I was wondering if I could get peoples opinions on what is the best opening books?  I need to study openings and am looking for a book which includes as many openings as possible.  Thanks

I recomend Jeremy Silman, I own a few of his books and I think he writes very clearly and actually fills his books with text and not jsut moves.

If you can afford to get all 5 volumes of the ECOs, they are best imo. ECO= Encyclopedia of Chess Openings

If you want a one book reference there are several that are very popular : MCO ( modern chess openings ) BCO ( batsford chess openings ) and NCO ( Nunn's chess openings ) These are all refernce books though and shouldnt be mistaken as instructional texts.

In a seperate thread, someone recomended "understanding the chess openings" by Sam Collins.  I checked it out, and it got good reviews.  I haven't read it yet though.

thanks guys!

If you want an introductory repertoire I'd definitely recommend Chess Openings for Black Explained. The one for white is also very good, but I think I got a better introduction to it because I'd already been studying John Emms' Starting Out...The Scotch. Think it's possibly easier to get into the Scotch Gambit if you have some knowledge of the Scotch.