...
Modern Chess Openings, 14th ed.
(known as "MCO-14")
de Firmian, Nick. 978-0812930849
...
There was an MCO-15, written close to a decade ago.
Many years ago, I saw a discussion about choosing a chess book. This was my favorite comment:
"Remember, if you like books--like reading them and owning them--there's no such thing as 'one chess book.' ... as you acquire one or two and read them through--even if you don't--you'll find yourself drawn to the chess section every time you walk into Walden's or Barnes and Noble or Borders. If you leaf through the books and compare their contents to what you need, you'll soon find yourself dedicating a shelf or two of your bookcase to chess books. You'll want to have all of Sierawan's books (as soon as they're back in print). You'll yearn to complete your collection of Alburt's series. You'll start haunting used book shops for old copies of Fischer's 'My 60 Memorable Games.' Your hair will gradually grow unkempt, and a distracted wild look will creep into your eyes. If you're separated from your books for too long, your hands will begin to twitch and you'll start plotting knight moves across the checkered tablecloth at the Italian restaurant where you're supposed to be wooing your wife / girlfriend. You've entered a perilous zone ... 'Chessbibliomania' is not a condition to be easily dismissed, and research has shown it isn't curable. Maybe you'll be better off just buying a gin rummy program for your computer and avoiding this chess book madness altogether. :) Happy reading!!"
I just like to add that there are books in that list that are not beginners book.
I will not list them all. They are great books,but not beginners book.
Techniques of Positional Play: 45 Practical Methods to Gain the Upper Hand in Chess
How to Reassess Your Chess: Chess Mastery through Chess Imbalances
Understanding Chess Middlegames: Featuring the 100 Most Important Middlegame Ideas
My System
My 60 Memorable games
Chess Strategy for Club Players
Got another in the mail today ... Logical Chess, Irving Chernev.
Great holy moly this is EXACTLY what I wanted. Very happy with it. Going to take me a while to get through it but thanks to all for the reco's.
With this and the Coakley book, it's like I'm watching myself from 2 years ago.
3 other books that I found extremely worthwhile then:
Chess Tactics for Students by Bain. It's a workbook with no real explanations of how tactical motifs work, but it's great nonetheless. It's worth reading this blog post on how to get the most out of the book for a beginning adult: http://empiricalrabbit.blogspot.com/2011/03/bain-experiment.html
Pandolfini's Endgame Course. Covers lots of tactics/ideas you'll see in real endgames. There's impractical stuff that you'll likely never seen in a game, but it's worth it to go through this book and practice the positions against a computer. Maybe not the Philidor RB v R ending, but lots of them yes. I'd be happy to point you in the right direction should you get this book.
Basic Checkmate Patterns by Torsten Mattsson. Another workbook without much in the way of explanations, but each section starts off with "goal diagrams" which show what the end position should look like. Then you perform the mates backwards, starting with mate in 1 then (if it's more than a mate in 1) mate in 2, mate in 3, etc. You reverse engineer the mates. The chapters are arranged by piece combinations IE knight + queen or rook + bishop. It's worth doing this book just like Bright Knight did the Bain book.
I would cover books #1 and #3 before delving into other types of tactics books. The two I listed are the basic math fundamentals you need before you start tackling algebra.
Oh and once you're hooked on the Chernev style books, you have to get his other book Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played. It's easily one of my favorites. And if you like Chernev, you'll like Seirawan, Giddins and McDonald too.
I loved Coakley, cartoons and all.
Very important right now... Stop buying books. No trolling Amazon looking for your next book. No Ponce DeLeon behavior searching for the perfect book. Don't be like a bunch of other people here that do nothing but ask for advice on books and never finish one. Get started on Bain. Pick out an annotated games book. Do that when you aren't doing Bain or the days you don't have time for tactics . Being able to switch between the two gives you some variety. Force yourself to be consistent but don't overwhelm yourself either.
The Bain Tactics for Students is on its way, so I'm looking forward to it. The Coakley kind of annoys me, the kiddie-art is getting my hackles up right now, so it seems to have gotten itself onto my back burner. But it's all fun.
Ignore the kiddie cartoon characters and focus on the great instruction in the Jeff Coakley book!
In a previous thread, I said my level was "beginner" and I asked for book recommendations. I really thank all the participants for your help in my search!
My search results: two complete beginner instructional methods, four large lists of recommended books including three threads at Chess.com (with THIS POST as absolutely the awesome-est!), and seventy-five individual book titles. I won't be buying all seventy-five (whoa! hang on!) but I thought that merely having them all listed in one place might be useful for folks. It wasn't very hard to make the list, since I used a "save for later" shopping-list function, by which the booksellers' websites automatically tabulated everything, so cut-pasting here turned out to be quite simple. If there's a glaring omission, let me know! Discuss!
I offer little judgment on the following resources; others have recommended them here previously:
A. Three Chess.com lists
EXCELLENT long post with book reviews and with clickable links to webpages for book purchase, by member RussBell, posted to these forums "8 months ago" (Sept 1, 2015?)
Blog post / article by Kurt Godde, Nov 25, 2007
Article by Pete "staff", Dec 1, 2014
B. Two other Lists
C. Two Instructional methods
Brunia, Rob; and van Wijgerden, Cor
available at http://www.stappenmethode.nl/en in English, and in several other languages
free download from Chess.com at http://www.chess.com/download/download_file.html?id=1087
D. Tons o' Individual books
(Listed alphabetically by author last name, with 13-digit ISBN for all but the one e-book. I don't add comments about content, since the titles themselves indicate which level, phase of game, or organizational principle governs the book. For a few of ye Olde and Classicke Chesse Bokkes de Yore, I've tried to include a quick hint that it's been re-issued; however, some Classickes are still in print as first issued, so beware non-algebraic notation!)
Chess Openings for White, Explained: Winning with 1.e4
Alburt, Lev; Dzindzinchasvili, Roman; and Perelshteyn, Eugene. 978-1889323206
Alterman Gambit Guide: White Gambits
Alterman, Boris. 978-1906552534
Chess Tactics for Students
(self-distributed at http://www.chessforstudents.com/ )
Bain, John A. 978-0963961402
Chess Openings
Basman, Michael. 978-0946284740
Tactics Time! 1001 Chess Tactics from the Games of Everyday Chess Players
Brennan, Tim; and Carson, Anthea. 978-9056914387
Techniques of Positional Play: 45 Practical Methods to Gain the Upper Hand in Chess
Broznik, Valeri; and Terkhin, Anatoli. 978-9056914349
Multiple Choice Chess
Buckley, Graeme. 978-1857442489
Capablanca's Best Chess Endings: 60 Complete Games
Chernev, Irving. 978-0486242491
Logical Chess, Move by Move
Chernev, Irving. 978-0671211356
The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played
Chernev, Irving. 978-1849941617
Winning Chess
Chernev, Irving; and Reinfeld, Fred. 978-1849941105
Winning Chess Strategies for Kids
Coakley, Jeff. 978-1895525052
Modern Chess Openings, 14th ed.
(known as "MCO-14")
de Firmian, Nick. 978-0812930849
100 Endgames You Must Know
de la Villa, Jesus. 978-9056916176
Discovering Chess Openings: Building Opening Skills from Basic Principles
Emms, John. 978-1857444193
The Middlegame - Book 1: Static Features, algebraic ed.
Euwe, Max; Kramer, H.; and Hays, Lou. 978-1880673959
Chess Catechism
Evans, Larry. 978-0671215316
Chess Endgame Quiz
Evans, Larry. 978-1580420747
Evans on Chess
(1974, re-issued)
Evans, Larry. 978-0877496991
The Ten Most Common Chess Mistakes ... and How to Avoid Them!
Evans, Larry. 978-1580420426
The Ideas Behind Chess Openings, algebraic notation
Fine, Reuben. 978-0812917567
Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess
Fischer, Bobby. 978-0553130539
My 60 Memorable Games
Fischer, Bobby. 978-1906388300
How to Build Your Chess Opening Repertoire
Giddins, Steve. 978-1901983890
Chess Strategy for Club Players: The Road to Positional Advantage
Grooten, Herman. 978-9056912680
Back to Basics: Tactics
Heisman, Dan. 978-1888690347
Elements of Positional Evaluation: How the Pieces Get Their Power
Heisman, Dan. 978-1888690583
A Guide to Chess Improvement: The Best Of Novice Nook
Heisman, Dan. 978-1857446494
The Improving Chess Thinker, 2nd. ed.
Heisman, Dan. 978-1936277483
The World's Most Instructive Amateur Game Book
Heisman, Dan. 978-1936277438
1000 Checkmate Combinations
Henkin, Victor. 978-1906388706
Basic Chess Openings for Kids
Hertan, Charles. 978-9056915971
Award-Winning Chess Problems
Hochberg, Burt. 978-1402711459
Pawn Power in Chess
Kmoch, Hans. 978-0486264868
Play Like A Grandmaster
Kotov, Alexander. 978-0713418071
The Soviet Chess Primer
Maizelis, Ilya. 978-1907982996
Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking
McDonald, Neil. 978-0713488944
Chess Endgames For Kids
Muller, Karsten. 978-1910093610
My System
(1925, edited and re-issued 1991)
Nimzowitsch, Aron; and Hays, Lou. 978-1880673850
John Nunn's Chess Course
Nunn, John. 978-1906454821
Understanding Chess Middlegames: Featuring the 100 Most Important Middlegame Ideas
Nunn, John. 978-1906454272
Beginning Chess: Over 300 Elementary Problems for Players New to the Game
Pandolfini, Bruce. 978-0671795016
Endgame Workshop: Principles for the Practical Player
Pandolfini, Bruce. 978-1888690538
Let's Play Chess: A Step by Step Guide for New Players
Pandolfini, Bruce. 978-1888690521
Pandolfini's Endgame Course: Basic Endgame Concepts Explained by America's Leading Chess Teacher
Pandolfini, Bruce. 978-0671656881
Pandolfini's Ultimate Guide to Chess: Basic to Advanced Strategies with America's Foremost Chess Instructor
Pandolfini, Bruce. 978-0743226172
Weapons of Chess: An Omnibus of Chess Strategies
Pandolfini, Bruce. 978-0671659721
How I Beat Fischer's Record
Polgar, Judit. 978-1907982194
1001 Chess Sacrifices and Combinations
(re-issued 2014)
Reinfeld, Fred. 978-1936490875
The Art of Checkmate
(re-issued 2014)
Renaud, Georges; and Kahn, Victor. 978-1936490844
Winning Chess Openings, 2nd ed.
Robertie, Bill. 978-1580420518
Winning Chess Tactics
Robertie, Bill. 978-1580420754
Soviet Middlegame Technique
Romanovsky, Peter. 978-1907982484
Tips for Young Players
Sadler, Matthew. 978-1857442311
Chess 101
(Kindle e-book)
Schloss, Dave. ASIN: B00QOG3CXG
Winning Chess Strategies
Seirawan, Yasser. 978-1857443851
The Amateur's Mind: Turning Chess Misconceptions Into Chess Mastery
Silman, Jeremy. 978-1890085025
The Complete Book of Chess Strategy: Grandmaster Techniques from A to Z
Silman, Jeremy. 978-1890085018
How to Reassess Your Chess: Chess Mastery through Chess Imbalances
Silman, Jeremy. 978-1890085131
Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner to Master
Silman, Jeremy. 978-1890085100
The Art of Defence in Chess
Soltis, Andrew. 978-1849941600
How to Choose a Chess Move
Soltis, Andrew. 9780713489798
The Inner Game of Chess: How to Calculate
Soltis, Andrew. 978-1936277605
Pawn Structure Chess
Soltis, Andrew. 978-1849940702
Simple Chess, new algebraic ed.
Stean, Michael. 978-0486424200
Openings for Amateurs
Tamburro, P. 978-1936277506
Fundamental Chess Openings
(known as "FCO")
van der Sterren, Paul. 978-1906454135
Art of Attack in Chess
Vukovic, Ladimir. 978-1857444001
Attacking the King
(1976)
Walker, J.N. 978-0192175571
Chess Strategy in Action
Watson, John. 978-1901983692
Mastering the Chess Openings: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Modern Chess Openings, vol. 1
Watson, John. 978-1904600602
Chess Tactics from Scratch: Understanding Chess Tactics
Weteschnik, Martin. 978-1907982026
Simple Attacking Plans
Wilson, Fred. 978-1936277445
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess
Wolff, Patrick. 978-1592573165
Build up your Chess 1
Yusupov, Artur. 978-1906552015