Book Recommendations

[Steve_Toyne]

This is a follow up to a thread we had on the old forum. basically, just post the title of any chess books you wish to recommend and please write a little review as to why it is so good, as apposed to just writing the title.

[Steve_Toyne]

This is a follow up to a thread we had on the old forum. basically, just post the title of any chess books you wish to recommend and please write a little review as to why it is so good, as apposed to just writing the title.

[darthmix]

Well, I recently picked up a cheap little paperback titled "Better Chess for Average Players," by Tim Harding. I'd say it's good for players 1500 and under like myself. He assumes you know the rules of chess, but nothing else, so the first chapter is a run-down of basic tactics (forks, skewers, and the like.) The rest of the book is dedicated to just learning how to read the board and assess your position. There's a chapter on knowing when to attack, how to play for a draw when you're behind, etc.

All the games in the book are from tournamant play, but they're not all master-level, so learners will be able to understand the logic behind every move(or lack thereof if it's a blunder). But what I really like about it is the author writes a LOT of explanation/analysis. I just can't get engaged with chess book that's nothing but lines for pages and pages. Here there's plenty of prose to accompany the games, so you always feel like the author is right there with you. And there are enough diagrams that you can follow along without having to set up your board or type the moves into Chessmaster.

The author pays a lot of attention to the player's mental processes, which is great. He breaks down a step-by-step analysis you can go through when you're considering a risky move. He explores the psychology behind draw offers. He discusses the subtler rules of tournament play.

I dunno, I don't really go for chess books, but I found this one pretty helpful. It was well worth the six dollars I paid for it at my local hobby store.

But still, I've never found any book that helped me as much as the classroom tutorials in Chessmaster. Does anyone know of any other good "chess course on a disc" - type programs like that?

[Steve_Toyne]

http://uscfsales.com/images%2Fproducts%2Fchesscafe%5F1781%5F11936447%2E gif

The Amateur's Mind by Jeremy Silman. I really like this book, there is so much valuable information within it and the way it is presented is great.

The main idea is to show Silman's thinking technique of recognising the imbalances that occur on the board and using them to create plans to crus your enemy.

The unique aspect of the book is when, after talking about a certain imbalance, he shows a game and how a player won, using that imbalance.

He then plays from the same position against one of his students. The students comments what he is thinking for each move and Silman records them in his book. He also says how good they are or (more often) cuts them down when they make a terrible mistake. Sometimes he will have several students attempt to win the game, each having different thoughts and making the same mistakes that any amateur may play.

Although alot of his remarks may be seen as insulting, I found them funny and the information passed on far outweighs this.

Buy this book, study it hard and your game will improve dramatically.

[Fischer-The-2nd]

http://www.chess.it/libri/4950.jpg

Leko's one hundred wins by Sergei Soloviov.

A book I read not too long ago and I thought it was worth putting up in here since I'm already reading it again (a good sign) http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
The book features one hundred games by GM Peter Leko. Peter Leko didn't directly contribute to the book himself, though alot of other GM's did including Khalifman and Sakaev for instance. The book itself isn't very original in the way it's written. It takes a game, analyses it, draws a conclusion and moves on to the next one.
The good part is the analyses, they're deep, very deep actually.
Apart from the games the book contains some photos, a bio and some statistics about him. Not very improtant but nice if you just wanna go through a few pages on the toilet http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif

If you love Peter Leko's chessstyle and play this book is a must buy. After all it's also the first book written about him (and about time too) http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

__________________________________________________ ____________________________________
Fischer-The-2nd

Chess is 99 percent tactics. - Teichmann

Chess is really 99 percent calculation. - Soltis.

Modern chess is too much concerned with things like
pawn structure. Forget it - checkmate ends the game. - Short

[Netgearz22]

Hmm...I have about 12 chess books I think. Really I bought a lot of them when I wasn't ready for them, and may still not be in the case of some.

IM Silman has a number of good books. The aforementioned "The Amatuer's Mind" is a good read, but I would say it's made for players 1500+. His "Reassess Your Chess" is good for all levels, though beginners might be a little overwhelmed by it, but many players swear by it as a basic "how-to" manual for chess that they re-read constantly.

Paul Renfield has two books that are just filled with puzzles. One is 1001 Sacrifices and Mates and the other is 1001 Combinations. Both are great and cheap, but unfortunately they use old notation. http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif

Yasser Seiriwan has a series called Winning Chess, I've only read Winning Chess Strategies and Winning Chess Tactics, but they were both good and a nice intro into the Silman books as far as skill level is concerned.

Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess is a very cheap paperback that is good for beginning players.

I guess as a closing I would say stay away from gimmicky books. Don't buy anything like, "How to Trick your Opponent" or "Ways to Win at Chess". Just go to amazon or Barnes and Noble's websites and look up the most popular chess books and reviews and you should find good books that are well suited for you. http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/images/smiley/16x16_smiley-happy.gif

[Steve_Toyne]

Good beginners guide to openings are made by Everyman Chess. Their 'starting out' series covers the main openings and is a good introduction to each opening, discussing main lines and the ideas behind them, using sample games, tips and words of caution.

[E.Thang]

If I could recommend only one book, it would be IM Silman's 'How To Reasses Your Chess' 3rd Edition. This book covers everything in a way that is easy to understand. It covers his ideas on imbalances in more detail than 'The Amatuers Mind' Silman is easily one of the best chess writers out there today. This book will benefit anyone from 1000 up to Class A.
Take one or two chapters a day, sit down and go over the examples in the book on your board. And you will definatly see an improvement in your play. This is a book to reread every 6 months to a year.

[Cantopani]

I can suggest "Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953" by David Bronstein. This is considered by many the best book of ever about chess.
It contains 210 games, fully explained by Bronstein, of these chess players some of you should know... Yuri Averbakh, Isaac Boleslavskij, David Bronstein, Max Euwe, Efim Geller, Svetozar Gligoric, Paul Keres, Aleksand Kotov, Miguel Najdorf, Tigran Petrosjan, Samuel Reshevsky, Vasilij Smyslov, Gideon Sthalberg, Laszlo Szabo and Mark Tajmanov over a 30 rounds competition.
A way to explain it's beauty is inside Dorfman's words "I know every position described in the Zurich53", this is a book for all levels even if some ideas could appear obscure to players not at mastery level.