This is a great thread and we need more threads like this! Sharing our book discoveries is fantastic.
We are in a great time period for chess self-study. Books are plentiful, sites like this allow us to interact and play in the way that best suits us. Everyone mentioned really good books, so I won't add to the list. I would like to say that a website, http://www.chesslecture.com/ , is truly wonderful and might be of interest to some of you. I think I pay $12.95 a month and they have over 800 videos by masters and above. It is a real compliment to book study and play online. They add videos all the time and it is well organized. There is even a plan for using the videos based upon your current level.
Let's keep up useful threads like this!
Jeremy Silman is the pinnacle in chess assessment and endings. Currently reading Amatuers mind, silman's end course, and probably art of attack. I have about 2.8 gig of e-books on chess. Amazing how much material is out there on chess.
1, 001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations by Fred Reinfeld
How can u learn form a Book?
Books contain words, or "information". Books can also do neat things like "transmit ideas".
By reading these books, you can gain the "knowledge" contained in them.
King's Gambit, not really a book on chess, but about chess. This book's about a man's self discovery through Chess. He happens to be the President of Encyclopedia Britannica, and so he's played and interviewed GM's and IM's for years. Pretty good book actually, makes you want to play.
And I just finished The Immortal Game last week, which was also pretty good. This one covers the history of Chess, the people who play it, and some of the "greatest" games ever. Each chapter ends with an annotated turn from "The Immortal Game", which is pretty fun...makes you want to read through the chapter to see what happens next.
reinfeld's 1001 sacrifices and combinations
learniong chess in one hour bu irving chernev, this is one of the recent books i won and bought off ebay. I LOVE BOOKS , I READ THEM, HAVE THE FITNESS CENTER AS I'M USING THE NU-STEP, I USUALLY REQUEST THEM FROM A INTER-LIBRARY LOAN AND SAVE THE EXPENSE OF BUYING THEM.
I AM JUST TRYING TO LEARN AS MUCH AS I CAN THROUGH BOOKS ON CHESS
AS I AM JUST A BEGINNER AND HAVE A LOT TO , LEARN.
I ENJOY LEARNING FROM THE EXPERIENCED PLAYERS IN THIS FORUM
THANK YOU AND HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL TO YOUR FAMILIES AND LOVED ONES.
TONY antne003
I'm reading Modern Chess Openings (not really reading, studying more like it) and Jeremy Silman's Complete Endgame Course.
KIng HUnt
The Safest Sicilian by Delchev and Semkov.
Just started reading Attacking chess by Josh Waitkin's. It's an enjoyable easy to read book, however an experienced player may not get much from it.
just an amazing book
by Yasser Seirawan
a surprising effortless read
Bent Larsen's 'The good move guide'. For a beginner who is just finding some foot hold, I feel it is a great one :)
My System by Aron Nimzo...
This is a great topic for me right now - I recently began playing chess again after not really playing much at all for years - many years. And now I am buying books and trying to sharpen my skills. I have been reading Keres and Kotov's "The Art of the Middle Game" and Lev Alburt's "Chess Training Pocket Book" (which is a set of 300 positional exercises). I'm further along with Alburt right now, partly because I can take it in small doses and still get a lot from it. I can definitely recommend the book for anyone at my level (mid 1500's). I also purchased 3 of Silman's books and will get to them later. I am curious to hear what anyone has to say on this topic.
Neil
My book is "the road to chess mastery" by Max Euwe & Walter Meiden. This is the best book for me.
I don't agree, but opinions are like...well...ya know. Silman's writing style is good if you're new to the concepts. After you grasp it...it's not enough.
Silman is a good introduction to Dvoretsky or Kotov.
John Emms, Simple Chess, Mastering the Basic Principles
I'm currently reading Aron Nimzowitsch's My System. It's not an easy read, but all of the major ideas from theory in the last 75 years (or so) are presented there.
You'll have to bounce around in the text to get anything out of it, since he doesn't really follow any sort of logical sequence about when to present ideas (written, of course, from the point of view of someone who was dead-set against early pawn-grabbing, and so the first few chapters are dedicated to proving his point). The best course of action would be to jump to the chapter "Elements on Endgame Strategy", then increase in complexity from there (History ---> Pawn Structures ---> Manoeuvring ---> etc.)
Unfortunately I think you missed Watson's Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy - Advances since Nimzowitsch in your assessment of theoretical history, but I certainly wouldn't recommend reading it before one reads Nimzo.
I recently found an old copy of The Game of Chess by Golombek. It's a book for novices, but I have been away from chess for so long that I am almost starting over. So for me, it is an excellent survey of basic principles, many of which I never learned in the first place.
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