The best book for beginners is Back to Basics: Tactics from Dan Heisman!!!

Of course full of tactics and great tips on chess.

You need to see the tactics almost immediately. Heisman shows you how.

I think this book alone will take you from 1000 to 1500.

You won't blunder anymore, you'll see what your opponent is up to,

when he makes a mistake you know how to punish him and

you can make some good plans now you know how to get things done.

Predator at the chessboard is the absolute best on tactics!!!

No need to buy it, you can read it online.

Beginners (under 1500) should start with Heisman.

Here's how I started off. First I learned the basicest of basics.

Attacking Manual 1 - Jacob Aagaard

How to Defend In Chess - Colin Crouch

Now I attack and defend decently. After that I moved on to "My System by Aron Nimzovitch" and my skills have skyrocketed. I'm only half way through the book but thanks to those three books I mentioned I never feel "lost" during a game anymore.

Last book I reccomend is Amateurs Mind by Jeremy Silman. I haven't read it yet but it's a chess classic like "My System" and everytime I ask what books to get people always reccomend that one!

How I helped! And good luck!

I would like to plug Silman's Complete Book of Chess Strategy. Silman's a very clear writer - and it contains a lot of useful advice not just long lines of analysis, which can be tiring and difficult to hack through. Some of the highlights of the book:

- 1-2 page summaries of the most common openings you'll see

- All the common mating patterns

- Solid middlegame techniques

- How to evaluate a chess position. This was very helpful to me personally, it gave me a better ability to how to look at a game in progress and see who had the initiative, who was ahead positionally, why a particular exchange might be good or bad, etc. Silman is an advocate for playing the moves that the position requires rather than what I might 'want' to play... when I really make the effort to do this, it always results in better games and less blunders.

Here's a quicklist of books I found helpful--

Play Winning Chess - Yasser Seirawan

the Reinfeld gems:

1001 Brilliant ways to checkmate

1001 winning chess sacrifices and combinations

Another book that made a big impact with me was

Winning Chess: How To See Three Moves Ahead

The last book may be a little pricey on Amazon, so I'd scout around libraries or perhaps ebay. (I see it sometimes in multi book lots that people are selling).

Silmans Complete endgame course - this is a pretty good primer on chess endgame basics.

I would NOT buy a book on openings. The ideas on how to play opening will come from the fundamentals book from Seirawan. Just keep in mind the elements that he has listed, and perhaps go through the opening trainers on chess.com and ask yourself how each move tends to the needs of the chess position. Once you learn the elements of chess, you will be much better equipped to learn openings as you will be learning ideas instead of just moves. Chess will be much less abstract if you learn the elements of chess first, and then build future knowledge on this foundation.

One book at a time, go through it three times...this is really fascinating advice.  I find myself book-jumping and wonder if this is something I should try..

Currently:

I.  Logical Chess Move by Move:  I am going through several games per day

2.  Chess Tactics for Champions by Polgar....I go through a few pages each night. 

I find myself picking up other books, including going through games of Bobby Fischer and Tal the Magnificent! by Soltis.  I am also reading Soltis' new book on chess study...

I may be spreading myself too thin trying to catch up on almost a decade of neglect. 

PS:  I have one more question on this:

Studying tactics...when playing against a computer, do these situations arise much in playing against a computer, let say, set at around 1500 ELO?

I do feel the patterns are starting to come for me...when I do the Tactic trainings here, I often do poorly because I am looking for more complicated solutions.  thanks for advice!

Both books (Predator at the Chessboard Vols.1 & 2) spell out the details of each tactical theme logically (using situations that progress from simple to complex) and in a methodical, some might say wordy, way. However, the writing is of a high quality and very pleasant to read in my opinion. I like 'em!

Yeah, I was a beginner not too long ago, and I read Farnsworth's Predator at the Chessboard. It was exactly what I needed to begin learning chess. Everything you need to learn about tactics is spelled out in a methodical fashion. I really can't recommend it highly enough. The next book I would recommend (and what Farnsworth recommends too after you have finished his books) is Logical Chess. Between Farnsworth and Chernev you will have a great base on which to build your chess learning.

I picked up two books at my local book store. Sadly their isnt really much of a selection :/ I  will have to start buying online probably at amazon.com.  The first book I picked up was

303 Tricky Checkmates, 2nd Edition

I have to say this book I really enjoy because I feel like it really makes me more aware of the board.  This book really gets me thinking and I enjoy just going to my local coffee shop just to set up my board to solve these puzzles.  If their were a tactics book similar to this. That will be the next book I would get. 

The second book I got was

Complete Book of Chess Strategy: Grandmaster Techniques from A to Z

by jeremy Silman

This  book really touches on everything opening, mid game, endgame. I like to read this when im just sitting in bed or whenever. it describes good positions for your minor pieces and certain checkmates. The book really go overs alot of openings also very helpful for someone like me who arent familar with many openings.

I think the next book I will be ordering online will have to be Logical chess move by move. Luckily for me my brother has my system and should be getting to take a peak out of it.

Thanks for everyones advice and I hope what I mention about my books help any others looking for a book.

Bro when you come by I will give you a copy of chessmaster grandmaster edition lots of good tutorials!

Back in the 70s when I was a teenager I studied these books, "The Praxis of My System" by the great A. Nimzovich and," Modern Chess Strategy" by the Ludek
Pachman. But during those years I was not able to put into practice what I have learned from those books because Chess was not so played in our place. Only
now with the advent of Internet was I able to play chess almost everyday and
I found out that what I have studied before really works, and I'm over 50 years
old.

I highly recommend to you those above mentioned books. 

Hear hear! Knowing what a pin/fork/skewer is is different than recognizing and correctly reacting to them.  My tactics trainer score attests to that! I've been reading Heisman's columns and his advice has helped me focus on the basics.  I wanted to improve and when I started struggling with some of the 1400+ problems in Chess Mentor, his advice to studying the tactics until you see them instantly made a lot of sense to me.  There's so much material out there that it's easy to feel overwhelmed and become scattered in your learning.  Heisman has helped me set a clear path for myself (learn the basics!).   

This is probably the best advice I have been given and I will not put this to the side.You are right there is a difference in knowing what they tactics are rather than knowing how to achieve them. I think I do have a problem in this area and I will  asses them. Where I find a tactic trainer. I have chessmaster btw.

Sorry for my ignorence but what would you all say would be the core basics?  So I know what to really study for now. I am trying to develop a study plan for myelf. thanks as always.

one more time

BACK TO BASICS: TACTICS from DAN HEISMAN!!!!

that is the book to start with for beginners (under 1500).

Seconded.  I am working throuh the book now and apart from the tactical puzzles, there are gems of good advice that I, as a low-rated player, never got.  I borrowed a copy from the library but plan to buy my own copy, partly so I can highlight the bits that have stuck out to me.  Also, Heiman's Novic Nook column on chesscafe.com is great for beginners.

Tactics Trainer is offered on this site.  How much you can use it is dependent on your membership level.  I like doing puzzles even more than playing games so I've splurged in that area.

Is there a certain level where a player can read a chess book without having to set up a board?  

Are the books that offer a diagram every 3 moves useful for reading when there is no board available?

I have Tal the Magnificent! which I enjoy playing through but wonder if I should be concentrating to the point where I don't need to set up a board. 

If so, are there books anyone can recommend that specifically have a diagram set up every 3 or so moves that high rated players recommend? 

thanks!

Excellent beginner book. Not for me, though.