The best beginner book for chess

Welcome everybody,

I just started playing chess again, and im wondering what book - in your opinion - is the best to learn all the important basics like simple openings and other tactics?

I know i could use this website for that, but i don't want to be on my phone/PC all the time.

I just read that "Reassess Your Chess" is good, but im not sure if it is that good for a beginner who only knows the basics.

Opening Principles:

1. Control the center squares – d4-e4-d5-e5

2. Develop your minor pieces toward the center – piece activity is the key

3. Castle

4. Connect your rooks

Tactics...tactics...tactics...

Pre Move Checklist:

1. Make sure all your pieces are safe. 

2. Look for forcing move: Checks, captures, threats. You want to look at ALL forcing moves (even the bad ones) this will force you look at, and see the entire board. 

3. If there are no forcing moves, you then want to remove any of your opponent’s pieces from your side of the board. 

4. If your opponent doesn’t have any of his pieces on your side of the board, then you want to improve the position of your least active piece. 

5. After each move by your opponent, ask yourself: "What is my opponent trying to do?"

Thanks! That sounds really promising, will try to do that in my next few games

"How to Reassess Your Chess, 4th Edition was designed for players in the 1400 to 2100 range." - IM Jeremy Silman (2010)

"... Just because a book contains lots of information that you don’t know, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be extremely helpful in making you better at this point in your chess development. ..." - Dan Heisman (2001)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140626180930/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman06.pdf

To the OP:

"How to Reassess Your Chess" is beyond you right now.  Stick with the basics i gave you, and if you want to get a good book, then go with: Chernev's "Logical chess move by move" 

did someone mention reassess your chess,

takes two fingers and thumb and points at head.

My advice would be:

a) Avoid computers. Studying from actual books and on a chessboard tends to leave a larger memory imprint than clicking.

b)The Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess & the Soviet Chess Primer are the most complete starter books I have ever seen in my life. Not one of those but both are worth reading and doing all the exercise.

c)The Logical Chess Move by Move Chernev & John Nunn Understanding Chess Move by Move are my most instructive game books I ever read. I would suggest to read and play each game multiple times roleplaying as black or white each time. These two books are great because its like they argue with each other but the winner of the arguement is actually the reader.

d)Although it does sound promising some of the most famous books like everything from Silman and Fischer 60 games will not benefit you much in the beggining. The internet may set me on fire but although Silman is easy reading I have failed to gain anything from his books. Fischers 60 games miss his best game period which is 1969-1972. Pizza without cheese.

e)Exercise books. Polgar's 5000+ exercises is an awesome book. So is Nunns 1001 Checkmates and Dan Heismans "Back to Basics".

f)Do not buy books on the internet. Go to an actual store check what seems like something you want to read and actual read some of it. Is the language ok with you ?

An example is Cyrus Lakdawala a really great author who has written more than 20 books for Everyman and others. His use of language is such that he tends to take me away from the actual chess issue and focus on his prose. Although this sounds cool, its not.

g)Some books are better to buy in digital format and print them because the editions are god-aweful.

Most exercise books are like that, save Dan Heisman's that I just mentioned.

For one book, I would suggest A COMPLETE CHESS COURSE by Antonio Gude,
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/A_Complete_Chess_Course.pdf

but there really are a lot of possibilities:

Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess by Wolff
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708110052/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review587.pdf

The Mammoth Book of Chess
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093123/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review756.pdf

Journey to the Chess Kingdom by GM Yuri Averbakh and Mikhail Beilin
https://www.chess.com/blog/Natalia_Pogonina/book-review-quotjourney-to-the-chess-kingdomquot

Complete Chess Course by Reinfeld
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/3706.pdf

"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!!"
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.chess.misc/msg/d96eccf5ddec3c33

The best beginner move of chess is 1. f3 that is the weakest beginner move known.

Possibly of interest:

Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Simple-Attacking-Plans-77p3731.htm
Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev (1957)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf
The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev (1965)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/
Winning Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld (1948)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093415/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review919.pdf
Back to Basics: Tactics by Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708233537/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review585.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-back-to-basics-tactics
Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014)
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/
https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf
Chess Endgames for Kids by Karsten Müller (2015)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/chess-endgames-for-kids/
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/Chess_Endgames_for_Kids.pdf
A Guide to Chess Improvement by Dan Heisman (2010)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708105628/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review781.pdf
Studying Chess Made Easy by Andrew Soltis (2009)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090448/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review750.pdf
Seirawan stuff:
http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/bo_beginner/ev_winning_chess.asp?KATID=BO&ID=BO-Beginner
http://www.nystar.com/tamarkin/review1.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-winning-chess-endings
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092617/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review560.pdf

https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/2015/06/04/the-soviet-chess-primer/

https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Soviet_Chess_Primer-extract.pdf

"... The title might suggest it is for beginners, but that is not the case. [The Soviet Chess Primer] does start off with some basic positions, but quickly moves on to much more advanced material including chapters on positional play and techniques of calculation." - IM John Donaldson

"... most players under 1400, unless they are especially ambitious, will probably find [Understanding Chess Move by Move by GM John Nunn] rather daunting. ..."

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092945/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review269.pdf

http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/Understanding_Chess_Move_by_Move.pdf

 @Kindaspongey

Although I do agree that Nunns book is on a different level the dialectic between the classic and the rather modern chess and the approach of Chernev compared to that of Nunn will provide a deeper understanding of how to tackle game books due to the heavy contrast.

On the case of the Soviet primer , I will concede only because the arguement should be long and careful. If I had to say a few words would be that it provides insight to so many areas of chess and on so many different levels. It also provides games, exercises etc.

Most books are written towards a "reader". The Soviet Primer is not that kind of a book. Its a book to study. Its a book that will take at least 1 to 3 months of study and will nurture you on a great variety of chess issues.

I could suggest the rather excellent Winning Chess and Winning Tactics. But those books for all their quality do not provide the full scope of chess.

The Primer has compressed basic moves, tactics, strategy, games, motives and end-game*  in one single book. Yet it does not make any shortcuts to actuall information and is rather easy to read.

I beileve that If one had to learn chess from a single book this is the one and its better than most out there.

*by Ilya Maizelis who happens to be the author everyone quotes along with Averbakh on endgames, even Muller and Flear

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The reviews and book samples (posted about 40-45 minutes ago) pretty much say everything else that needs to be said, but, just for fun, here is another quote:

"... If it’s instruction, you look for an author that addresses players at your level (buying something that’s too advanced won’t help you at all). This means that a classic book that is revered by many people might not be useful for you. ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (2015)

https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-books-ever

loser, sigh, so true