I am a beginner, what book should I read first?

       CHOOSE YOUR WEAPONS . . .

                

To support what Rubicon said, this is from the DGT site:

With Centaur the ELO rating is not relevant because it adapts its playing strength to your level. In Friendly Mode it will play at your level and in Challenging Mode it will play slightly above your level.

In Expert Mode Centaur does not adapt to your level and it can reach the highest ELO levels. So, depending on your own playing strength and depending on the used playing mode, the ELO rating of DGT Centaur can vary between 300 and 3000.

http://www.digitalgametechnology.com/index.php/support1/frequently-asked-questions/401-chess-computers-faq/dgt-centaur-faq/586-centaur-elo-rating

With the utilization of machine learning for the chess computer AI, you’ll just have to measure its playing strength as follows:

A. 100 elo below yours,

B. 100 elo above yours, or

C. fixed at 3000 elo for your chess studies pleasure. 

Does the Centaur play book openings on its friendly levels?

If the OP or anyone learning Chess could not obtain a decent strength retro unit and was on a budget less than £200 then I would recommend the Millennium Chess Genius for the following reasons;

Cheaper by nearly a third of the Centaur.

Has Functional Tutor onboard

Strong and fast enough to keep the owner going for a good while with Fun levels to motivate the owner during the early career stages.

Traditional Level system for measure of chess improvement.

Analysis Mode.

Shows variations to a depth of 7 ply which helps with understanding the logic of a suggested move. Shows other variations via the “Next Best” option.

Stores the entire game in memory for noting down when the game is finished or going back to a certain move to try something else.

Options to turn on or off Opening Books, Ponder etc.

Shows the position on the board in the LCD screen.

The only draw back is that the notation for the square references is written on the board which can make score card keeping confusing during play when playing Black.

Overall, as a learning tool I think the Chess Genius is more suitable than the Centaur. That said, the OP is already in the right place (Chess.com) and their free to use competitor for access to learning materials.

I tried my Centaur playing black just now with the Chess.com opening explorer and it played the top suggested move for four moves (where I stopped to try a different opening) for the Sicilian Defense.

Second time around it played Slav Defense: Modern, Two Nights Attack four moves deep when I stopped to get on with other stuff.

So my Centaur on Friendly Mode does play openings.

Unlike the older machines, especially the lower end units, I think it would be pretty hard to get the Centaur "out of book" with fairly solid general opening theory.  That said, the next experiment would be to see if the Centaur abandons opening book if one played unorthodox opening moves.

It would also be interesting to see if the Centaur continues with the Opening Book if one takes back a move during the opening - something the older computers tended not to do.  It is a tricky on though as, in my experience, taking back one or two moves during a game resets the strength setting making the Centaur play an easier game.

Quick question: Is 6 yrs old too young to learn chess and if not, what literature is there for a child that age or for the parent who doesn’t play beyond occasional casual games to use with the child?

BEST BOOK FOR BEGINNERS!

The books of complete games are out, because they are often annotated for experienced players - I would say in not too much time as a beginner you might enjoy something like Bobby Fischer's 60 games - he writes in an engaging style and goes quite deftly from the basics to the more sublime moves in his games.

From the books whose thumbnail I can see and recognise in your post, I think Nimozwich's my system is one that is highly thought of AND covers the whole game; from a similar time Siegbert Tarrasch has a similar book that covers opening, middle game and end game. And more modern you have Graham Burgess' Mammoth Book of Chess, which is highly thought of.

How to Beat your Dad at Chess has a lot of combinations that are very useful to know - but it does not work as a stand alone book - a candidate for a second book to buy.

Good luck and enjoy which ever learning pathway you choose.

RickyN00Bさん、はじめまして。日本語で失礼します。
私もチェスを始めたばかりの初心者で、とりあえず手に入る本を片っ端から読んでみました。
その結果、一番良かったと思う本をご紹介させていただきます。
“How To Improve At Chess”という本で、Amazon のKindle で手に入ります。値段も399円とお安いですし、内容もわかりやすいので、ぜひ一度お手に取ってみて頂ければと思います。

ありがとう、私も初心者です😄、あなたの推薦に感謝します。 実は私は香港出身で、日本が大好きで、日本のチェスも少し弾けます。 助けてくれてありがとう😄😄

Me japanese isn't too well XD

Hijacking a little the thread here. 

I’m a beginner too and I went with getting gold membership here and ordered Seirawan’s winning chess strategies. Ok choice or did i see too big ?

 That book is co authored by Jerry Silman, who is a very respected chess educator, so my initial thought is that you've made a sound choice.

As with any instructive book, a brief cover to cover read isn't going to work, read and reread, put the the ideas up on the board (or into a chess engine) and don't be afraid to go over material you don't understand over and over again. Enjoy it - the same with learning anything, if you're getting frustrated or not seeing the ideas clearly, take a step back, do something else and come back to it refreshed in a few hours or the next day.

That was good. But, I have read those books and when I play chess still lose.

Read them again! I don't mean to be flippant, but put the ideas on a board or into a chess engine, and actually try to see what the book is trying to teach you - you can read a novel in about 6 hours, but don't be afraid or ashamed if a chess book takes you 6 months or more.

Also look at your games, are you blundering by hanging pieces, or are you losing by more subtle means like losing the competition for space or piece development? Have you overlooked a tactic, such as letting your opponent fork your pieces? If so, go back to the appropriate chapter in your book.

(p.s. I am very much a basic player - there are many people on these forums who can give you more specific advice - I know because they've helped me!)

After learning the rules and moves and studying “Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess”, the classic textbook on chess is “Masters of the Chessboard” by Richard Reti. It’s a great book.

You can download Yasser Seiraman's outstanding introductory book titled Play Winning Chess for free from pdfdrive.com. Best of luck to you.