Book recommendations for a complete beginner 150
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Any book recommendations for a beginner
Once you know the basic rules my standing recommendation is Logical Chess - Move by move, written by the late great Irving Chernev. It´s a book that one can read and play through repeatedly at different stages in ones development and every time learn sometings new.
Good Chess Books for Beginners and Beyond…
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/good-chess-books-for-beginners-and-beyond
Jan 24, 2025
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#5
hermanjohnell wrote:
Once you know the basic rules my standing recommendation is Logical Chess - Move by move, written by the late great Irving Chernev. It´s a book that one can read and play through repeatedly at different stages in ones development and every time learn sometings new.
I agree, Mr. Johnell, but as RussBell writes you'll want to move on to Chernev's lightly annotated The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played. The link is to the algebraic notation version, which unfortunately is out of print. If you're bi-notational and don't mind Descriptive notation (I grew up with it), then you can get the less expensive Dover edition. A third choice is the interactive eBook of the Dover edition that has been converted to algebraic and sold by Forward Chess.
Not to be a grump, there are a few things you should know about Logical Chess: Move by Move. These criticisms are fairly addressed by Dan Heisman, unlike the evisceration John Nunn performed. Dan Heisman is correct, it's still a fine book for beginners. The links in Heisman's piece will take you to ChessCafe, once the most erudite chess website around, but now unfortunately one that requires payment for old columns. Search Archive.org for Mr. Heisman's other articles or reviews to which he refers.
The Batsford edition of Chernev's book "The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played" is in figurine algebraic notation....as can be seen in the following Google Books preview...
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Most_Instructive_Games_of_Chess_Ever/KEwmEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+most+instructive+games+of+chess+ever+played&printsec=frontcover
From the following link you can access the free Chesscafe.com archives, which includes Dan Heisman's "Novice Nook" articles.....it's a gold mine of chess instruction, openings, book reviews, etc....(be patient, the web page may be slow to load)...
https://web.archive.org/web/20140714190611/http://www.chesscafe.com/archives/archives.htm
fightingbob wrote:
I agree, Mr. Johnell, but as RussBell writes you'll want to move on to Chernev's lightly annotated The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played.
Of course you´ll want to move on, but then you no longer are a complete beginner...
Jan 26, 2025
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#9
Simple Chess: A great explanation of strategy, making it very easy to understand. You have it on YT as well: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUrgfsyInqNbkyiwPSSBQ6ALkkccKItPE
Jan 27, 2025
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#10
hermanjohnell wrote:
fightingbob wrote:
I agree, Mr. Johnell, but as RussBell writes you'll want to move on to Chernev's lightly annotated The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played.
Of course you´ll want to move on, but then you no longer are a complete beginner...
Sorry, Mr. Johnell, I meant "eventually move on." Take your time with Logical Chess: Move by Move.
You may want to take a look at Dan Heisman's list of recommended books for beginners. Also, you can't go wrong with any books Dan Heisman wrote. I'm linking the Forward Chess bundle rather than each individual book. For a beginner I would recommend Everyone's Second Chess Book, Back to Basics: Tactics, and the slightly more advanced A Guide to Chess Improvement. A Guide is a collection of his columns, improved and conceptually arranged. I particularly like his Elements of Positional Evaluation, 4th ed., an improvement on Eugene Znosko-Borovsky's conceptual reduction of chess to Four Elements: Time, Space, Force and Pawn Structure. The links are to a breezy YouTube introduction to each element.
Frankly, I wasn't impressed with the Simple Chess videos in the above post. The first jumps right into the middle of things, which is no way to teach. However, I've read good things about Simple Chess by Michael Stean.
Lastly, this video by Dan Heisman for the Internet Chess Club is well worth your time.
Good studying!
Bob