What books do you recommend?
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I have been thinking about possibly purchasing a book on chess, what recommendations do you have, particularly on learning the theory behind chess?
How to reassess your chess by Jeremy Silman is an excellent read
but how to reassess chess is for next level that means for intermediate
according to me books by yasseir seirwan winning chess series is best
Feb 23, 2021
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#5
Hi! My name is Lauren and I'm a chess teacher based in California.
Two books that I recommend: (Both books are available on Amazon.com)
1) Queen For A Day: The Girl's Guide to Chess Mastery
Readers get to play an entire game with fictional character, Sophia". Readers get to choose between three moves. One move is bad, another move is okay, and the third is the best. This book is endorsed by the 2019 US Women's Chess Champion and other top chess masters, including WGM Jennifer Shahade. This book was written specifically for beginners.
2) 50 Poison Pieces. This book is aimed for beginners. Readers have to figure out why capturing an unprotected piece is a mistake! This book is endorsed by FM Eric Schiller and other respected chess pros.
I hope that this helps!
https://www.amazon.com/Lauren-Goodkind/e/B0716DZY95/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
Reassess is aimed at intermediates, say 1600+. After reading a general purpose beginners book, suggest books focusing on topics. Chess Tactics for Students by Bain is a good begineers book which aims to teach tactics. It is a work book with over 400 puzzles. Logical Chess by Chernev is a collection of GM games selected an annotated to teach basic principles to beginners. Both are high up on a number of recommended reading lists.
I've got quite a few chess books but I'm just going to list the ones that I have read all the way through (and I think this is an indicator of quality, accessibility and usefulness)
Pandolfini's Endgame Course - Bruce Pandolfini
Winning Chess Tactics by Yasser Seirawan
Winning Chess Strategies by Yasser Seirawan
Learn Chess Tactics by John Nunn
The Reassess Your Chess Workbook by Jeremy Silman
I agree with MarkGrubb that Reassess is a relatively HARD book, I remembered strugging with the exercises and getting them wrong a lot (and feeling stupid). The five that I recommend are listed in order of difficulty, but Pandolfini's book is accessible even for beginners, I recommend playing it out on an actual chess board.
EDIT: @konstapeen I just checked and can see you are a Diamond member around 800 rating. In this case I would recommend that Yassar Seirawen's Winning Chess Strategies would be the best book for you. The reason is because if you also use Chess.com's lessons you will be able to learn tactics and endgames but Seirawen does a really good job at explaining strategic concepts that will enable you to create and execute winning plans on the board
@konstapeen rating appropriate books are best so do some research and look for books aimed at your level. There are a couple of reasons for this. 1) Advanced books may not explain the basics ideas they build on (or explain them well) so if you dont have a foundation knowledge then they will generate more questions than answers. 2) Even if you understand most of the content, you may struggle to put it into practise. A GM understanding of pawn structures will not help win games if you still make basic blunders such as hanging material 🙂. 3) Sort of linked to the first point, advanced books will make assumptions about to what extent you are an 'independent learner' at chess. Good luck.
100 Endgames you must know by Jesus De La Villa has been very interesting on improving your endgame. As a beginner, it’s a bit difficult because I am still learning the chess notations but you can use the analysis board on practice each one. Or if you have a board at home, you can follow along.
I've been using Chessable to learn endgame technique. I've found it helpful to break it down into two steps. Firstly simply memorising the pattern or technique, rote learning, the spaced repetition helps with this. Then understanding what is going on and why certain moves dont work etc.
Feb 24, 2021
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#11
konstapeen hat geschrieben:
I have been thinking about possibly purchasing a book on chess, what recommendations do you have, particularly on learning the theory behind chess?
At your level I believe Logical Chess Move by Move (Irving Chernev) is best. He teaches you how to think, which I believe is much more important than any endgame position you will ever reach.
Feb 24, 2021
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#13
Any book by GM John Nunn would do. His "secrets of practical chess" is one of the best books available. He has books on endings, strategy, puzzles and a complete course of chess based on the games of Emanuel Lasker.
Good Chess Books for Beginners and Beyond...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/good-chess-books-for-beginners-and-beyond