sancho Panza, “Wherever I am, that is where the head of the table is going to be”. He successfully overcame the most terrible setbacks, as few are capable of doing. Writing about Miguel Najdorf is one of my greatest pleasures as a chess journalist and writer!

Boris Spassky Best games Part 1 - Tibor Karolyi

Boris Spassky is the most underappreciated World Champion in chess history, remembered as the Soviet who lost to Bobby Fischer in 1972. This book tells the story of how that boy subsequently learned to play chess and rose through the Soviet ranks to become the strongest player in the world in the late 1960s.

Endgame Virtuoso Magnus Carlsen Volume 1 & Volume 2 - Tibor Karolyi

Endgame Virtuoso Magnus Carlsen is a highly instructive, inspiring and entertaining book. It will help you to appreciate Magnus’ endgame magic and show you how to become a better endgame player yourself.

Chess improvement - Barry Hymer and Peter Wells

The book is an engaging and instructive guide that sets out how the application of growth mindset principles can accelerate chess improvement. They also include practical illustrative descriptions from the games and chess careers of both developing and leading players, and pull together themes and suggestions in a way which encourages readers to create their own trajectories for chess improvement.

Writers at Work around the World - The Paris Review

Writers at Work Around the World, from the Paris Review Editions imprint, features interviews with many writers. "The greatest joy of putting together this book has been the opportunity to discover the connections between a writer from here and a writer from there, what they share and where they differ, the ways in which they have influenced one another. Chinua Achebe says it best: the writer of fiction stands at the center of 'a number of ever-widening circles' that, in the end, include any reader who is willing to turn their pages, which is to say that they include, ultimately, all of us," Emily Nemens, from the preface.

Venmurasu - Mahabharatham by Jeyamohan

Jeyamohan has undertaken a highly ambitious literary dream of his life, of writing the Mahabharata as a series of 25-30 novels, over the duration of 10 years. This novel series has been named Venmurasu (The White Drum), symbolizing pure white that represents the commingling of all nine Rasas, trumpeting the message of Dharma and Shanti. When this vision is realized, Venmurasu would very well be the longest novel series in the history of world literature, going beyond 25,000 pages.

Watch the full video here to hear Saravanan talk about each of these books in detail: