adult beginner book recommendations

I'm looking for two or three books to recommend to a beginner adult friend of mine who is looking for an introctionto basic principles of development and opening theory to help move his game to the next level.  I thought I might lend him my copy of Chernev, Logical Chess: Move by Move.  Other (or contrary) suggestions?   Thank you.

I was thinking the Fred Reinfeld books are good as well as the Dan Heisman and his column on chesscafe.com

It's been a long hiatus, so I might as well be a beginner. :) I've really been enjoying the "Reassess Your Chess Workbook" and, especially, "The Complete Book of Chess Strategy" both by Jeremy Silman. The latterhas been particularly helpful since it covers openings, middles and end games and I've especially appreciated the clarity of the explanations of the openings (Good Gravy! They actually make sense!  Who knew?)

As a general beginners' book, Yasser Seirawan's "Play Winning Chess" is also nice, showing the basics in a clear and easy to understand sort of way.

ETA: Post fixed because trying to post in the forums via an iPad where the post box overlaps the "Most Recent Posts" column is a pain in the rear.

You can go to Amazon and buy Logical Chess Move by Move probably the best beginners book on the market.

Logical Chess Move by Move and/or The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played, both by Irving Chernev.

1000 Checkmates and/or 1000 Winning Combinations both by Fred Reinfeld.

Common Sense In Chess by Dr Lasker

My Chess Career and/or Chess Fundamentals by J.R. Capablanca.

Look around for used copies at eBay, Amazon & local used bookstores. There are plenty of good combo books around besides Reinfelds but his have the added bonus of lots of errors in the solutions that have never been corrected, so they really give you a good workout!

GOOD LUCK!

Everyone's 2nd Chess Book by Heisman

Comprehensive Chess Course Vol 1-2 by Alburt.

Chernev's book is a classic but leaves out many fundamentals so I would use it after the two above.  Silman is too advanced for a new player.

I've done quite alot of research into books that are written with the goal of actually helping the player improve rather than just stale ones that are getting published just to cash in and make some money.  Here's 2 so far that I have found:

Simple Chess by Michael Stean

The Search for Chess Perfection by CJS Purdy (silly cover but good content)

These books are very widely regarded by everyone who has read them and I'm confident it will help not only your friend but you as well.

THE COMPLETE IDIOTS GUIDE TO CHESS By Patrick Wolff, two-times U.S. Chess champion. Any book store for about 30.00 US

Really?  (Please imagine that said with a quizzical look and not a snarky tone of voice; I know tone doesn't always convey itself.)  As I said, I might as well be a beginner--it's been more years than I care to admit since I last pushed pieces around.  I found the "Complete Book of Chess Strategy" to be extremely helpful and not at all above my head.  Perhaps I should have asked what the OP meant by "beginner".  I imagine if they're still trying to figure out how the pieces move, the Silman books might be a bit advanced, but, "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?"  ;)

Logical Chess: Move by Move or Winning Chess Tactics by Seirawan.

I had posted a comprehensive list of recommended resources for adult beginners in this thread earlier only to see it not appear after I clicked 

"Post Comment".

So without reposting the qualifications and disclaimers,

here's a list to get started I've found helpful:

*25 WInning Chess Openings (Bill Robertie)

*Chess Openings for Dummies (James Eade)

*Rapid Chess Improvement (de la Maza)

*1000 Checkmate Combinations (Victor Henkin)

*Ten Tips to Winning Chess (Bisguier)

*Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess (Fischer)

*Silman's Complete Endgame Course (Jeremy Silman)

*Basic Chess Endings (Reuben Fine)

*Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur (Max Euwe)

*Chess Fundamentals (Capablanca)

*My System (Aron Nimzowitsch)

And of course, last but not least (Actually 1st!)

Diamond Membership here at Chess.com

This is by no means an exhaustive, comprehensive list of books,

but should be more than enough for your adult friend to get his feet wet and enjoy some great progress. 

Wish you every success,

Shah Mat #++

Learn Chess by Nunn and The Art of Checkmate by Kahn

Yeah, I checked out "25 Openings" by Bill Robertie from the library.  That book was total rubbish!  Although he did introduce me to the Danish Gambit, which he touts as the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Thanks to everyone for the helpful suggestions!

Yeah, that was part of my disclaimers and qualifications I had posted earlier but didn't save for some reason...

There are masters who decry some of the titles as rubbish such as:

 the 25 winning openings, but the beginner can find some value for the actual positions and comments...

Some say Bobby Fischer teaches Chess is too elementary, but for the newcomer, it could be just what's needed...

Some say 1000 Checkmate Combinations is too hard to read because of the annotated diagrams, but these actually helped me sharpen my recognition of mating combination patterns...

Some say "My System" is too heady and abstract because of the concepts,

but there are many others who credit it for improving their game to the next level....

Some say Rapid Chess Improvement is rubbish but the concepts of improving "Chess Vision" in order to internalize the fundamentals can free up concentration to focus on more intricate combinations, tactics and strategy due to the drills of the basics...

Some may not like Fine's Endgame book because of the notation, but others credit it as the reason they mastered the endgame...

And so on, ad nauseum.

The bottom line is this particular list of suggestions will contain something of value to the beginner looking to improve their game, but it's impossible to please everyone with everything every time.

You just need enough horse sense (chew the hay and spit out the sticks)

to find what works best for you at your current level of progress.

The titles aren't without controversy as any list containing more than a few solid recommendations seldom is.

However, I stick to my guns in asserting it's a good starting point for beginners to investigate in independent research as good reference material along with the diamond membership here at chess.com

I can suggest you the books by Jeremy Silman (and his articles here at chess.com) and Yasser Seirawan's "winning chess" series.

I'm 29 and I really enjoy Yasser Seirawan's Winning Chess series; I've read "Play Winning Chess" and "Winning Chess Tactics", going to start "Winning Chess Strategies".  After that, I'm probably gonna read WCT and WCS a couple more times, to make sure I absorb more material.

Thanks, again, for all the excellent suggestions.

For years I have been recommending Starting Out in Chess by Byron Jacobs as a first chess book.

After that, I would recommend rudimentary strategy books: The Middle Game in Chess by Eugene Znosko-Borovsky, and How Not to Play Chess, by the same author.

Next would be a basic endgame book: Pandolfini's Endgame Course, which is the only great Bruce Pandolfini book, IMHO.

Then a basic opening book: The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings, by Reuben Fine (really good, all the typos notwithstanding).

Only now would I recommend someone to hit the tactics hard: Chess School 1a, Chess School 1b, and Chess School 2, by Sergey Ivaschenko.

1. Chess Tactics for Champion

2. Winning Chess Strategy

3. Complete Endgame Course by Silman

To improve at chess you need to study endgames, tactics and strategy, that is why I recommend these 3 books.