For me... lol, 118 books.
The Book that helped me the most was a an inexpensive little book called "How to play the Chess Openings" By Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
He was a Russian Grand Master from the early1900's that had a gift for taking a Complicated Precept and presenting it with incredible Clarity.
"It is not a move, even the best move, that you must seek, but a realisable plan."... E.A. Znosko-Borovsky
I've got way too many, but I recommend the books "Zurich 1953" by Bronstein ,Dvoretsky's "Secrets of Chess Tactics", and Hans Kmoch's "Pawn Power" as most educational.
I love this topic. Thanks for posting Chris.
My first chess book was Everybody's 2nd Chessbook by Dan Heisman and it is a good book for the beginner. I can't say how much it changed my game, but I was a better chess player after reading it. Of course, I could not have gotten any worse, but still, it answered many questions and my game improved.
I recently bought and am working my way through:
1. Back To Basics: Tactics by Dan Heisman
2. Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games by Lazlo Polgar
3. Practical Chess Exercises: 600 Lessons from Tactics to Strategy by Ray Cheng
My game is improving, but slowly... at a snail's pace. But I thnk I am headed in the right direction.
On my to get list I have:
1. Pawn Power by Han's Kmoch
2. Chess Praxis: 21st Century Edition by Aron Nimzowitsch
3. My System: 21st Century Edition by Aron Nimzowitsch
and now
4. How to play the Chess Openings By Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
If you are looking for a good book to strengthen your overall chess game I would suggest Schiller's "Encyclopedia of Chess Wisdom".
I'm preparing to move. Turns out that I have slightly over two boxes full of chess books. Don't know how many that is.
Most books didn't change my rating at all. The best were the training workbooks that are used in the Dutch chess federation's youth training course (by Brunia and Van Wijgerden). They're for sale at http://www.stappenmethode.nl , but they're mostly tactics, pages and pages with 20 diagrams each. I think those books raised me from +- 1700 to +- 1900.
I probably have a dozen chess books or so, and the two that have helped me the most are Inside The Amateur's Mind and Complete Endgame Course both by Silman. Prior to reading Amateur's Mind, I had never considered things like bishop pairs, depriving opposing knights of supported sqauares, etc, so it really opened up positional play for me.
And the endgame course is just a must have.
This is always controversial. I have written several articles on the 10 books I would take if stranded on a desert island. Here are ones that I always include
1) 60 Memorable Games
2) Zurich 1953 (Bronstein)
3) Life and Games of Mikhail Tal (or his book on the 1960 match with Botvinnik)
4) Encyclopedia of Chess Middlegames (Informant)
I would also add SIlman's Endgame book. I would also choose a Purdy book (Search for Chess Perfection II) which is a great instructive read. The others are more personal choices if you like history, problems, game collections etc. Another good book is the Best of Chess Life and Review which gives a nice overview of the American chess.
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Just Curious...
How many Chess Books do you have?
Please tell us which ones helped you improve the most or had the greatest impact on your rating.