Best books to discover openings ?

Sort:
ArcadePlayChess

Hello, I'm a beginner looking for a book on chess openings. I prefer books with illustrations rather than just move notation. Ideally, I'd like something that covers not only openings but also key attacking and defensive ideas in the early game.

Have you heard of any books like this for new chess players? And do you have other chess book recommendations to suggest?

Thanks!

RussBell

Good Chess Books for Beginners and Beyond…

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/good-chess-books-for-beginners-and-beyond

Good Chess Openings Books For Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/good-chess-openings-books-for-beginners-and-beyond

Chess Openings Resources for Beginners and Beyond…

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/openings-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond

ArcadePlayChess

Thank you ^^

RussBell

@ArcadePlayChess -

After giving your your question a little more thought, I have concluded that the book that comes closest to addressing what you have described in your initial post is...

Learn to Play Chess Like a Boss by GM Patrick Wolff, two-time U.S. Chess Champion.

The book is targeted primarily to the beginner-novice player (many intermediate players could benefit as well) and, although the book is not focused on openings per se, it does a very good job of addressing the kinds of issues you described and more - including fundamental principles of opening play. It also has lots of diagrams.

Be sure also to check the Amazon reader reviews.

P.S. I wrote one of the Amazon reader reviews of the book (as 'RLBell'). The point of the review was that, although the book's content was "great" (as I put it in the review), the text's font was too small, IMO. I own about 3000 books (I do a lot of reading!), of which about 600 are chess books (and a lot of chess book collecting!) and the font size of Wolff's "...Like A Boss" book is much smaller than any other book I own. For those with excellent eyesight this may not present much of a problem. But at an advanced age, where my eyes are not as good as they used to be, reading much more than 5 or 6 pages at a sitting becomes somewhat tiresome (on the eyes) for me. Otherwise, in terms of content, it is an excellent, very instructive book.

Good luck in your chess journey!

ChessMasteryOfficial

"Discovering Chess Openings: Building Opening Skills from Basic Principles" by John Emms