best order to learn things in chess?

hi there!

i'm currently in the process of trying to learn how to really play chess at a high level. i've only just started (specifically, i've gone through bobby fisher's chess book and chess.com's online lessons). i bought a bunch of books and was hoping wanted to see if maybe anyone had any suggestions as to what order to read these books? also any advice/input as to what order to learn the topics of chess?

these are the books i have:

1. "How to Reassess Your Chess" by Jeremy Silman (i tried to read this to start but felt that it might be going over my head a bit)

2. "Winning Chess: How to Perfect Your Attacking Play" by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld

3. "Logical Chess: Move By Move: Every Move Explained" by Irving Chernev

4. "The Game of Chess (Dover Chess)" by Siegbert Tarrasch

5. "First Steps: Fundamental" by Cyrus Lakdawala

6. "Complete Book of Chess Strategy" by Jeremy Silman

7. "Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner to Master" by Jeremy Silman

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

9. "Back to Basics: Tactics (ChessCafe Back to Basics Chess)" by Dan Heisman

10. "John Nunn's Chess Puzzle Book" by John Nunn

thanks so much for any advice/help in advance!

Wow that’s amazing because I don’t even own one book yet.

I am currently working on basic tactics, simple end games and CCT before I move onto books.

I can see myself with Silmans End Game and Capablanca Chess Fundamentals, if I were to read.

Wow is right! That's a lot of books. I would add two more to the list. Buy the latest copy of MCO Modern chess openings. It is an encyclopedia of chess openings. Every time someone plays something new against you. You can look it up and study. The more openings that you know of, the easier it will be to identify them over the board. The second book is Basic Chess Endings by Ruben Fine. It is an encyclopedia of chess Endings. The basic Endings never change regardless of what level of play you are at. Every high level player will own these two books. Good luck!

Thank you guys so much!

No, don’t bother with the books; they’re next to useless for the moment.

Go play and have fun. You have a diamond membership so doing tactics training and basic lessons on opening principles is more than enough to 1600.

Being bogged down with book smarts is not going to boost your performance.

I only have one comment, but I think it's important for you. The first thing you should do is pull out Heisman's "Back to Basics: Tactics" book and read the chapter on counting. (I don't remember the chapter number, but it's in there.) That should be Step 1, before anything else.

(That's based on looking at the last game you played.)

Edit - I just looked it up. Not surprisingly, the counting chapter is Chapter 1.

You might want to read Silman’s “The Amateur’s Mind,” before reading his “How to Reassess Your Chess.”

I have also loaded up on the books to read and study. I like reading and studying chess in between my games, and I am fairly new at the game myself. I am hoping to hit a 1,000 pretty soon. I know it is important to play games, but I am getting a lot from studying, reading and watching videos.

This is a refreshing change, this place is becoming a library.

I can teach you EXACTLY how to think during the game (opening, middlegame and endgame). Your chess understanding will never be the same and you will improve a lot. I charge €35/h, but if you can’t afford too many lessons, don’t worry. I can teach you a lot in an hour. Here to help if you are interested.

If you want to study by yourself, read ‘Logical Chess’. It is really instructive book. You have it on youtube as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eTB7oHeRgM&list=PLUrgfsyInqNa1S4i8DsGJwzx1Uhn2AqlT

I think my concern with just playing is not knowing the theory or thought behind it and just moving pieces around but I’m definitely doing a mix of both right now!

If I were to pick, without much knowledge of the books and based on the titles, I would go #5, #8, and #9 first.

Did you guys think the drills were particularly helpful?

Also I want to play real people but the timed aspect makes me panic at make bad choices lol. Ideally I’d like to start just playing without it being Blitz or me having to wait 24 hours for someone to play a move. I’m a noob on the app so I’m not sure how I’d do that

The drills on this site? I haven’t tried them so I wouldn’t know.

You might want to try 10 minutes rapid or something (at least 5 minutes) with increments.

Try Pandolfini's books, Weapons of Chess is a great book. It's written in plain English, the lessons, principles and concepts are presented in small one two or three page lessons, he covers the basics and some intro to positional chess including pawn structure. It's not gonna take you to expert or master level, but it does give you a great foundation.

I looked at what time controls were available and 15/10, 10/5, and 5/5 might be suitable. The second number is increments, which is the time added to your clock after every move you play.

You’re not alone, we do the same at the 1600-2000 bracket as well.

You don’t see solid theory until 2300.

Go play and have fun. Make a lot of mistakes and learn to laugh at yourself.

Sure, she can just play and have fun, but let me tell my story. When I was beginning in chess, it was a while before I *finally* stumbled upon the counting concept from Heisman. And I was genuinely angry at all of the other tactics book authors who hadn't even felt the need to mention the concept. I kept asking myself, "Why didn't anyone else tell me this? It's danmed (sic to avoid the bot filters) important!

I'm just trying to prevent her from going down the same road I went down...

1) Start with "Logical Chess", by Irving Chernev

2) Then go with "Discovering Chess Openings" by John Emms

3) Then "Winning Chess" by Chernev and Reinfeld

4) The two Silman books should be last ("Endgame" first, then "Reassess" afterward").

I can't suggest an order for the others, as I haven't read those.

Great job pursuing chess knowledge through books, rather than trial and error. You've chosen the superior path.