Good chess books for beginners and beyond

Good Chess Books for Beginners and Beyond

The book list has been moved to my chess.com blog here....

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/good-chess-books-for-beginners-and-beyond

Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf

Thanks, this looks like a great list! I'm really new to chess tactics, so I've bookmarked this page for future reference as I try to get better. My only reference so far has been Pandolfini's "Ultimate Guide to Chess" which I noticed isn't on this list. For me, it's been a great introduction into how to think like a chess player instead of just hoping the opponent is dumber than me. 

Thanks @maawolfe36.  I acquired a copy of Pandolfini's "The Ultimate Guide to Chess".  I agree it is a very instructive introduction to chess for the beginner - novice player.  I have added it to my list.

Bobby Fischers book is a must read! For a nice collection of puzzles and miniatures, check out Polgars "Chess". Fantastic collection. Thanks for the list!!

Great list! Thanks for taking the time to post this.

Wow Russ, that's a good list that you spent quite a bit of energy typing up! 

I'm familiar with almost all of the books you mentioned. There are of course other books that could be added, but your list is excellent!

Thank you SmyslovFan!  Glad you like the list.  Yes, I spent much too much time creating this list.  My hope is that other, especially beginning, chessplayers will find it useful.  And help them to improve their chess!

Thanks mate! I found a copy of "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess" at a local used bookstore yesterday and bought it on your recommendation. It looks like it will be a great guide to help me get started. I'm also using an app on my phone to memorize some of the basic endgames (king and rook vs lone king, etc) and I've played a bit with my fiance, so I got her to download the chess.com app so we can play online :) Unfortunately, I don't have many friends who play chess so I'm mostly limited to online games or chess engines, hopefully I'll find a chess club near me soon. Anyway, thanks again for the recommendation, you're a hero!

maawolfe36 - Very good.   You should be able to finish the Bobby Fischer book very quickly.   As for endgame - for the novice, I recommend the two endgame books in the list by Bruce Pandolfini - "Pandolfini's Endgame Course" (be sure to download the errata sheet using the link provided in the list) and "Endgame Workshop".   Try to go through as much of those two books as you can, before moving on to other endgame books.  For example, one endgame concept/technique you should learn like the back of your hand is "Opposition".  This is an essential endgame concept.  Both Pandolfini books deal with this but the "Workshop" book has a very thorough treatment of the topic.  In general Pandolfini has written some very good chess books targeted primarily to the novice audience.  My list cites several of his books. I consider his "Weapons of Chess" to be a must-read-first-book introdution to positional concepts.  Finally, you can frequently find some good prices on used books on Amazon.  Good luck!

http://www.amazon.com/Pandolfinis-Endgame-Course-Concepts-Explained/dp/0671656880/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1444915336&sr=1-1&keywords=pandolfini+endgame+course

http://www.glennwilson.com/chess/books/pec_errata.html#end37

http://www.amazon.com/Endgame-Workshop-Principles-Practical-Pandolfini/dp/1888690534/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1444915421&sr=1-1&keywords=pandolfini+endgame+workshop

http://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Chess-Omnibus-Strategies-Fireside/dp/0671659723/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1444915528&sr=1-1&keywords=weapons+of+chess

For the novice I also highly recommend "Discovering Chess Openings..." by John Emms, for learning opening PRINCIPLES.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1857444191?keywords=discovering%20chess%20openings&qid=1444915192&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1

I recommend Chess Strategy for Kids by Coakley.

"Winning Chess Strategy for Kids" by Jeff Coakley.

This is an outstanding introductory chess course.  And not just for kids! It gets good reviews on Amazon.  I have added it to my list.  Thank you!

Chess primers, and the traditional way of how we start teaching/learning, are the weakest link of chess education. As a chain is no stronger than its weakest link, we end up with around 1,000 experts players (2,000+ rating) in the US, a 350 million population (a horrible achievment rate, no better anywhere else in the world).

So what is the problem? Amazingly, it is "the moves" first, which, according to Nimzovich (1929) is a "fundamentally flawed" way of teaching an absolute beginner. Yet, as we all know, every single schess primer starts with "the moves!"

What's wrong with that approach? Well, if chess is a war game, than we should start teaching with firing POWER pieces possess. Like in any other conflict situation with power agents in space and time, it is all about how warring sides USE and EXCHANGE power. The moves just come from (1) what you plan to do (=purpose), and this comes from (2) understanding the situation of interrelated agents (=spatial/functional relationships).

By teaching with (1) and (2) entirely out of the picture, there comes no MEANING and COMPREHENSION. Without these two ingredients there is no value and no progress in any domain of human endeavor. That is how any interest and enjoyment vanish quickly with too, too many simply walking away from the game, never moving on beyond the first purgatory stage of their "chess education."

The 1929 insight from Nimzovich, one of most influential chess thinkers ever, cognitive sciences findings, learning theory, the complex systems theory, everything speaks in favor of a radical PARADIGM SHIFT in how we should start teaching chess

But there is no one to listen...

'It is harder to crack prejudice than an atom,' Einstein.

from the "Chess - the Game of Millions" primer in Serbo-Croatian language, Zagreb 1980 (art Milorad Dobric)

"... [The Grandmaster Battle Manual] would be worthwhile for anyone looking to beat GMs more regularly. For the rest of us, there are better guides." - Michael Goeller (2012)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708102419/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review833.pdf

The Chess Doctor frowns on placing the knights on d2,e2 (white) and d7,e7 (black)

That was a Brilliant assessment. Like teaching the alphabet without ever reading to a child. 

One comment I'd like to add, is that if you already purchased a paperback copy of either Tactics Time 1 or Tactics Time 2, The Kindle version is free if you bought it on amazon. The Kindle version includes the ratings of the players involved, whether the player found or missed the tactic, and an annotated link to the game.

Anthea Carson (co-author of Tactics Time.)