i have a BUNCH of favorites! Below are a few...
Chess books you can't live without?!
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OK, I am biased. I can't live without my 29 chess books that I have written. Of those, my favorites are 500 King's Gambit Miniatures, 500 Sicilian Miniatures, and 700 Opening Traps. My other favorites are Pal Benko's My Games; 1000 Best Short Games by Chernev; MCO-14; Amos Burn by Forster; Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper; Basic Chess Endings by Fine and Benko, Alekhine's Games 1902-1946 by Skinner, Chess by Polgar, and any of Edward Winter's chess books
well, lets see...
"logical chess move by move" by irving chernev
"winning chess" by irving chernev and fred reinfeld
"art of attack" by vlad vukovic
"500 master games of chess" by tartakower and du mont
there are others, but i will say just these for now...
I'm fairly new to chess. I understand the pieces and how each one can move but I don't know anything about tactics, openings, defense and how to establish myself. What is a good new player to read? Any basic or beginner books that you all recommend?
The "Play Winning Chess" series is GREAT.
Play Winning Chess
Winning Chess Tactics
Winning Chess Strategies
Winning Chess Openings
nsampson>> Erik's advice is Solid! May I humbely suggest a sneak peak at my Blog entry on self studies?
Another good piece of advice is to pick up a cheap copy of CHESSMASTER 10. There are in my opinion a lot of useful Tutorials in that software package and the price tag is in the 10USD range.
nsampson.
By far the most accessable book I have seen for the very beginner, is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess by Patrick Wolff.
It has the same kind of education philosophy as other books of the series. And I really think that way of presenting information is quite helpful. You can bite it off as you chose.
The only other thing to do, while you are learning through the book, is to play. Playing is by far the best way to gaining strength at the game.
johnm - i'm going to have to agree with you! the COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE is probably the one book i would recommend to someone who says they will only read ONE chess book in their life. (and stay away from the chess for dummies book - the author is a great guy, but the book isn't that good!)
hey don't knock the chess for dummies it was my first chess book and the jumping point for my journy at self chess improvement... (the complete idiots guide hadn't been written yet) but the books that have taught me the most? i'd have to go with
the amateur's mind - silman
the complete book of chess strategy - silman
winning chess tactics - Seirawan
First-time poster, long time chess wannabe.....
Can't let the opportunity pass to recommend to other "Which one book?" beginners the ever novel and suprisingly politically neutral "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess".
Gotta love a book that you read through and turn upside-down and backwards to finish. Is there an apt metaphor in there somewhere? A little help, please....
at the moment i am an ok player looking to get better any books that you expert players would recommend.
Dan Heisman has a great web page here that covers a lot of books for all skill levels:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/danheisman/Events_Books/General_Book_Guide.htm
Billwall,
It would be interesting for you to list your chess books by level since I am learning that learning from books at an appropriate level to the players stage of learning is far more useful than just jumping around different chess books.
I HAVE TROUBLE STUDYING CHESS OPENING BOOKS, I HAVE MCO AND NCO
BOOKS, BUT WOULD LIKE TO GET SOME ADVICE AS TO WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO STUDY CHESS OPENINGS USING THESE BOOKS,
I AM NOT AN ADVANCED PLAYER AND STILL LEARNING, I FIGURE WITH THE EXPERTICE OF MEMBERS ON THIS SITE, I SHOULD GET SOME GOOD FEEDBACK
THANKS TONY (antne003)
My System - Nimzowitsch
Chess Praxis - Nimzowitcsh
The Soviet School of Chess - Kotov
Think / Play like a Grandmaster - Kotov
The Art of Attack in Chess - Vuckovic
A few of my favorites: My System-Nimzovich Ideas behind the chess Openings- R Fine , Middlegame Books 1&2 - Euwe, Logical Chess Endings- Keres, The Game of Chess- Tarasch, My 60 memorable games- Fischer, Zurich 1953- Bronstein , and the set of ECOs
the polgar 5200 tactcal combinations. the complete chess workout by richard palliser.and istavan pongos tactical targets in chess volume one.the first book is common the last two are hard to find.
The Middle Game By Max Euwe and Hans Kramer
it is divided into two books,
Book One: Static Features
Book Two: Dynamic and Subjective Features
masterbradenchaser wrote:the polgar 5200 tactcal combinations. the complete chess workout by richard palliser.and istavan pongos tactical targets in chess volume one.the first book is common the last two are hard to find.
The Pongo tactics book is available in the US? Didn't know that, but here in Hungary the new edition is 4 volumes, too bad most of the problems are too hard for me.
What are some chess books you can't live without?
I have the Polgar tactics books and MCO 14. Still building up my collection.