There are many, many great chess books in print. Before giving a recommendation, we'd need to know more about what you want from a book.
Biography of a great player? A collection of games with annotations? Strategy? Tactics? A general instructional book for a beginning or intermediate player?
I would recommend 'Reassess your chess' - Jeremy Silman or the 'Comprehensive Chess course' (all of them) - Lev Alburt. These were very beneficial books for me. For current theory subscribe to chess magazines, my favorite of these is New in Chess although there are I few titles I like to read this is the best for your buck.
Hello Sgt.,
Just a response. I ordered the last edition of Standard Chess Openings from Amazon.com for $3.00 plus shipping. I don't know if there are still such good deals there on chess books but it is a start. Also, Schiller has a table of skill matched to style of GM play. For instance, a beginning player ought to study Morphy's games to learn how to develop pieces and attack efficiently. Fischer's style would be for a more advanced student. The GM styles are divided into areas such as positional, conservative, unorthodox, and attacking. Also, Susan Polgar has two recent books out I think.I emailed Larry Christensen a few months ago and he said for me to study puzzles and problems to develop tactical skill. I also had a friend suggest that I play Black as much as possible to develop defensive abilities.It all helped. The Tao of Chess is a good book for a beginner. Reuben Fine has a great book on Endgames. Openings are rote memory and practice while middlegame tactics will come when you lose and remember. Most games in my opinion are won, lost or salvaged as draws in the endgame.Endgame play is very very important as you advance.
Oh, and last, there is a site www.chess-poster.com that has free game collections of most of the historical great players. Check it out.
Sgtpepper,
On line dealoz.com and alibris.com are good places to look for used books. Amazon.com is great for reading reviews of different books and they also have theor own used market. If you don't want to order on line you might try a used book store if there is one near you.
I don't know about Hastings but if they're anything like Barnes & Noble, they'll have a section on games and that will include some books on chess.
Here are some classics that would good first books for someone wanting general chess study: Chess Fundamentals by Jose Raul Capablanca. Lasker's Maneal of Chess by Emanual Lasker. The Game of Chess by Siegbert Tarrasch. A Complete Chess Course by Fred Reinfeld. Modern Chess Strategy by Edward Lasker.
These are all all-in-one chess books and are all excellent. They're also all books that have been in print for ages and are readily available used and very good prices.
Does anyone know of a common/decent chess book that would likely be available in a common store such as hastings? Thanks