"Pawn Power" by Kmoch
"Basic Chess Endings" by Fine
"Chess Fundamentals" by Capablanca
when it's Chess - one book is not enough
What Should Be The First Chess Book I Buy?
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If you want pure openings get Modern Chess Openings 14th Edition by Nick de Firmian. Over 700 pages of just openings.
first book - depends who's asking! If asker doesnt know the rules of chess, i present them wth late Bobby Fischer's "bobby fischer teaches chess". Starting from zero, without need of chessboard, and with NO notation, it is about as far as one can get. [ though there is tad too much stress on backrankers; and in a combination [against Sherwin] game towards the end of the book opps move is mentioned as forced, implying the orig. pos. was a win for fisher, whereas in fact fischer knew very well that sherwin blundered - P-R3 was the unique move that would draw the game. [P-R4 wouldnt work]
[I have 20 old copies left - copies for which Fischer got royalties. not the edition where 'bobby fisher teaches chess' is a registered trademark of satan & Shyster.]
MCO-14 is very good - the introductions cover and update almost all the material and correct all the mistakes in Fine's 'ideas behind the chess openings' - [only 50% Fine's fault/eccentricities - eg Fine dismisses the latvian gambit as a blunder in one short paragraph! - but eg najdorf hadnt come up with the sicilian najdorf then!]
If an advanced beginner (in US terminology, class C-to-A expert - i'd be class C++) asks;
Pawn Structure chess by Andrew Soltis.
BCE by Fine is excellent. It has a bonus unmentioned exercise also: [if it were an interactive program that would be called an easter egg :) ]
Find and correct all the mistakes in the book. You may use the first part of Speelman's Analysing the Endgame for hints.
for middling-to-advanced beginner:
Eugene Znosko-borovsky's 'art of combination' and 'middlegame' books.
for everyone:
Modern Ideas in Chess by Richard Reti - both 1st ed. and 3rd ed.
1001 checkmates by Fred Reinfield
1001 combinations by fred reinfield
5333+1 positions Polgar
Yes definitely 5333+1 positions by polgar; reinfield's books also.
To get into the chess spirit, how about :
the fireside book of chess - chernev and Reinfied
303 Tricky Checkmates ;D
I agre completely with Mainstreet about "Bobby Fisher teaching chess ": very good stuff, and not only for the beginner; good exercices in it !
Friendly greetings,
Herman
Jul 7, 2008
0
#34
I am enjoying hearing all your responses! I have recently been informed by others also that it is not right to start with openings. Keep the recommendations coming 
I have been recommended
Silmans Complete Endgame Course
What do people think of this book? I hear I must read to chapter 5 then wait till I have perfected the beginning of the book to move on.
If you want a very basic opening book, you can download it for free here:
http://chesskids.com/grownups/openings.pdf
chess tactics for students, ebay about five us dollars
you could buy "The art or combination" by M.V.Blokh
As you can tell from earlier responses, a consensus about which book should be first is not easy to come by. I am going to recommend some old titles to look for in your used book store. I asure you they are all wonderful books and I could never decide which of them should be the first book.
Books that go over complete games that are just as good as Logical Chess Move by Move are: Chess Master vs Chess Amateur and The Road to Chess Mastery, both co-authored by Euwe and Meiden (I have heard that the losing "amateur" in one of the games was Euwe). Also A New Approach to Chess Mastery and Chess Mastery by Question and Answer, by Reinfeld.
I concur with an earlier poster who recommended Znosko-Borovsky titles.
Two wonderful books for beginners are Winning Chess, How to See Three Moves Ahead by Chernev and Reinfeld, and An Invitation to Chess by Chernev and Harkness. Chernev's love of the game shines through.
Also any title at all by Edward Lasker is excellent.
I do not know which of these are still in print, but they are marvolous steals if you can find them used.
Finally, I wish to mention that becoming a premium member here allows you to access thousands of tactical excercises which you can customize to any selected range of rated difficulty.
i dont agree that Silman's book is too advanced for you, and its a great must read for almost any player. But, its not really an opening book.
One of my favorites(meaning one i read more than 4 pages in) is Pawn Structure Chess by Andrew Soltis. Rather than focus on hitting all the opening a few moves in, or a few openings extensively, this book divides different openings into families based on pawn structure, and gives you good idea how to play accordingly.
If you are looking for a book on opening traps and tactics, I unfortunately cannot help you.
Before committing to asking you library to get a book for you, find out what it will cost. At our small local library they charge more to get a book sent in that I could Borrow than it would cost me to Buy a used copy over the internet.
A big city library should have a wide selection of chess books however. If you have to travel to a city to find the book you're better off checking out a used book store than the library.
Your libraries charge you for getting a book from another library. Hmm, guess we're lucky over here, only have to cough up the doe rae me, for late fees. Therefore, the library costs me a small fortune :)