Now I know that there can never ONE single book that addresses every possible aspect of chess in a full and efficient manner, BUT, I was just curious if any of you more seasoned players have found that there is one good book out there for a beginner to aquire which might address several openings, tactics, middle game, mates, etc....

I need/want a book that is well rounded and will help me become a better all around chess player.

 Suggestions? does this book exist?
I'll even consider TWO books

Get The Game of Chess by Tarrasch , if you can find it.

Logical Chess: Move by move

reassess your chess is too advanced for beginners

 

logical chess + buttloads of tactics is all the beginner needs really 

My system is an overall good book, but if u are above 1900 ELO, forget it.

Bobby Fischer teaches chess, lots of elemental backrank mates.

Reinfeld had a one volume back in the late 60s that was great for me to learn from, from learning the piece moves to games.

For a beginner, Chernev, Renfeld.

For a Novice, game collections of players like Capablanca were good for me. Still love rook endgames because of that. 

Reb wrote: Get The Game of Chess by Tarrasch , if you can find it.

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I have just started going back over that.  And yes it is a very good book.  A little harder to follow because of notation at times, though. 

You'd probably need three books. One for each phase of the game. I don't know of any book that covers the opening, middlegame, and endgame in one volume. If there was it probably wouldn't cover any one of them sufficiently.

Chess Fundamentals by Jose Raul Capablanca does cover all three but the opening knowledge is outdated. The newer revised version edited by Nick de Firmian who is an opening expert so he fixed that problem but it is still limited. Solid book for an advanced beginner  

 

 

im a beginner and i picked up "encyclopedia of chess wisdom" by eric schiller

it has everything

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I loved "Winning Chess: How to Look Three Moves Ahead" by Chernev and Reinfield.  It's around 60 years old though, so you might have a bit of trouble at your local bookstore.

 

I also enjoyed Understanding Chess: Move by Move, though it is more advanced than Winning Chess.

 

I have also heard that Chess for Idiots (no, I am not kidding) was a good beginner's book, never read it myself though 

Unbeliever wrote:

I loved "Winning Chess: How to Look Three Moves Ahead" by Chernev and Reinfield.  It's around 60 years old though, so you might have a bit of trouble at your local bookstore.

I have to agree, Winning chess is a great book on tactics, which, IMO is the most important area for a beginner.

I also have to agree that How to Reassess Your Chess is a fantastic book, but not the best for a beginner.  Silman's books are great, you may want to start with The Amateur's Mind. 

First, do *not* buy anything from Schiller. It's commonly known that he puts out "stuff that could be better". I own 60+ chess books. I'd have to say that Reassess Your Chess is too much for a beginner. It's called "reassess" because it assumes you already know chess fairly well. A good book for a *beginner* (anyone under 1400 Elo, IMO) is 'The Amateur's Mind' by Jeremy Silman, which is recommended by Silman to be read before his other book 'Reassess Your Chess'. >>*Definitely* get The Amateur's Mind.<< I'd also recommend a tactics book, because most games at the beginner level are simply won on tactics. A really good tactics books is: 'Understanding Chess Tactics' by Martin Weteschnik. It tells you all about the tactical themes and how to see--and create--them in your games. Those books are two must-haves for beginners. Send me a pm if you want more details. 

And don't waste time w/'Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess'. I respect Fischer the chessplayer, but that book was not good. It was the first one I read, too. Hell, 'Everyone's 2nd Chess Book' is better than Fischer's. After you've read the Amateur's Mind and Understanding Chess Tactics, you need to read an end-game book. Endgames teach you chess. I really like 'Silman's Complete Endgame Course' by Jeremy Silman. I read the 'Winning Chess Endings' by Yasser Seirawan, too, but the Silman book is much better. How many times will you ever have to win a game w/1 bishop and 1 knight vs. a lone king? Many top players never have to do it, but Seirawan covers it. What I'm saying is that you go over too much in Yaz's book. Silman's Endgame Course teaches you what you *need* to know for your level. And he goes into more detail that the Seirawan book does.

I also bought 'CHESS' by Polgar. Sure it has 5,334 tactics puzzles and looks way impressive on your shelf, but Polgar doesn't go into why each answer is the best. You're just given the answer--and only the first part of it!--to the puzzles. Waste of $40. Seirawan's 'Winning Chess...' series is good, but there are better books for each of the six "topics" he covers (openings, endgames, etc.) And if you buy 'My System', which I don't recommend any beginner do, then you have to follow it up w/'Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy: Advances by Nimzowitsch' by John Watson, which, like it says, gives new advances since 'My System' (which was written in 1930.)

Guys, what does a beginner need "reassess your chess" for? A beginner is still dropping pieces to simple combinations, what he needs is lots of tactics and some basic fundamentals.

 

If you're under 1500 here (at the very least) don't waste your time with books like that, just do LOTS AND LOTS of tactics everyday and get a decent grasp of the fundamentals. 

I myself am a 1600 player here, and I have absolutely no use for reassess your chess. Why? Because I'm still losing material to little combinations and missing opportunities I don't see. Reading 10000 books is not going to make any difference in that whatsoever, what he and I (and anyone under 1800 OTB) need is lots and lots of pattern recognition exercises (aka tactics).

I would suggest Play Winning Chess by Yasser Seirawan. Also, Chess by Laslo Polgar is good. I think as chessplayers we forget about our fundamentals because we see them as simplistic. The most brilliant combinations or plans are composed of fundamental ideas. Do not look to overcomplicate things. Look for a book that breaks down the base ideas of chess and then build up from there. There are tons of players that level off at rating plateaus because their base was only half built.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess