As part of my middlegame (and probably endgame) studies focus before the next tournament, I am commencing a "back to basics" approach. This involves looking systematically at some resources in my chess library, most of which I have not completed before, that are at the foundational level. It's often easy to overlook, under-study or simply ignore these "beginner" types of lessons, once a player reaches an intermediate level and there are shinier objects to draw your attention. However - and especially for a self-taught chessplayer like myself - foundational reviews can help fill in any gaps left by non-systematic training methods, as well as productively reinforce commonly seen concepts and techniques.
While the much-talked about "beginner's mind" approach to learning skills is certainly helpful, a more attractive parallel concept for me is the martial arts one of practicing, polishing and deepening the mastery level of the fundamental forms of a style. This is less sexy than learning more complex and flashy sequences, but ensures that the practitioner has a deep, intuitive feeling for the art, building a strong foundation before (and even after) more advanced techniques are learned. (See also "The Kung Fu of Chess" and "The Kung Fu of Chess II")
As I complete various things, I'll post separately and also add them to a list in this post, which will be maintained in the sidebar for reference.
Basic Pawn Structures in 60 Minutes by IM Andrew Martin
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