what chess book most revolutionized your understanding of chess?
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I recall Soltis' The Art of Defense in Chess as being remarkable.
I got a lot of nice ideas from "The Search for Chess Perection II"
this isnt really a book but a book but is a computer program entitled The Art of Learning Chessmaster: Grandmaster edition. It has a very organic approach to chess which takes into account things like your playing style. At least 3 grandmasters participated in the development of the program.
Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess.
New Ideas In Chess by Larry Evans.
May 3, 2008
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#7
A little red book on positional play by Purdy. Worth a few hundred rating points! :)
May 5, 2008
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#8
My System by Nimzowitch was also very influential for me. When I read it I was still a noob so the tactical elements really were what impressed me. Definitely taught me the value of a pawn on e5 in the attack on the castled king.
I also think the Jeremy Silman's books changed the way that I think about the game. His presentation of "imbalances" helped me think more strategically and wholistically.
May 5, 2008
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#9
The most influential book was "Winning Chess" by Chernev & Reinfeld copyright 1948 but I read it around 1975. It taught things like the pin, skewer, knight-fork, removing the guard, etc. I still have the book, but it is falling apart at the binding. A couple of years ago I read "Pawn Power in Chess" by Kmoch. It is the most interesting chess book I have. It changed the way I think about pawns.
"The Mammoth Book of Chess" by Graham Burgess
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Mine was Chess The Easy Way by Reuben Fine, I think. It was the first time I had seen the ten principles for the three stages of the game actually listed. I have not played much in the last thirty years; but I am getting back into it. I must dig that book out one of these days. I know it is here somewhere.
Knight64 wrote: Mine was Chess The Easy Way by Reuben Fine, I think. It was the first time I had seen the ten principles for the three stages of the game actually listed. I have not played much in the last thirty years; but I am getting back into it. I must dig that book out one of these days. I know it is here somewhere.
What are the 10 principles?
Attacking Chess - Josh Waitzkin
Marshal_Dillon wrote: Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess.
Yes, that book--Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess! Advanced players might laugh at this but that book showed me the direction to take as a child. I had an easy time reading it even as a child then (in the 70s).
Chess for Dummies is the first and only real book I've read about chess the whole way through. The book was pretty basic with some high rated games annotated in it and some more advanced stuff. Then it was chess engines on the computer like Chessmaster 9000 that got me to most of what I am today
May 5, 2008
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#16
The Right Way to Play Chess by Pritchard. I read it when I was about 15. 35 years later it is still the only chess book I have read all they way through.
Josh Waitzkin's academy section in chessmaster 10th edition.
One day as I was browsing through my favorite bookstore in San Jose, Costa Rica I happened upon "Winning Chess Tactics" by Yasser Seirawan. It had been misplaced in the computer section (probably because it was published by Microsoft Press). I didn't buy the book--it was too expensive--but I spent an hour or so learning about powerful tricks like forks and skewers. Unlike ideas from my library's dusty old opening books, these ideas actually worked when I tried them out in games. Before that, I hadn't even realized there were modern books being written about chess.
Marshal_Dillon wrote: Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess.
I agree. This book is excellent for beginners. It will noticeably improve your play. It's a must have for a Chess library. Now I just have to find a book for the next level.
The Complete Chess Player by Fred Reinfeld... that was the first book I have read and the only book that I knew that explains certain concepts and moves by moves. Before then I only came across books that explains move after the opening usually 9-12 moves in the game. After studying the whole summer, I was finally able to beat my dad who I was trying to beat for 10 years...that when I switch to queen pawns opening...However with the combination of Weapons of Chess---Bruce Pandolfine and Chessmaster 8000, Winning Chess Tactics---Yasser seirawan then The Ameteur's Mind---Jeremy Silman kinda had help me the most.
i am a person who has known how to play chess since i was a little kid .. but only played maybe once a year .. about a month ago i read the simon and shuster pocket book of chess .. which taught me all the basics of strategy .. and now i am reading .. logical chess move by move .. which is giving me new eyes with each game !!
i was curious what book personally revolutionized your chess play ?