Good book for learning chess

Hello all,

Three days ago, I tried chess for the first time and since then I have been hooked. You see I used to play poker online for my hobby but now that the Department of Justice has shut down the major poker sites i am looking for a new hobby. So far I have done pretty terrible at chess but one of my friends suggested I get the book Learn Chess by John Nunn. I have read the reviews on amazon and barnes and nobels and everyone seems pretty happy with the book infact it has recieved all five stars for rating. So my question is what is a good first chess book. Is Learning Chess your favorite or do you suggest another one?

There are more books written on chess than any other sport, there are thousands upon thousands of chess books telling you to pick one because it is the best is beyond impossible-but for what its worth John Nunn makes good books but for a begginer I would firmly suggest any chess book by Jeremy Silman, the man is brilliant at explaining stuff in a way most people can understand.

Did Silman ever actually write a book for real beginners?

Because if you've only been playing chess for a week, your best bet is something that teaches you how the pieces move, and maybe some basic opening principles first.

 And then just play a lot!

My system-Aron Nimzowitsch ...It's probably the chess bible 

Again, if you have only played chess for three days, books like Amateur's Mind and My System are just a tad too complicated, don't you think?

Well ok, probably, but if you know the basics why wouldn't you start with a bit more complicated stuff? But ok if you are a beginner this would probably be the way to go: http://www.amazon.com/Chess-Fundamentals-Revised-Jose-Capablanca/dp/0812936817

• I strongly recommend "Learn Chess--A Complete Course" by Alexander & Beach. Read the reviews at amazon.com. You will not be disapointed.

Start with NM Dan Heisman's Novice Nook #1 article and work your way up. (google for them ... they're available for free on chesscafe.com)

I don't know Mr. Nun's book from personal experience, so I can't comment.  I often recommend "Winning Chess" by Yasser Seriwan as a good novice book.  As a second book I really like "Logical Chess Move by Move" by Chernev.  Its an older book, but it takes master games and goes over them, with commentary and explanation on every move of every game.  I agree that all serious or even semi-serious players should read Nimzowitch at some point, but certainly not as an introduction.

For a beginner, i would go with Capa's "Chess Fundementals" and a little known book Emanuel Lasker's "How to Play Chess". It's a slim book but I have found it useful.    

Chess Openings for Dummies by James Eade might be good for you. It's very fundamental and explains chess simply but in great detail. I gave a copy to my Grandson and he is using it daily. Good luck to you in your chess life.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Chess

One of the best beginner books. Don't get fooled by the title, it really is an excellent book AND is thought of highly by respected coaches. 

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Chess/dp/0028617363

(just don't buy the e-book !!!)

Regarding the above suggestions:

Learn Chess--A Complete Course: looks very solid. I have not read this, but what i can find on the internet is promising

Chess fundamentals: Not a real beginner book.

 Sofademon gave some good books (Winning chess & Logical Chess move by move), which belong too the most recommanded books for beginners/intermediate. I have not read the first but did read the second: I would advice to first read a real beginner book which learns you about chess notation and other basic stuff. If you want after your first book another one, i can strongly recommand one of these!  I also strongly agree with Sofademon that Nimzowitch needs to be avoided in the beginning. 

Novice Nook: a great set of articles! But still to advanced for a beginner, however after you have read your first basic book you should start to worship them. You can find them here:http://danheisman.home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Articles/Novice_Nook_Links.htm

I started with the Yasser Seriwan books and really enjoyed them.

I agree, of all of the Idiot's guides that are out theere, the chess one is quite good

Dan Heisman's Novice Nook articles are also available as a recently published book: http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Chess-Improvement-Best-Novice/dp/1857446496/

It includes updates to some of the essays, and it nicely organizes them into chapters by topic. There are also some additional topics in the book that weren't covered in the Novice Nook, so I think it's definitely worth getting the book.

That is my single favorite chess book, and I can't praise it highly enough. You can find links to the Novice Nook articles at Heisman's site: http://home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Articles/Novice_Nook_Links.htm#subjectorder

I found a chess book on the ground by the dumpster the other day. It's so old, it's got this statement in it. "With a palace to hold the wiring, and a century to play the game, an electronic computer would be able to beat the world chess champion."

+1

They have excellent advice I wish I had when I was starting out.  For beginners you can't possibly choose an article of his and not find very valuable information.

• I have another book, probably the best of all: Reuben Fine's "Chess the Easy Way". However most of the younger players will reject it simply because it is in descriptive notation. This is one of the three best primers ever written. The other two are Tarrasch's "The Game Of Chess" and Emanual Lasker's "Manual of Chess". The most recent is Fine's book written about 1944. Sixty years old and still nothing better has come along.

I have that book Ruben Fines "Chess the Easy Way" and I find descriptive notation very difficult and hard to follow....I'm taking the book slowly so that I don't get frustrated....ty for the info.