The Greatest Chess Books Ever Written. Question Answered Once And For All

Or maybe nobody cares about your list...

Again ...

Here is the list. These books have been published and republished. They have stood the test of time. Every serious chess player should own these books. 

My System - Aron Nimzowitsch

Pawn Power in Chess - Hans Kmock

Art of Attack in Chess - Vladimir Vuković

Ideas Behind The Chess Openings - Rubin Fine

Winning Chess: How To See Three Moves Ahead - Irving Chernev & Fred Reinfeld

Think Like A Grandmaster - Alexander Kotov

How to Reassess Your Chess - Jeremy Silman

P.S.

Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual - Mark Dvoretsky

Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953 - David Bronstein

Now no one need ever ask this question again. ;-) Right?

Wrong! I'm adding some more.

Chess Fundamentals - José Raúl Capablanca

In a previous discussion, someone reported a passage from Pawn Power in Chess by Kmoch: "The lengthening of the rearspan is often favorable, inasmuch as the expansion of territory behind the pawn increases the freedom of the pieces. By the same token, the shortening of the frontspan limits the freedom of the opposing pieces."
I'm not exactly a big fan of that sort of writing, but there nevertheless seems to be a widespread opinion that the Kmoch book is worthwhile.
"... [Pawn Power in Chess] should be on everyone's list [of favourites]. ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2010)
Another point of view:
"... Hans Kmoch’s Pawn Power in Chess is considered a classic by many. Nonetheless, most people found it daunting and confusing, given its weird terminology. Also the scope of the book was more theoretical than practical; not an easy book to read and study with. ... must be frustrating to read and study from for those rated below 1700. ..." - Stephen Ham (2000)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708110136/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review249.pdf

One can see a sample at:

http://store.doverpublications.com/0486264866.html

Zurich 1953 by Bronstein

http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/review-zurich-1953-bronstein

http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/john-watson-book-review-106-zurich-1953-by-najdorf

http://store.doverpublications.com/0486238008.html

"How to Reassess Your Chess, 4th Edition was designed for players in the 1400 to 2100 range." - IM Jeremy Silman (2010)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708095832/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review769.pdf

https://www.silmanjamespress.com/shop/chess/how-to-reassess-your-chess-4th-edition/

"... before discussing the specifics of Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual [henceforth 'DEM'], a word of warning is in order. I must emphasize that this is a terribly advanced work that I don't think is a very good way for the average player to study the endgame. The majority of the examples are complex and position-specific, and neither the average student nor even strong masters will follow or play over most of the hundreds of positions that are given extensive analysis, not to mention the subvariations derived from those positions. Even when introducing 'the basics', Dvoretsky's approach is often more complex than is necessary for an average student, and in any case such a thick book will seldom be used for the sake of elementary instruction. The majority of the other material is frankly very difficult. So take note: I don't want to be blamed, in praising this book, for your purchasing something that you find intimidating, relatively dull, or otherwise unsatisfying. That said, if you are up to a real challenge and have a great deal of time to devote to reading and playing over examples you will inevitably derive great value from this work. ..." - IM John Watson (2005)

http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/the-end-game-comes-before-we-know-it

http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Dvoretskys-Endgame-Manual-3rd-Edition-78p3502.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708233815/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review399.pdf

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/2703.pdf

"... I think that The Art of Attack in Chess would be ... useful for players from about 1500 to 2200. Beneath 1500, my guess is that getting extremely used to solving tactical problems (from one of those '1001 Combinations' sort of books) would be the appropriate preparation for a later study of Vukovic." - IM John Watson (1999)

http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/assorted-recent-books

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708234424/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/aac.pdf

One can get some idea of the lasting scope of the respect for My System by looking at:
https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-books-ever
Still, it might be noted that My System apparently did not occur to GM Yasser Seirawan as something to include in his list of personal favorites, and Aaron Nimzowitsch was not identified by the GM as a very worthy author.

https://www.chess.com/blog/RoaringPawn/an-open-letter-to-the-four-time-us-chess-champion-gm-yasser-seirawan

https://www.chess.com/blog/GMYAZ/open-letter-response-user-radovics-letter-to-me

My System has accumulated some direct negative commentary over the years.
"... I found [the books of Aaron Nimzowitsch to be] very difficult to read or understand. ... [Nimzowitsch: A Reappraisal by Raymond Keene explains his] thinking and influence on the modern game in a far more lucid and accessible way. ... The books that are most highly thought of are not necessarily the most useful. Go with those that you find to be readable; ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2010)
In 2016, IM pfren wrote:
"My System is an iconoclastic book. A lot of things in there is sheer provocation, and it does need an expereienced player to know what exactly must be taken at its face value.
I love 'My System', and I have read it cover to cover one dozen times, but suggesting it to a class player is an entirely different matter."
Also: "[Some things] ARE wrong, and it's not easy for a non-advanced player to discover those wrong claims.
Nigel Short has claimed that 'My System' should be banned. Stratos Grivas says that the book is very bad. I don't share their opinion, but I am pretty sure that there are more useful reads for class players out there."
Although he is a fan of My System, IM John Watson similarly acknowledged (2013) that:
"... Not everything in it has stood the test of time, ..."
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/john-watson-book-review-108-of-eplus-books-part-2-nimzowitsch-classics
One last point to keep in mind is that, even if My System would eventually help a player, it might not necessarily be helpful to a player now.
"... Just because a book contains lots of information that you don’t know, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be extremely helpful in making you better at this point in your chess development. ..." - Dan Heisman (2001)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626180930/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman06.pdf
For those who have never seen it, a My System sample can be seen at:

https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/MySystem-excerpt.pdf

A Chess Praxis sample can be seen at:

https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/ChessPraxis-excerpt.pdf

Various samples:

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9027.pdf

About half a century ago, I think Ideas Behind the Chess Openings was considered to be nearly essential reading, but now, I fear that its information is seriously out-of-date. Also, I do not think it has much in the way of sample games.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708112658/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review315.pdf

"... 'Chess Fundamentals' ... does not deal so minutely as this book will with the things that beginners need to know. ..." - from Capablanca's A Primer of Chess

"... For let’s make no mistake, what ground Capablanca covers, he covers well. I enjoyed reading Capablanca’s presentation of even well-worn and standard positions. ...

Still, when compared with other instructional books for beginners and intermediate players, Capablanca’s Chess Fundamentals would not be my first choice. Other books cover the same or similar ground with a less confusing structure and more thoroughness. The following works come to mind as equal or in some ways superior: Lasker’s Common Sense in Chess; Znosko-Borovsky’s series of books; and Edward Lasker’s Chess Strategy. Later works that equal or surpass Chess Fundamentals would include Reuben Fine’s Chess the Easy Way and any number of Horowitz tomes.

Capablanca’s work has historical interest and value, of course, and for that reason alone belongs in any chess lover’s library. But there are better instructional books on the market. Certainly the works of Seirawan, Silman, Pandolfini, Polgar, Alburt, etc. are more accessible, speak a more modern idiom, and utilize advances in chess teaching and general pedagogy, etc. ..." - David Kaufman (2007)

https://web.archive.org/web/20131010102057/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review564.pdf

Winning Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld (1948)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093415/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review919.pdf

One can see some discussion of the pros and cons of Chernev's Logical Chess at:
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132019/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman118.pdf
http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/logical-chernev
http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2013/01/logical-chess-book-review.html
http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2013/02/chernevs-errors.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/assorted-recent-books
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708091057/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review465.pdf
Here is a review that was, at one time, available online.

Logical Chess
Move by Move
Author: Irving Chernev
256 pages
Batsford (2002, reprint)

Reviewed by Randy Bauer
Randy's Rating: 9
In the search for understanding in chess, this book has been a beacon for aspiring players for decades, and Batsford's reprint provides an opportunity for another generation to learn from the author. Perhaps the best testament to its greatness is the fact that Grandmaster John Nunn's outstanding book UNDERSTANDING CHESS MOVE BY MOVE (Click to see Donaldson's and Watson's reviews of Nunn's book.) is recognized as patterned after Chernev's work.

For those who didn't grow up in the era of descriptive notation, Irving Chernev wrote books that mostly appealed to the mainstream player. One of the first books I owned, Chernev's THE FIRESIDE BOOK OF CHESS guided me through the many facets of chess during my formative years. Even though he wrote many other good books (for example, every aspiring player should also own THE MOST INSTRUCTIVE GAMES OF CHESS EVER PLAYED), this is widely recognized as his best.

In this book, Chernev annotates 33 games and comments on each move for both players. His goal is to explain what each player was thinking while making his move. In this way, the reader gets an insight into the rationale behind the moves of and the thought processes of a master player. The author splits the games into three chapters, dealing with kingside attacks (16 games), queen's pawn openings (7 games), and other concepts (10 games). Given the book's original 1957 copyright, it is not surprising that the earliest game is from 1889 and the latest was played in 1952.

The author does a great job of connecting with the reader - one feels that they really are inside the head of the players and that Chernev is explaining what they were thinking while deciding upon their moves. As a result, the games are absorbing and the lessons learned (at least in my case) tend to stick with the player.

I first came across this book at an early stage in my chess career, and I believe that it helped form my understanding of what chess mastery is all about. In fact, one of the games, Blackburne-Blanchard, probably gained me 100 rating points in my class days. I used the structure and natural kingside attack from that game in many, many of my own encounters.

While not a world-class player, Chernev was a prolific writer, and that combination serves the reader well in this book. The author can better relate to the reader and provide them the sort of insight that may be lost on stronger players.

While this is a great book, there are some areas where it is showing its age (having first been issued nearly a half century ago). It is notable, for example, that by far the most popular opening represented is the Queen's Gambit Declined; by contrast, today's favorite Sicilian Defense is found in just one game. There is just one Queen's Indian and one Nimzo-Indian included; there are no games featuring the popular King's Indian, Grunfeld, or Benoni Defenses. The players you will encounter are Capablanca, Tarrasch, and Rubinstein rather than Karpov, Kasparov, and Kramnik.

I had a few quibbles not related to the age of the book as well. I found the print in this reprint to be a little light for my taste, and the diagrams a bit too small. Finally, why oh why are the Chapter headers for each game the site where the game was played rather than the players? "Lodz 1908" doesn't really tell me as much as "Rubinstein-Salwe."

Regardless of these types of issues, this is a very good book. Perhaps it isn't as timeless as it once appeared to me, but it should prove useful to any aspiring player wanting to better understand how to develop logical plans, moves, and thought processes in chess.

I don't think that's a valid criticism. A book that offers "something new" might offer something of immense value found nowhere else - or it might offer worthless nonsense. Quite a bit is already known about how to play chess.

Adding some details to the theory of a particular opening; explaining more clearly an overlooked aspect of chess tactics or strategy; these are valid enough endeavors. Yes, the world may already have enough introductory guides to beginners on how to play chess - and, in fact, those that Fred Reinfeld wrote may already have been all we needed.

But books that purport to present earth-shattering new theories of chess, 99% of which are flat out wrong... are, at least most of the time, less useful than anything Fred Reinfeld ever wrote.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5856bd64ff7c50433c3803db/t/5895fe49893fc0b0c9ddde67/1486224972320/completechesscoursexcerpt.pdf

kindaspongey : I hope you would make a list of

all these books,  including books suggested by others so it will be available to those who are new. 

As I tried to make a point in my own thread and it has been mentioned by others,  it is important to also see books through the skills they teach. As also Lyudmil_Tsvetkov has tried to make that same

point of seeing books through skills they try to teach, others come up with points which can be beneficial since chess is becoming a scientific study that can be taught. So SKILL is the key word here. 

"... Just because a book contains lots of information that you don’t know, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be extremely helpful in making you better at this point in your chess development. ..." - Dan Heisman (2001)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140626180930/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman06.pdf

"... The books that are most highly thought of are not necessarily the most useful. Go with those that you find to be readable. ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2010)

"... If it’s instruction, you look for an author that addresses players at your level (buying something that’s too advanced won’t help you at all). This means that a classic book that is revered by many people might not be useful for you. ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (2015)

https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-books-ever

"... [annotated games are] infinitely more useful than bare game scores. However, annotated games vary widely in quality. Some are excellent study material. Others are poor. But the most numerous fall into a third category - good-but-wrong-for-you. ... You want games with annotations that answer the questions that baffle you the most. ..." - GM Andrew Soltis (2010)

DeidreSkye is a troll, or he has a serious psychological problem.

As some of you noted already, he loves to tell people that they are ignorants, stupid and lazy. His  obvious intention of course is to convince people that he knows a lot about chess, that he is hard working and smart.

He will certainly answer to my post telling that this is not true, that he doesn't not much about chess, but this makes no difference, as  his intention is clear: he is the best creature in the whole universe.

kindaspongey: you are putting a lot of effort,

and doing great work.  Keep it  up!