It's been said by many masters and coaches that a player under 2200 [non-masters] only require about 5 chess books on his shelf. Now, of course chess erudites would prefer a whole shelf or even an entire library of over 200 books to cater to their whims, we are talking about practicality here. These 5 books would be enough to cover everything you might face in tournaments from Opens to local league matches. There have been quite a few debates over whether My System should be given preference over Reassess your chess and so on so forth..so my question obviously will be about your own preference.

    If you are allowed to own 5 chess-related books [anything ranging from ECO to  novels like Nabokov's 'Defense'], which 5 books would adorn your shelf ?

I already limit myself to five books at a time, and currently they are:

• Chess Tactics for Champions
• My System
• Play the Semi-Slav
• The Scandinavian
• Understanding Chess Tactics

I would never limit myself to five books until 2200. It's too restrictive and would stunt my growth. My tactical needs were not the same a year ago and will not be the same a year from now. (Unless of course access to computer-based chess materials is allowed, in which case a player could go completely bookless. But I enjoy books!)

1.Complete Defense to King Pawn Openings, 2nd Edition, Eric Schiller i.e The Caro-Kann Defense

2.Hypermodern Opening Repertoire For White, Eric Schiller

3.& 4.The Attacking Manual 1 & 2, Jacob Aagaard

5.Complete Defense to Queen Pawn Openings, Eric Schiller.

Its a start I think. Am still going through 1. and 2.

the five favorites on my shelf: <edit> actually, they are on my desk

"Chess Opening Essentials" - Volume 1:The Complete 1.e4 - Djuric, Komarov & Pantaleoni

"Pawn Power in Chess" - Hans Kmoch

"Chess Fundamentals" - Jose Capablanca

"Simple Chess" - Michael Stean

"Basic Chess Endings" - Reuben Fine

My suggestions:

• Silman's Complete Endgame Course, Jeremy Silman.  Most players below Master level avoid endgame study like The Plague, probably because most books on the subject aren't really written for them.  This step-by-step progression through the most important principles of endgame play is not only the best endgame book I've ever read, it is one of the most helpful chess books of ANY kind.  Essential.
• The Art of Defense in Chess, Andrew Soltis.  If endgame screw-ups are the No. 1 source of lost points for amateurs, not knowing what to do when one's position deteriorates is surely No. 2.  This book offers a lucid and entertaining set of basic defensive principles that will strengthen your play immeasurably.
• Understanding Chess Move by Move, John Nunn.  The principles GM Nunn focuses on are essential to chess mastery.  The illustrative games and notes are excellent, and studying them will help any player think more clearly about what she/he is trying to do in a game.
  
• Catalog of Chess Mistakes, Andrew Soltis.  Players below Master level make LOTS of mistakes, of course, as do their opponents.  This entertaining book gives some excellent advice on how to think about those mistakes, and how to react to them during a game.  One of the rare books that rewards periodic re-reading. 
  
• How to Open a Chess Game, Larry Evans/Svetozar Gligoric/Vlastimil Hort/Tigran Petrosian/Lajos Portisch/Paul Keres/Bent Larsen.  Amateur players waste a fortune on openings books.  This deservedly famous book teaches us how to think about openings the way a GM does.  Once you've read their advice, you will never again be tempted to spend your hard-earned money on the vast ocean of mediocre openings books that have flooded the market.

I should also point out that all of these books are chock full of tactical ideas as well.  Badly-written tactical manuals are probably second only to badly-written openings books as wastes of your money.  Read these instead and save yourself some serious dough!  

As is stated in my profile:

My Chess Book Collection:

My System - New Translation (Aron Nimzowitsch)*
Chess Praxis - New Translation (Aron Nimzowitsch)
Reassess Your Chess - 3rd Edition (Jeremy Silman)*
Reassess Your Chess Workbook (Jeremy Silman)
The Amateur's Mind (Jeremy Silman)*
Silman's Complete Endgame Course (Jeremy Silman)*
The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal (Mikhail Tal)*
Winning Chess Tactics - Revised (Yasser Seirawan)*
Forcing Chess Moves (Charles Hertan)

* = Currently reading, * = Completed reading at least once

wiseachoo, 

I also like the new translations of "My System" and "Chess Praxis" by Quality Chess, even though Silman and Watson knock them in their reviews.

I,ve noticed how almost everyone has "My System".  Is this one of the better chess books and would you recommend it to some one like myself who currently has a rating of 1400?

RN9 wrote:

I,ve noticed how almost everyone has "My System".  Is this one of the better chess books and would you recommend it to some one like myself who currently has a rating of 1400?

"My System" is perfectably suitable until 1800-1900 level.

to those "5 book colection" i would add 2 books  specialised  in 2 different openings, concerning all variants and endgames perspectives.

RN9> Is this one of the better chess books

GM Taimanov (once one of the world's top 10 players) said this: "[T]he books of Nimzovich were those which made the deepest impression on me. During my learning years as a chess player, his books, among which "My System" obviously, played a fundamental role. When I teach chess, I always tell my pupils to study all of Nimzovich's books..."

RN9> would you recommend it to some one ... who ... has a rating of 1400?

Yes, I believe players rated 1400-2000 will benefit the most and that's you.

I've developed a weekly series called The Strategy of My System that begins airing this Friday on chess.com so feel free to tune in. :)

My System

How to Reassess Your Chess

Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual

Winning Chess Tactics

Modern Chess Openings

I have plenty of chess books on the shelf. But isn't it the ones that spend time off the shelf that are more important? ;-)

For me, that's "Reasses Your Chess", "Silman's Edgame Course", "Winning with the Sicilian", "Understanding the Grunfeld" and one of a few puzzle books will go with me on vacations.

Edit: How could I have left out "Simple Chess" by Michael Stean. Great book!

Although I have about 10 books and have checked out another 20 from the local library on and off if I had to limit myself to 5 I would say these:

1. Life and Games of Mikhail Tal

2. The Middle Game in Chess by Reuben Fine

3. Practical Chess Endgames by Irving Chernev

4. My 60 memorable games by Bobby Fischer

5. Better Chess for Average Players by Harding

I've been meaning to look into My System but haven't had the time yet. I am a bit of a scatterbrain.

Life & Games of Mikhail Tal

Learn From the Grandmasters (ed by Raymond Keene)

Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge (Averbakh)

Fighting Chess (Kasparov)

Selected Games 1935-57 (Smyslov)

Also should point out that the first book that ever conveyed to me what a plan was is Znosko-Borovsky's How Not to Play Chess.  And I'm afraid I never got much out of the much-touted My System...all I remember is the thing where he's talking about picking his nose or something.

If I had to limit myself to 5?

1. MCO-15

2. Fundamental Chess Endings (Muller and Lamprecht)

3. The Middlegame in Chess (Fine)

4. The Art of Attack in Chess (Vukovic)

5. Think Like a Grandmaster (Kotov)

First of all, I need more than 5 books.  But accepting the constraint for the sake of discussion:

- Winning Chess Tactics, Seirawan.  (This or similar is essential for a beginner.  I'm almost done, currently at the section on Windmills.  I wouldn't need it as a reference after I'm done.)

- Silman's Complete Endgame Course, Silman.  (Also essential.  Have just started the class C section, approx. pg 125.  This is the best endgame self-teach book I've seen.)

- My System.  Nimzowitch.  (I've only studied the first 30-40 pages, but even up to that point a couple nuggets have stuck with me and been very useful.) 

- Chess Opening Essentials, The Complete 1.e4 (Best 1 volume explanatory book on King's pawn openings.)

For my last one - Pick an opening, preferably positional, because I'm gonna kill two birds with one stone with this book.  The book should be highly explanatory and cover entire games.  I have King's Indian, Emms, for example.  These books explain a lot about how to support your own forces and exploit weaknesses in your opponent's.  In that sense I think they may cover a lot of what's in Silman's Reassess Your Chess book, and teach you specific openings and associated patterns and themes at the same time.  In fairness, I don't have Silman's Reassess You Chess book.  I did spend an hour with it.  I do have his Amateur's Mind book and have gone through the first half of about 4 sections.

If I could add more books, I'd include.

- A good tactics puzzle book.  I like Chess Training Pocket Book: 300 Most Important Positions and Ideas, Alburt.

- A one volume book on Queen's pawn openings.

- A few more books on specific openings, to build a repertoire for white and one for black.  (Come on.  Are those masters saying you don't need this until 2200!  I'm not buying it.)

- Reassess Your Chess, Silman.  (Since I can have more books now.)

Maybe another good book on chess thinking/planning/strategy.  There's so many to chose from and I haven't been able to look inside most, so can't list one with confidence.

Edit:  Oh, and Pawn Structure Chess, Slotis.  I've only just started it. 

Well, DVDs and online tactical training outdo books in a lot of ways so I think 5 is a reasonable number if you exclude opening books.

My picks:

Logical Chess Move by Move - Chernev

How to Reassess Your Chess Workbook - Silman

Pawn Structure Chess - Soltis

Understanding Chess Move by Move - Nunn

Seven Deadly Chess Sins - Rowson

This is order of difficulty and will probably change every 10 minutes.

thanks i really need to study!!

MCO is still useful, 'should be top five.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Chess_Openings