A short review of some chess books.
I have these 5 chess books:
Unorthodox Openings - Eric Schiller & Joel Benjamin (1987)
This is a fun book for learning about dubious openings. It's an older book, yes, but it still has some good information in it. It covers some basic ideas behind different openings; as an older book, it's not the most up-to-date theory or information, but it's still a good pickup if you're interested. If you're looking for something new and interesting, that more modern texts have forgotten, it's a decent buy. It's also far less intimidating size-wise than the encyclopedia size to come in Eric Schiller's later book, "Unorthodox Chess Openings." I would recommend it. It's a fairly small book and groups the openings as "Good," "Bad," "Ugly," and "Twighlight Zone." The good section covers openings that, at the time, were considered playable at the tournament level. The bad sections are openings they don't consider playable and focus more on how to deal with them.
I did start putting the information into Lichess Studies; I completed "The Good" and "The Bad" sections; eventually, I will create 2 studies due to how many openings they have that fall under "The Ugly"; and of course, a final study on the "Twighlight Zone," which I'll likely do before "The Ugly" Section.
The Good Study - https://lichess.org/study/nFaAZOPI
The Bad Study - https://lichess.org/study/PWpSJmwb
https://www.amazon.com/Unorthodox-Openings-Macmillan-Chess-Library/dp/0020165900/
Unorthodox Chess Openings - Eric Schiller (1998)
This book is really more like an encyclopedia of unorthodox openings. Each one is briefly covered; it's not bad to just flip through every now and then. It's definitely not a book you should or need to read from cover to cover. It can be found on Amazon. There is also a later edition of this book that was released in 2004, I believe. When I was looking for it, the 1998 edition was cheaper.
https://www.amazon.com/Unorthodox-Openings-Publishings-Essential-Repertoire/dp/0940685736/
Coffee House Chess Tactics - John Healy (2010)
This is an interesting book; I haven't finished going through it. There is a lot of exposition; I wouldn't say it's the best tactics book, but it is a nice refresher on tactics, with some interesting stories behind some of them. The House of Staunton has had it on clearance for $5 since the end of last year, I believe, pressumably until they get rid of all the copies. That being said, it is available as a PDF from archive.org as well.
https://www.houseofstaunton.com/coffeehouse-chess-tactics.html
https://www.amazon.com/Coffeehouse-Chess-Tactics-John-Healy/dp/905691328X/
https://archive.org/details/coffeehousechesstactics
50+2 Chess Quick Wins: Tactical ideas for exciting chess for beginner players - Dr Michael Tam AKA @vitualis (2023)
This is a fun, not intimidating, book that goes over openings and tactics that can lead to quick wins. It's great for beginners and even intermediate players looking for some fun and interesting ideas. It can definitely help spice up your games a bit if you apply some of the ideas found in this book.
https://www.amazon.com/50-Chess-Quick-Wins-Tactical/dp/B0CJ3VVW9M/
Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner to Master - Jeremy Silman (2006)
What can I really say about this book? It's great; it's broken down into sections based on ELO and what end games you are likely to see at that level. I haven't gone through the whole book yet, but the ideas in the book have already helped me. I've been able to apply what I've learned from this book to win endgames I may have previously drawn and draw endgames I would have previously lost. If you need to study on your end game, and who doesn't? This is a great buy.
https://www.amazon.com/Silmans-Complete-Endgame-Course-Beginner/dp/1890085103/
