Karsten Mueller endgame DVDs
Some opening books
What Chess Books Are Worth Buying
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One of the best books I ever read was Silman's How to Reassess Your Chess. It helped me improve my game quite a bit. I started reading it when I was about 1500 USCF. There are a lot of mixed reviews on this book, but my opinion is that you can get out of it what you're willing to put into it. I'm not sure how much of his ideas are already present in "Amateur's Mind".
Haha,I knew I spelled amateur wrong. I stupidly even googled the word to check, only to get a bunch of inappropriate sites. >_<
Yeah, the title would make it sound similar to the Amateur's Mind.
In it, he focuses on imbalances (knight/bishop, space, initiative, etc.) and how to capitalize on those and win games.
As far as endgame books, Pandolfini's Endgame Course and Seirawan's Winning Chess Endings are both very good first endgame books.
Pandolfini presents one simple / theoretical position per page... perfect if you only plan to spend 5-10 minutes per study session on endings. Seirawan tends to use more complex (and practical!) positions but explains them well... you might need about 30 minutes per study session. Both are very accessible.
I would avoid Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual, Fundamental Chess Endings, Practical Endgame Play, Starting Out: Rook Endings, and A Practical Guide to Rook Endings for now. They're all good books but they assume they're not your first book. I've heard good things about the Mueller DVDs but you won't find them in your bookstore.
I think you are right to buy endgame books before opening books.
A excellent beginning endgame book that can also be useful to advanced players is Silman's Complete Endgame Course (2007).
I was interested in the same topic a while back and started this post. I'm sure you'll find some good suggestions. Here's the link.
http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/best-chess-books
Good luck.
Well, I ended up buying Winning Chess Endgames by Yasser Seirawan.
They didn't have Pandolfini's, and Dvoretsky's book as it seemed rather unfriendly to the novice endgame-player.
I'll keep you all posted on how my study goes 
Well, I ended up buying Winning Chess Endgames by Yasser Seirawan.
Awesome... I hope you enjoy it! Be sure to share with us any interesting positions you encounter as you'e reading.
I heard someone say "the endgame is the easiest to master, hardest to learn" or was that the other way around?
I've heard that Eric Schiller's "Standard Chess Openings, 2nd Edition" was worth picking up.
No books are worth buying, get them at the library through interlibrary loan
Last time I checked my school (or public for that matter) didn't have great chess books.
And I'm enjoying creating a collection of chess books.
I feel that some chess books are worth buying for content alone,
not mentioning that it helps keep high level chess players (people whose games I review) in business.
Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953 by Bronstein and Pawn Structure Chess by Soltis are excellent books. Maybe you could give them a try. :)
Sprite wrote:
I'm so excited for this thread. Later today, I will be hitting up the local bookstore to get two or three chess books!
As of now I have (chess play related, not historical)
Logical Chess Move by Move (almost done with it)
Sharpen Your tactics (1/3 way through, but only do 1-2 at a time)
The Amature's Mind (neat book by IM Silman on incorrect thought processes of novices over a board)
I was wondering what other books would be beneficial to my improvement as a chess player. I'm particularly interested in getting an endgame book which I could go through and improve my endgames (which, like all novices, are awful). I'm not considering opening books, as many of them go into the theory way deeper than I need at this time.
Any feedback/recommendations would be great!
My one fear is that I will buy an endgame book that is geared towards players of a higher rating than me.
So, hum...The most important is to progress in playing the pawns!!!!
you'd really should read from the French Master Emmaneul Danican Philidor of 18th cie. If you don't mind, i can help you.
clopinet( from France)
I'd love any help I could get to improve. I feel like that's one large flaw in my game. I never see to move my pawns, unless it is to remove minor pieces from their squares. I'm working on taking away support points and the like for knights.
My System is an advanced book by Aron Nimzowitsch it is always good to have.
The Ultimate Chess Puzzle Book by John Emms
I like the series from Yasser Seirawan.
I'm so excited for this thread. Later today, I will be hitting up the local bookstore to get two or three chess books!
As of now I have (chess play related, not historical)
Logical Chess Move by Move (almost done with it)
Sharpen Your tactics (1/3 way through, but only do 1-2 at a time)
The Amature's Mind (neat book by IM Silman on incorrect thought processes of novices over a board)
I was wondering what other books would be beneficial to my improvement as a chess player. I'm particularly interested in getting an endgame book which I could go through and improve my endgames (which, like all novices, are awful). I'm not considering opening books, as many of them go into the theory way deeper than I need at this time.
Any feedback/recommendations would be great!
My one fear is that I will buy an endgame book that is geared towards players of a higher rating than me.