Nimzoblanca --> MCO is still useful, 'should be top five.
I'm embarrassed to say I could never quite figure out for sure how to read the trees. If MCO were sold on DVD with the position shown on a board when you click on a move, I'd buy it.
Five Chess Books you must have on your shelf!
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Jul 23, 2008
0
#23
wiseachoo --> My System - New Translation
Ah, I wondered what that $30 edition was. Unfortunately when you click on it on Amazon you get a look inside of the old english edition. Made me think the new edition was the same old translation.
My 5 picks (not in order of merit):
1) Fundamental Chess Endings – Muller/Lamprecht
2) Art of Attack – Vukovic
3) Road to Chess Improvement – Yermolinsky
4) 500 Master Games of Chess – Tartakower/Mont
5) Amateur’s Mind – Silman
Jul 24, 2008
0
#25
AquaMan wrote:
Nimzoblanca --> MCO is still useful, 'should be top five. I'm embarrassed to say I could never quite figure out for sure how to read the trees. If MCO were sold on DVD with the position shown on a board when you click on a move, I'd buy it.
Every vertical column in MCO is an opening variation. Some variations are linked to another via a dotted line, which shows an alternative move for the first column. Its really quite simple once you understand it.
Now, as for the topic... currently I must have:
1. Dvoretsky's endgame manuel
2. How to beat d4 by Rizzitano
3. Accelerated Dragons by Silman and Donaldson
4. Anti-Sicilians: A Guide for Black by Rogozenko
5. The Dynamic English by Kosten
(6. MCO 15)
(7. [1st edition] My 60 memorable games by Fischer... [*cough*])
1. How to reassess your chess - Silman
2. Art of attack - Vukovic
3. My System - Nimzowitch
4. Complete Endgame Course (Beginner to Master) - Silman
5. NCO or MCO (even if you have Fritz) - Nunn,Burgess,Gallagher,Emms
On books on Openings; I think there are alot of great opening books out there so really its really each to ones own preferences on them. I do think that a copy of NCO should be used as reference just to see which lines opening books are recommending and why. Fritz and any other available online or personal databases should also be used to see who and how frequent particular lines are being played.
On books of game collections; Again, there are alot of game collections out there so any on your favourite player should be recommended. The life and games of Mikhail Tal was mentioned but there are game collections of Fischer and Alekhine to name two, aswell as many more. Whoever you choose is just personal preference, i dont think one game collecion book is better than the other.
The books i have suggested are for 'all' players. My personal top five may include Mastering the Najdorf but to 1...e5 players that wouldnt be essential reading!
Chess - Polgar
Mastering the Chess Openings Vol 1-3 - Watson
Reassess Your Chess - Silman (+ the workbook)
Silman's Complete Endgame Course - Silman
Life and Games of Mikhail Tal - Tal
What's that you say, I can have two alternates? Alrighty, MCO-15 - De Firmian The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games - Burgess, Nunn, Emms
By the way Vol 3 of the Watson series doesn't come out til Nov...that's how good the first two are.
Jul 24, 2008
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#28
As a beginner I have only four books for the moment and all in Dutch, my motherslanguage:
1. Schaken voor dummies (Chess For Dummies) by James Eade;
2. Volledige handleiding voor het schaakspel (Complete manual for chess) by Dr. Max Euwe;
3. De Schaakbijbel (The Chess Player's Bible. Illustrated strategies for staying ahead of the game) by James Eade;
4. De kunst van de analyse (The Art of Analyse) by Jan Timman.
The first three are very helpful and I learn a lot of them, the fourth is still to much for me. I keep to books in Dutch for now, but I'm very interested in My System. That one I didn't found in Dutch so it will be a German or English version as my fifth book. But maybe I buy something else while I am searching for material in Dutch on openings.
If you plan to play against me someday, I suggest you buy every opening book written -- the worse the explanations, the better -- and spend all your time on them. 
If you don't plan to play against me, to the many good books already mentioned, I would add C.J.S. Purdy's Guide To Good Chess (11th (rev.) ed.). It's out of print but you should be able to get a used copy at a reasonable price. It offers a lot of explanations and principles for every phase of the game, and it repays repeated reading.
I also found John Emms' Discovering Chess Openings to be a useful guide to general principles.
If Nabokov's books have to fight with chess books for shelf space, Nabokov would win on my shelf:
1. Mary
2. Lolita
3. Pnin
4. Bend Sinister
5. The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov
Jul 24, 2008
0
#30
Another one who has books of Nabokov on his shelf. I have also Lolita, but then three others: 1° King, Queen, Knave 2° Laughter in the Dark and 3° Glory. That pushes me now to renew my Nabokov-reading.
The superbooks:
My 60 Memorable Games by Bobby Fischer
My System - Nimzovich
The Praxis of My System - Nimzovich
Secrets of Chess Training - Dvoretsky
Batsford Chess Openings 2 - Kasparov & Keene
and may I recommend to everyone:
THE ART OF WAR - Sun Tzu
Excellent thread, everyone, a lot of helpful suggestions.
I personally have only ever read and played through the companion book to Kasparov - Short, 1993 (Raymond Keene), and a bumper book of great games, the title of which I can't remember.
How to Open a Chess Game sounds very interesting, as does the Nimzowitsch, so I'll check both those out.
Everyone should read Nabakov, whether they be chess players or not.
Just the Facts-Lev Alburt & Nikolay Krogius
Understanding Chess Move by Move-John Nunn
Mastering the Chess Openings (two volumes, ill just count it as one book)-John Watson
How to Reassess Your Chess- Jeremy Silman
Art of Attack in Chess-Vladimir Vukovic
Hah! I only have 5 chess books on my shelf. I don't read from them a lot. I find that I can learn much more by playing a game against someone slightly better than me.
1. How to Win At Chess by I. A. Horowitz. Many years ago, a high school teacher thought I showed some promise, so he gave me this book. It seems to be four volumes in one--two "how to win in the opening" books, a "how win in the middlegame" book, and, of course a "how to win in the endgame" book. I don't think it is in print any longer. My copy is falling apart, but it was an indispensible introduction to all the basic guidelines and tactics that one should know.
2. The Tao of Chess by Peter Kurzdorfer. Lame. Don't bother.
3. Modern Chess Openings 14th Edition by Nick De Firmian. Some useful information, but I fear I am getting too old to memorize enough to do me any good. Understanding why a move is made is more useful to me than learning all possible valid moves ever made by the masters.
4. How to Reassess Your Chess by Jeremy Silman. Some extremely useful advice, but I am having difficulty reading and truly understanding the concepts he presents. When I finish it, I will definitely read it again.
5. Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games by Graham Burgess, John Nunn, John Emms, and Vishy Anand. An extreme pleasure. It will take me literally years to finally finish it, but it contains some of the most beautiful chess I've ever seen.
Oh--I also have The Immortal Game: A History of Chess by David Shenk. It isn't really a chess tutorial of any type, but it is easy, light, entertaining, informative reading. I highly recommend this book to everyone who visits this site.
There is a really good review of the Vukovic book on chesscafe.com.
I'm more of a positional player so I think that book would do my game some good, gonna add it to the next batch of chess books I bring home.
1) Secrets of pawn endings, Muller and Lamprecht
2) Chess Fundamentals, Capablanca
3) Think like a Grandmaster, Kotov
4) The Art of Planning in Chess, McDonald
5) The Art of Learning, Waitzkin
Based on what I see here, I'm definately going to get a copy of My System.
Books.... I love chess books. Here's my choice collection:
Silmans Endgame Course- Endgame technique is a must.
Middlegame: Book 1
Middlegame: Book 2 - This set is one of the best. Very important lessons on the dynamic and static elements of chess and how to make them work for you.
Chess (Polgar) - A wonderful book. Game examples in back of book so you can see practical examples of how tactics are applied in OTB games. Repetition is the mother of skill. You may write this books off as simplistic junk, but think about the Polgar pedigree and you may rework your opinion a little.
Combination Challenge (Hays..I think)- More tactics... yeah. Practice practice practice. This will burn those tasty little combos into your brain so you can crack them on other peoples heads.
So that is my humble little list. There is NO opening book suggested because when you truly understand the dynamics of the pieces and the ultimate goal of chess, you will be able to play decent openings without a reference book. You only really need to worry about strict opening technique when you hit the upper ranks. It is best to have original thought and see the consequences of your moves, you will learn more that way. Once you start seeing how bad moves are punished, you will begin to find good moves on your own, instead of just aping moves and hoping your opponent doesn't deviate from what you 'know'. It's like the great Fischer himself said, it's not about moves, it's about ideas. So learn the ideas of chess dynamics and worry about the nitty gritty superspecific chess opening variations when you hit Master.
Aug 7, 2008
0
#38
Thanks for the explanation on reading the tables in MCO. I get it now. I was flipping through MCO-15 at the book store. It was interesting looking through it.
I can imagine some uses, but what exactly do you use MCO/NCO for?
1. Fischer, Bobby. My Sixty Memorable Games. Sadly and inexplicably this book is out of print, which is especially surprising because it is (arguably, of course) the greatest book on chess ever written. Fischer's notes reveal his depth of thinking on the chessboard, a mastery of all phases of the game, a remarkable wit, and above all a love of chess. Fisher's rather narrow opening repertoire and the thorough variations he provides make a great book with which to study openings, especially his King's pawn, Sicilan, and King's Indian. Evans' notes and comments are great too. The only setback to this book is its old-fashioned descriptive notation> Perhaps if a new edition comes out it will be updated with algebraic notes. Does anyone know what is keeping this book unavailable? The copy I have is long overdue from the library (sorry, Brian--you aren't getting it back).
2. Tal, Mikhail. The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal.Face it--the only player's games whose are exciting as Tal's are those of whoever Tal was playing at the time. These games are, like Fischer's above, just a lot of fun to play through. I can't claim to understand Tal's--watching how he sacrifices his queen, then a rook, then a knight to win the game is humbling. His humble admission that he's never quite sure his sacrifices are sound is inspiring. With this book you get not only a great book on chess but also a great biography. And Tal had quite a life.
3. Carroll, Lewis. Through the Looking-Glass. I am trying to play by the rules with this one, even though the chess game in this book does not quite play by the rules itself. I suppose that's the point of it. Not that it was meant to have one.
4. Modern Chess Openings. I have the 14th edition and have been wondering whether to upgrade. This book contains probably more information than anyone needs to know, but when a chess book is referred to simply as "the book," it is hard to argue that it does not deserve a place is this list. While this may not be as practical a book to have in one's collection as either a good overall chess book like Tillman's The Complete Book of Chess Strategy or one of the books on endgames others have mentioned, it is still the one I would want simply because a more concise or general book would alway leave me feeling like I was missing something. While I have heard of people opening that book never to emerge again, the introductions to the openings are themselves great reading.
5. Burgess, Nunn, Emms. The Mammoth Book of Chess Games. I am not sure that studying games is the best way to learn chess, but it is certainly worthwhile recreation, and this is a book that could long sustain a chess lover on a desert island. So many great games are here--from Anderssen's Immortal Game to Fischer's Game of the Century to one of Kasparov's games against Big Blue.
These books alone would probably leave players with big deficiencies in their game, but they are the five I have enjoyed the most.
MCO is still useful, 'should be top five.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Chess_Openings