I have about 250 books on chess but they arent on a shelf ... I have them scattered all over the house so my wife has something to fuss about . 
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I have 69 books on opening theory (Grandmaster Series is what I typically start with when I am introducing myself to a new opening). Mostly all Gruenfeld and Najdorf in order to learn just the opening principles for a beginner. Only from the White defensive side.
"Chess is 99% abstruse opening theory, 0.5% tactics and strategy, and then whatever is leftover is that other thing. You know. I forget what it's called. No one seems to know."
-Chicken_Monster
Ergo, I purchased one book on advanced tactics for people over 2800. Oh, and one Kindle book on juicing...I bought this juicer, and it has a recipe for an orange concoction - no you can't have the recipe.
I own somewhere between 100 to 150 chess books.
At least kayknight is not some self-promoting moron.
Mar 4, 2015
0
#47
Reb wrote:
I have about 250 books on chess but they arent on a shelf ... I have them scattered all over the house so my wife has something to fuss about .
Reb and I have something more in common!
On closer inspection, I have only about 500 chess books now.
I have a friend who has, at last count, over 3000 chess books. He has them in alphabetical order by author, which drives me crazy.
My main collection (not including old Informants and books that I'll never use unless someone asks about analysis from Lasker's old chess magazine, in a basement closet/library, amounting to about 150 books. And yes, I do count each Informant as a book. No, I don't own all 122 volumes) is organized as follows:
Chess histories, game collections and biographies (~90 books) organized chronologically.
Opening Books (~60 books) Organized by opening (1.e4 first, KIDs last, loosely following ECO)
Books on combinations and puzzle books (~10. Not sure exactly cos there are some strewn around the house) I have the Encylopedia types on one end, and puzzle books on the other. So I guess it goes from serious to casual.
Instructional Books organized more or less chronologically and by author (Dvoretsky books are all together for example) (80 books),
Endgame Books (~20)
Miscellaneous books (~10)
That doesn't include the books that have wandered off the shelves, most of which I already mentioned in a previous post.
SmyslovFan wrote:
Reb wrote:
I have about 250 books on chess but they arent on a shelf ... I have them scattered all over the house so my wife has something to fuss about .
Reb and I have something more in common!
On closer inspection, I have only about 500 chess books now.
I have a friend who has, at last count, over 3000 chess books. He has them in alphabetical order by author, which drives me crazy.
My main collection (not including old Informants and books that I'll never use unless someone asks about analysis from Lasker's old chess magazine, in a basement closet/library, amounting to about 150 books. And yes, I do count each Informant as a book. No, I don't own all 122 volumes) is organized as follows:
Chess histories, game collections and biographies (~90 books) organized chronologically.
Opening Books (~60 books) Organized by opening (1.e4 first, KIDs last, loosely following ECO)
Books on combinations and puzzle books (~10. Not sure exactly cos there are some strewn around the house) I have the Encylopedia types on one end, and puzzle books on the other. So I guess it goes from serious to casual.
Instructional Books organized more or less chronologically and by author (Dvoretsky books are all together for example) (80 books),
Endgame Books (~20)
Miscellaneous books (~10)
That doesn't include the books that have wandered off the shelves, most of which I already mentioned in a previous post.
I started my chess library in the early 70s so have been buying chess books and playing otb tournies a little more than 40 years which means I have averaged about 6 books a year purchased . This is modest compared to other chess players I have known . Now I rarely add new books since I don't work on chess like I used to and I dont play nearly as often . I have too many books onopenings and too few on endings . I have more books on the sicilians than any other opening with the french a close second , KID third I believe ... I also have most of the one volume openings bibles books , MCO , BCO , NCO ....etc as well as the ECOs , 4 of the 5 volumes . I never got volume A .
Mar 4, 2015
0
#49
I picked up the entire ECO vols A-E plus the Encyclopedia of Chess Combinations published by Informator for ~$60. For some weird reason, it was in the "foreign languages" section at Powell's in Portland and marked as such! I found a couple other chess steals there, including a collection of all the world championship games for $2 that was erroneously put in the "cheese" section!
Of course, nowadays, such books aren't even worth the paper they're printed on since databases and such are readily available.
I've bought maybe ten new books this decade. Almost all of my library is from the 20th Century.
My most recent book purchases are the two books by Moskalenko on the french defense . Now I want to buy the Zurich 1953 tournament book done by Najdorf . I hear its even better than the same book by Bronstein .
Mar 4, 2015
0
#51
I've taken a look at it. It's different, but I don't think it's better than Bronstein's book. Bronstein's commentary served as an extended advanced lesson in how Nimzo's ideas are put into practice by elite GMs. It was absolutely brilliant.
Najdorf's analysis was better in places, (I don't have it so I can't say where exactly), but it wasn't as good at the big picture.
This is blurry but I'm guessing plenty of people will recognize a bunch of these books just from the bindings...
Wow!
Mar 4, 2015
0
#57
Reb wrote:
My most recent book purchases are the two books by Moskalenko on the french defense . Now I want to buy the Zurich 1953 tournament book done by Najdorf . I hear its even better than the same book by Bronstein .
I have both Zurich books. Najdorf's annotations are more detailed.
I haven't done a close comparison.
I recounted my chess books last night and discover I now have a handful short of 500. This is ridiculous, insane. 
Who doesnt love fried chicken ? ! I also like chicken baked , boiled , grilled , bbqed ...