Think Like a Grandmaster, I really like the writing style and it covers planning, calculation, positional imbalances, and goes over endings too.
How to Defend in Chess is a favorite of mine because it covers whole games of Lasker and Petrosian, and annotated game collections of theirs are hard to come by. Heisman's Improving Chess Thinker is also a great read.
Otherwise it's hard to pick a definitive favorite.
"How to defend in Chess" That seems interesting, with the Lasker games and all... Thx for the tip!
For a while after I read the Life and Games of Tal, I was the kind of guy who would play an unsound sacrifice, just to seek complications and give myself a chance to outplay my opponent, and I would lose that way.
But since then, having read and digested the excellent How Karpov Wins, I now see myself as the kind of guy who plays slow, thoughtful moves that restrict my opponent's counterplay while incrementally improving my own position. So now I lose via strategic blunders instead, which I think is a big move in the right direction.
Which are your favorite Chess books? Or books that have just influenced you the most?