I recommend in this order, all should be available at amazon
Pandolfini's Endgame Course by IM Pandolfini
Logical Chess Move by Move by Irving Chernev
Common Sense In Chess by Dr Lasker
Anything written by J R Capablanca
http://www.chessfornovices.com/bestchessbooksfornovices.html
I am not a guru on books but i think .....
A book on openings, you want to understand how to use your pieces to complete a task like attacking and defending. What happens when your opponent gets out the bood early. Then your book on that opening is a paper weight. Have some balance know openings but better cooridinate piece movement with a plan.
Hope this helps. I did this as people will not comment until the first person responds and your thread can be here a while until then. It will appear like a hot topic faster.
I also suggest posting some of your games as it will easier for us to evalute your needs better. If that is to hard for now. Post a link to a game as you finish it.
I like NimzoRoy's suggestion but in s slightly different order.
I think a book like Logical Chess or maybe Think Like a Grandmaster by Kotov first then the Endgame Course book.
The reason being is what good is it to know how to checkmate with a R+K v K if you get checkmated on move 17 because your King is in the middle and only one Knight and one Bishop are off the back rank?
I started with The Complete Chess Course by Fred Reinfeld. This is an older book, still available, that covers all aspects of the game from rules and moves to theory, traps, openings and endgames. I don't see this one recommended very often, perhaps because of its age (however Logical Chess by Chernev is not new, either) but for a single, inexpensive starter book that covers most everything, I think it can't be beat. You can branch off from there.
I like NimzoRoy's suggestion but in s slightly different order.
I think a book like Logical Chess or maybe Think Like a Grandmaster by Kotov first then the Endgame Course book.
The reason being is what good is it to know how to checkmate with a R+K v K if you get checkmated on move 17 because your King is in the middle and only one Knight and one Bishop are off the back rank?
Maybe I should shut up since Rsava starts out by agreeing with me, BUT I think Kotov is way too advanced for some rated <1200
No, don't shut up.
Kotov may be too advance for most 1200's. I was just giving another suggestion.
Kotov would be a nice addition to a library. You are right though, it may too much at first.
@ Rsava I have 2 books by Kotov "Think" and "Play Like a GM" along with a few dozen other UNREAD chess books (sigh) which I hope to get to b4 shuffling off this mortal coil
I recommended the books that I did because I've read 'em and liked 'em, they are short (some readers are put off by hefty tomes no matter what the subject) and they are a good place to start learning from - IMHO
It's nice to find someone to agree with most of the time!
All of the above suggestions are good. Definitely buy a book that contains lots of general information that you can use as reference as you go over your games-information like development, castling, the centre, pawn structure. I would also recommend an book on endgames, and also a book on tactics. Pandolfini's Endgame Course is good because it contains a lot of scenarious that you can work with. It is known for having numerous errors, but most of them can be corrected if you look at the board diagram. Silman's Complete Endgame Course is great, in my opinion, because it is structured based on playing level. However, you can always flip forward in the book to learn more things.
For Tactics, I would recommend Winning Chess Tactics by Bill Robertie if you are looking for an introduction to tactics. Chess Tactics From Scratch by Martin Weteschnik is also great, and contains more information than Bill Robertie's book, and will take longer to go through.
Enjoy!
I would also recommend a book that gives sample games, and explains why each move was played. Such as:
Logical Chess, Move by Move by Chernev
Chess Master vs Chess Amateur by Max Euwe/Walter Meiden
Iv'e had to force my self to finish some very boring chess books, but i recently checked this one out from the library and think it's simple yet very informative.
"Josh Waitzkin's- Attacking Chess"
I like it because he explains his moves thoroughly, unlike others that are just packed with a bunch of games and a few statements here and there.
@ stopandthink Pls list the boring chess books, maybe you'll help someone else avoid them - or tell you that you're mistaken about them!
Obviously people prefer different writing styles. One book for beginners that I really like is The Most Valuable Skills in Chess by Maurice Ashley (Gambit, 2009). The author's enthusiasm shines through clearly, and some of his ideas about the geometric properties of pieces were novel (to me anyway). He also covers five famous games in move-by-move fashion. You can download an excerpt from
http://www.gambitbooks.com/books/skills.html
Hi, I have played chess since 1 month and I would improve my game by studying some books. Which books do you suggest me? Are "Logical Chess Move By Move" and "Complete Endgame Courses" good books? And can you suggest me a book of openings?