Useful chess books?

Hello everybody, i started to play recently due to a chess club opening in my city, after some matches i decided to improve my game and try to learn openings and develop my pieces, i want to start reading a book too but i dont know any of them, what would you recommend to a beginner? thank you in advance 

If you’re specifically looking for learning openings, I heard that Fundamental Chess Openings is supposed to be a good introduction. Modern Chess Openings was something I liked as a kid, but in retrospect it may have been somewhat difficult to piece together

If you’re specifically looking to improve at openings in general, I don’t know if the first section of The Complete Manual of Positional Chess, vol 1 is too difficult for your level, but I feel like that would be a good foundation in openings. The bonus of getting that book is, you get a second section dedicated to positional play in the middlegame as well

Good Chess Books for Beginners and Beyond...

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

Chess Openings Resources for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/openings-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell

FYI - mentioned in the post above, "The Complete Manual of Positional Chess" (Vols 1&2), while good for their intended purpose and audience, are advanced chess books appropriate for players rated1500 Elo (minimum) and higher.  They are definitely not recommended for the beginner-novice.  Also while the first 68 pages (out of the 320 total pages) of Volume 1 treats aspects of opening play, these books are concerned primarily with the positional concepts and techniques of chess (as the titles indicate).  These are not books that anyone would or should rely on for a thorough introduction to opening play. 

This Google Books preview of Volume 2 shows the format of both volumes.....(a preview is not available for Vol. 1)....

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Complete_Manual_of_Positional_Chess/HL88DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+complete+manual+of+positional+chess&printsec=frontcover

Instead, for a good foundation in fundamental principles of opening play I highly recommend "Discovering Chess Openings" by John Emms.  Also, "FCO - Fundamental Chess Openings" by Paul van der Sterren is an excellent openings reference manual appropriate for every player.

Discovering Chess Openings.....using the 'Look Inside' feature on Amazon's web page...

https://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Chess-Openings-Building-Principles/dp/1857444191/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3UHY9E5QIZCJ8&keywords=discovering+chess+openings+john+emms&qid=1661661891&s=books&sprefix=discovering+chess+%2Cstripbooks%2C145&sr=1-1&asin=1857444191&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1

FCO - Fundamental Chess Openings......pdf excerpt...

http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/FCO_Fundamental_Chess_Openings.pdf

Finally, MCO - Modern Chess Openings, 15th Ed., by Nick De Firmian, the openings reference precursor of FCO, while ok for getting some idea of the openings, is not only not as up to date as FCO in terms of recent theory, but FCO does a far better job of explaining the themes and plans of the opening than does MCO.  So unless for some reason MCO appeals to you, I would suggest to forego it in favor of the much superior FCO.

https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Chess-Openings-15th-Firmian/dp/0812936825/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2DNO3ZECCZPPT&keywords=modern+chess+openings+16th+edition&qid=1661663185&s=books&sprefix=modern+chess%2Cstripbooks%2C155&sr=1-1

took a peek of the "Fundamental Chess Openings" and found it useful so i'm definitely ordering a copy, also im gonna check out The Complete Manual of Positional Chess too, Thanks for your answer

This is a huge help, im gonna follow both your advices and go with "Fundamental Chess Openings" and "Discovering Chess Openings" and that pdf is really gonna help me out right now, Thanks for your time and effort 

@Zeritox156 -

You're welcome.  Check also the comment I just added to my post above, regarding MCO - Modern Chess Openings.  I would suggest to forget it.

Che Zeritox,

You have in Argentina one of the best chess collection available: The famous “Tratado General de Ajedrez - Tomo I, II, III y IV by Roberto Grau”
Just follow the tomos order. Your chess will improve a lot. Good journey!

Saludos

I bought some books recommended by the cat before. Play Winning Chess is quite basic for someone rated 1600 but still had some tid bits that were worth the purchase. Logical Chess Move by Move looks good, from what I skimmed. A book accessible by 800 and informative at 1600 is Your First Chess Games by A.J. Gillam. Fantastic coach. 240 short games that end in the opening, so lots of opening principles to learn.

That FCO does not seem for me. I'd rather go in blind and figure out my plans during a game than read that. Maybe that is just the slav. The DCO sounds interesting. I'll have a look.

I don't see a look inside tool for DCO. I have no idea what level it will be at.

"Look Inside" is Just above the image of the book's cover...

https://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Chess-Openings-Building-Principles/dp/1857444191/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3UHY9E5QIZCJ8&keywords=discovering+chess+openings+john+emms&qid=1661661891&s=books&sprefix=discovering+chess+%2Cstripbooks%2C145&sr=1-1

I second Discovering Chess Openings. This was recommended by @RussBell. Chapters 1-3 discusses the fundamentals behind chess openings. Chapters 4-6 from what I remember were more about specific openings and variations. I found chapters 1-3 the most useful for me and I use what I learned from this book in the rapid and daily games I play now.

Zeritox... As a beginner i would give you this advice. First...enjoy your chess...let it be fun.

Do not worry about losing...everyone has.We all started from zero.

Do no just say to yourself...what happens if i do this or do that...Try it. The worst that can happen is that you lose the game, it's not the end of the world. Experiment. Learn from each game.

i recommend...The Tao of Chess...it gives you basic chess principles you can apply to all of your games. Also Lev Alburt ...his books are good. Lots of free videos on youtube that will help you.

Do not just memorise and opening...understand why the moves are made. Do not play like a robot.Learn to understand the reason behind moves. The game is divided into 3 phases...the opening / middlegame / endgame. Enjoy the game and have fun.Every game is a win if you learn from it.

It does not seem to be visible on Android. I guess most people shop Amazon on their computers.

Understanding moves takes way more knowledge than memorizing them. I pick openings that get out of book fast, so I can focus on general techniques. 

Broad, deep, fast to learn. Pick 2. I often don't research openings until after someone uses them to beat me. 1800 rated players have told me they did not know their opening well enough to know what to do when I left book. We just went tactically from there. Lose a game, and you'll find out why later.

If you are a beginner then focus on mates, simple checkmates, mastering mates 1&2. what your goal is in the beginning is to spot a mate in 3 .collect a bag full of tricks, aces up your sleeve, the wizards secret moves,called tactics.follow this order, chess tactics for champions polar,improve your chess tactics neishtadt, chess 5332 polgar, art of combination blokh,600 combinations blokh, advance chess tactics psakhis, chess gems Sukhin, blunders& brilliancies mullen, chess calculation training 1 middle game edouard, test your positional play bellin, imagination in chess gaprindashvili, the best move hort, perfect your chess volokitin. Finish 1 book a week. Then study endgames, and read best games collections. The book that you need to memorise is “my 60 memorable games” do not get the modern batsford edition, get the old one. And also book called “GM RAM” is good

By finishing these books you will be the best player in your club, and if your interested I can recommend endgame books and best games collection books

Well thanks everyone, i wrote a list and maybe not today but in a future i will start reading them, i've come to this conclusion thanks to your advices about enjoying chess first, learn teory second, but theres a few recommendations that im gonna start looking into! Thanks to everybody again 

haha thanks brother, im sure i can find some of those in a library nearby, this will be my first choice