Book for beginners

Has anybody read "Attacking Chess" by Josh Waitzkin? I was thinking about getting it. Is it a good one for beginners, or is it more suitable for intermediate players.

Glanced at it in a bookstore a whiles back. I wouldn't call it an absolute "beginner" book ... if the intended reader has not yet grasped basic mating patterns or elementary single-motif tactics, I might suggest holding off on this book and buying something more rudimentary like John bain's chess tactics book.

I like Nunn's, "Learn Chess Tactics."   It has excellent explanation and a small number of exercises. Interestingly, One of my favorite authors Dan Heisman also recommends Bain's books.  Bain's book is a good beginner exercise resource.

Heisman has an excellent site with book recommendations.  http://home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Events_Books/General_Book_Guide.htm  (his new tactics book is also good as are all of his books and articles)  Heisman is probably one of the best instructors in the US.

If you want a real game changer get his "The Improving Chess Thinker"  It is simple.  Unfortunately it's not easy.  It is the first step to being a good player in my opinion.   I haven't mastered it, that's for sure.

The Improving Chess Thinker IMHO is a Part II of DeGroot's "Thought and Choice in Chess". Dan does a fantastic job injecting in all of his wisdom throughout the book but it really does not make for a beginner book by any means. 

really starting out. stay away from being a book collector. OR the next best book.

You really only need a cpl of books to start with, stay for the most part away from opening books all together until you are 1200-1400.

Get Wolff's Complete idiots guide to chess(I think thats the title) If you are a complete noob. After you have studied that book and been playing here or some other sites.

Then get a good basic tactics book like Back to basics from Heisman. Also get a good endgame book like Silmans Complete endgame course.

Spend most of your time on tactics. With a bit of endgame study thrown in.

Work alot on playing games here or other places at a slow pace. Work on your move habits. What does his move do?Does it give a check,threat or attack? Look to see if you can defend that problem. Then look at whats your best moves. Any checks ,threats or attacks you can do? Look for a cpl of good moves, then look to see what happens when you do that move. What is his responce. Has your move made your position weaker? Look back to make sure what you saw of his move has not gotten stronger do to your move.

After your games go back over them and look for any missed tactics or mates and the like. After you have looked over it, have your coach, or your chess computer look over it and tell you what went wrong and right during the game.

Now take this with a grain of salt since I am just returning to chess after a 15 year lay off.

My plan has become as simple as possible so I dont go crazy buying tons of books.

1-study tactics as much as possible. I am studying Tactics back to basics by Hiesman. Also here and at another site, I am doing tactics. I try to do an hr a day. sometimes alot more tho. A good tactics site is nice because I can plop down and do a set of 5 or 10 problems at anytime. Plus I keep the book with me at work so during breaks I can work on puzzles.

2-twice a week I sit down with the endgame course and go back over what it up to my level. My USCF rating is 946 from 15 years ago so I study up to that point in the book.

3- I play here in cc chess and study my games after words to figure out what i did wrong, which is alot at my level!

4-I play at a local chess club once a week, to get that OTB time in before I take on a real tourney.

5-once or twice a week i pull up games played by 2000+ players of the openings I play. I only have the first 5 moves down of each opening I play. I am keeping it as basic as possible. I play through the games to see ideas that pop up in the opening. but not trying to memorise tons of lines, just ideas.

so 90% of my time is on tactics 5% on endgame, and 5% on opening study.

I think Shivsky is right that it is not for a total beginner.  You need to be able to evaluate a position with a little skill to get something out of it.  If you don't understand the rules and at least basic tactical motifs you will get little out of it.

You coguld read the second chapter on the thinking process and hold off on doing the deGroot  exercises.  Chess Cafe has the articles Heisman based his books on.  I have to say, I think they are a real key to elevating your level of play.

Of note is that the book provides examples of players thought level.  The lowest level included is Class F which is below 1000 USCF.

This should definitely not be your very first chess book but I think you can start developing some good habits early by considering it.