PDX_Axe - My Chess Book Addiction

Ok, here we go.  This is going to be a massive undertaking.  I am going to tackle my chess book collection.  I will try to evaluate what I feel is the value to different levels of players.  Also some of my books are from the mid 90's and are long out of print, so in those cases I will discuss monetary values of the used, or occasionally "new" book.  I will go through books I am currently working on, things that are my favorites, books I felt helped me improve the most, etc.  Let me start with a photo of my kitchen table, where I placed all of my physical books that I have in the house.  I should also admit I have 2 or 3 good sized boxes of books in my storage unit that I currently don't really have room for.  At least the first photo will give you a peek at the scope of my addiction.

You will also notice my Kindle sitting in front, which has well over 100 chess books in it.  I hope this gives you some idea of the scope of my problem.  You might look at that and think I would never need another book, but I continue to purchase new books when I see something I really like.  For instance, at the top of the second pile from the left is the fairly new Joel Benjamin - Chessboard Combat, The Give and Take of Chess Tactics.  Normally going for $28, Amazon had it marked down to $21, and as I had watched a review of the book on YouTube and found it quite interesting...well, I couldn't help pulling the trigger and ordering the book.  I am not very far into it yet, but I will get there, as I feel tactics set you up to win games, or perhaps lose them if you miss a tactic.  Me personally I feel like when I lose it is usually in the middlegame, and generally involves some sort of tactical mistake.  Anyway, I think I should get into the first book I will talk about, time for some pictures.

The first book will be Chess, by Laszlo Polgar, the father of the famous Polgar sisters. If you don't know who they are you should look them up online. Here is a photo.

As you can see, I have it in 3 different formats. The hardcover was first, and it got it soon after it was released. My brother and I used to joke that it was "chess by the pound", and because it is so large and heavy I only ever used it at home, as it really was too heavy to carry around. When the paperback version came out I immediately scooped it up, as it was smaller and less heavy to carry around. This is the first book shown on the ChessDojo recommended by rating chess page, and all levels are supposed to work from this book, from total beginners to top level players. Six diagrams per page, with mate in one, two, and three problems, also some game fragments, combinations, etc. towards the end. BOOKS BY RATING | Chess Dojo Once the Kindle version came out I instantly got it, because all you are carrying is the weight of the Kindle. Also the space saved by buying Kindle books is enormous. My Kindle books would fill up a pretty good sized bookcase all by themselves.

So what do I think of this book? I think it is 5 stars, even though I don't know a single person that has completed the entire book. It will really teach you pattern recognition, which is especially helpful for delivering check mates. I think really anyone can benefit from this. As for the value? Well luckily the paperback and Kindle books are both readily available new, and the price for those hovers around $20. That is a lot of chess for twenty bucks, and I think it is a great value. For collectors, the hardcover version is around, the question there is condition. You are not likely to ever find a new copy, but more prone to seeing good or acceptable copies. Very good or like new copies are rare and much more expensive. There is a used one in good condition on Amazon for about $50, and a much rarer new copy going for $100. I always question the newness of a 30-year-old book, as even if it was never touched they get dusty, yellowed pages from sunlight, etc. And it is not new from the publisher, but a pre-owned book in perhaps "like new" condition. Such books are not sold by Amazon, but other sellers in cooperation with Amazon. I feel they do not always grade the books properly for condition. For instance, I ordered a book from Thriftbooks, said to be in like new condition. It turned out to be an ex-library book, beaten up, dog-eared pages, a couple of written notes in the margins, and stickers all over it for scanning at the library. It still had the holder for your return by slip glued to the inside cover. Definitely not "like new", which I take to mean looking like you pulled it of the shelf in a bookstore. It might have been handled a bit by browsers or gathered a bit of dust if it sat for any length of time, but obviously not read. So, buyer beware on used books.

I have not read it, but it sure looks like a cool book. I know hardcovers are hard to get and also expensive. I would not mind having a few of those. Maybe one day I will look into books when I complete my chess set collection.

Well as I said, Amazon has a "new" one for $100, but I would wait for a reasonably priced used one listed as "very good" or "like new". It could cost a quarter of the price and still have the same great information. I should add that it gets a whole lot of 5-star reviews on Amazon, and many people consider it a great book and a great value. There are 306 mate in 1's, about 3000 mate in 2's, and the rest are mate in 3's, game fragments, etc. I personally recommend a kindle version (and you can get a kindle reader ap for your phone or pc too. I have one on this laptop.) The kindle version costs $20, takes up no storage space in your house, and is much more portable than the massive hardcover, it is just not as collectable. Tomorrow I will put up the phtos for the middlegames and endgames hardcovers.

Thanks for the info @PDX_Axe!

Btw, why did you put this thread in the general discussion rather than in the CB&E forum?

It was an oversight, but too late to change it now.

I think a moderator can move it.

And of course there is the possibility that more people will see it in the general discussion.

That’s true too.

Excellent thread PDX.....Collecting chess books is a great hobby unto itself.

If it were only a hobby ha! I think I am not exaggerating when I call what I do a chess addiction. New books come out and I just feel sort of compelled to get them if they get any positive reviews from YouTube, or lots of 5-star reviews on Amazon, etc. It doesn't matter if I already have other books on the same subject matter, I generally convince myself that in that new book there might just be the thing that makes it all click for me and my game will really improve. In my more rational moments, I am pretty sure I am just about as good as I will ever be, and no amount of studying is going to be a Eureka! moment for me. At best I am removing some of the rust that my game acquired with my many years away from serious chess study and playing. I was pretty active in my club from the mid 90's to early 2000's before work got in the way and my chess time pretty much evaporated. I didn't really get back into the game until 2021, and a good portion of those books on my table have been acquired since then. I might have saved the money on chess books and gone to Octoberfest this year, but instead I have a table full of books. All I can say is the rust remover better work. Also my brain is now 66 years old, so that might be a problem too. Nah, it still seems to work fine.

I've had quite a few addictions in my life as well....The "hobby kind". I totally get where you're coming from....Not a kid myself,btw. However nobody can tell me there's no room for improvement....It takes real determination....Not too easy,but it can be done....I'll let you know if I ever get there....Ha!

66 years young you mean. I’m sure your brain is as good as ever.

A little older than you....A gym rat and obsessed health nut,so all is "good".

My chess skills so far....Meh! That can be worked on.Wanted to hit a chess book tonight,but got caught up with the Novak Djokovic/Carlos Alcaraz tennis match....."Tennis"! My first love!

I played a lot of tennis in the 10 years I lived in Hawaii. My main opponent was my friend Fel, a smaller, very quick friend who grew up on Guam, but was of Philippino descent. Me in my early 30's...a 6'2 over-muscled somewhat slow white guy haha! It was warm and very humid over there, and I would sweat buckets. His brother was the number 2 rated player on Guam, and they had played all the time in their younger years. I probably should have lost every match we played (which were generally first to win 2 sets). However, I had a lot of natural athletic ability, and a couple of tricks up my sleeve. Mainly I am ambidextrous, and because my right arm was stronger, I served right-handed, but because I had more precision and control in my left hand, I switched the racquet on the follow through from the serve to my left hand and did all my ground strokes left-handed. He, and maybe nobody else, had ever seen anything like it, and it just gave me a little edge so I could win about half the time. It was very handy for basketball too (pun intended), and he couldn't touch me in that game. I seem to recall beating him in chess as well. I miss tennis, but my knees were pretty shot by the time I got out of high school, and probably should not have ever been on a tennis or basketball court.

I played tennis for my high school and was second singles.The first singles player had rich parents who gave him lessons.Me? I learned from all of the old guys at the courts I used to hang out at.Those courts are now where Yankee Stadium stands.

I joined the USTA and instructed,but wasn't more than a good player.My daughter had a boyfriend in college who was nationally rated....I used to bring him to the courts and he'd blow away all of the good players there....he was a lefty with a huge serve and two handed back hand.

He was forced by his dad to go to Spain every summer and play in an academy....Hence,he actually did not like the game...No surprise.I played with him all the time....but.....When my daughter broke up with him(after three years).....I WAS THE ONE WHO CRIED THE MOST!

Ok, sorry about the delay in getting these next photos up. My brother came home from his convention and had the day off so we just relaxed and watched some videos. Next up is the second part of the massive Polgar books, Chess Middlegames.

As you can see, another massive, heavy hardcover volume with 4158 middlegame positions for you to solve.

I opened it to a random page, and as you can see, the format is the same as in CHESS, with 6 diagrams per page. Unlike CHESS, this book has 77 different tactical or positional themes, for example, 168 positions of isolated queen pawn play, 108 hedgehog positions, 168 Sicilian sacrifice positions, etc.

As you can see, the positions are much more involved than in CHESS, which had answers just showing a single move for mate in one's, two for mate in two's, etc. This book really is not for beginners, or even the casual club players. It is for more seasoned veterans that want to delve deeply into these positions.

Also, unlike chess, this book is very, very rare. There are only 2 currently being sold on Amazon by 3rd party sellers, one for $987.77 in "acceptable" condition, which turns out to be an ex-library book with the usual hard use, dirt, bent pages, maybe even written notes, and lots of stickers for scanning at the library. The other book is selling for a whopping $2474.47! and is listed as "new". In my opinion, no out-of-print book almost 30 years old can be considered new. It might be in excellent condition, like mine is, but it is definitely not new. There are also a couple of sellers claiming to have paperback editions, which to my knowledge were never made. Both sellers are from Turkey, so maybe cheap scans of the book, then self-printed perhaps? I personally would not risk it, especially as they want over $500 for them.

So, how to get one? Well, you could be really nice and make friends with an old guy that has one and drop hints for them to leave it to you in their wills. That might work...not likely, but it could haha!

I should mention that I got my copy of this the old-fashioned way. I walked into Powell's Books on 10th and Burnside in downtown Portland and picked one up off a pile of new ones, bought it, and lugged it home. I am pretty sure it was around $35 back then. Who knew chess books could become a retirement plan?

I might as well post for the next book as well. Chess Endgames is slightly thicker than the Chess Middlegames book, though not as thick as the original CHESS. It uses the same format though.

As you can see on the cover, the book is broken down into 171 types of endgame ideas in 4560 positions. Even Dvoretsky doesn't go that far.

Again, 6 diagrams to a page, and they increase in difficulty as you go deeper into the book. If you were to "woodpecker method" these 100 at a time, and spend the time to get proficient at all the positions in this book, your endgame skills would at least reach IM level. And if you have the time, drive, and talent, then Nunn or Dvoretsky might be able to get you the rest of the way to GM.

You can see above that the answers are less dense than those of the middlegame book. This is just the nature of endgames, with less pieces on the board the path to victory becomes clearer.

I got this book when it was first released in 2002. I ordered it online from USCF for $35 and around $6 for shipping. I got it online because Powell's didn't get any. This book, being the last last released (CHESS in 1995 and Chess Middlegames in 1998), seems to be much more common than Middlegames, and therefore can be had for less money. Amazon has used ones from between $200-$300 in varying conditions. One dubious "new" one is on offer for over $500.

That’s cool!