Are these books good?

Hi,

I am thinking of buying the following books. Has anyone read them?

I am a casual player wanting to cultivate an interest in the game. So some beginner and intermediate level books would be best. 

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0B4PWL933/?coliid=IRMBTWDY4G1M6&colid=3QVIVGMATBLZ2&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B094CFYQGY/?coliid=I1V6J33SWCEIDR&colid=3QVIVGMATBLZ2&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Thanks and best wishes

Nikhil

No, but I think you'd be better off getting a puzzle book.

Reason #1 It'll be the fastest way to improve results.

Reason #2 By repeating the puzzles you'll get a quicker sense of improvement - with most on-line puzzle schemes you very quickly reach a plateau and puzzling becomes boring and worst that plateau will be of little use in your actual games as the mistake you and your opponents will be making will be well below the plateau!

Reason #3 They are easy to pop in and out off.

The two books mentioned are probably very good - most are. I would recommend 'How to choose a chess move' by Andrew Solis for additional consideration.

As for puzzle books, the trick is to pick one that suits your level. I would suggest 'Tactics-Time' by Time Brennan & Anthea Carson, which is aimed at the 1000 to 1500 OTB elo range (as a 1500 OTB player I got 25% of the puzzles wrong, my puzzle rating here is 2000+). Note, it's important to drill 'easy' puzzles so that you instantly seen them OTB (this is where the improvement comes in!).

Many thanks Alexi

Good Chess Books for Beginners and Beyond…

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/good-chess-books-for-beginners-and-beyond

nikhilgl1965,

By far the most 'general purpose' chess book is "The Mammoth Book of Chess" by Graham Burgess.

Its got bits of everything in it, puzzles, openings, endgames, tactics, strategy, advice etc, and weighs in at 570 pages and is usually half the price of other chess books. Absolute steal in terms of quality and value. It covers a wide playing range so there is no danger in it being wholly 'too simple' or 'too difficult' or even boring!

It'll also give you a good idea of which bits of chess study you actually enjoy, as the worth of any chess book is in the effort you are prepared to put into it.

ive never read any, im dsylexic