The only chess library you will ever need (unless your a GM!) - Chess Forums

StinkingHyena

Oct 31, 2018

0

#1

Tongue in cheek, but I think you couldn't go far wrong with these.

Learning the game: First Book of Chess, Fred Reinfeld

More advanced concepts: The Most Instructive Games of Chess ever Played, Irving Chernev

Database: 500 Master Games of Chess, Tartakower

Opening: How to Open a Chess Game, Larry Evans

Ending: Practical Chess Endings, Paul Keres

I figure used might set you back 30 quid, and would be useful from never played to about expert level.

What would be your short list? Is there one book that could replace all of these?

blueemu

Oct 31, 2018

0

#2

My two must-have Chess books are Pawn Power in Chess by Kmoch and My System by Nimzovich.

madratter7

Oct 31, 2018

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#3

"Fundamental Chess Openings"

Chess Tempo website for tactics

"The Amateur's Mind" as an introduction to positional play

The Yusupov series starting with "Build Up Your Chess, The Fundamentals".

"Silman's Endgame Course"

"Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual"

A real board and pieces

StinkingHyena

Oct 31, 2018

0

#4

blueemu wrote:

My two must-have Chess books are Pawn Power in Chess by Kmoch and My System by Nimzovich.

Both classics. My System though gets disseminated into fairly quickly. So you might be able to slide by with the Chernov and Tartakower books. Kmoch's book is an interesting choice, not really replacable by anything else.

NM FLchessplayer

Oct 31, 2018

0

#5

I have a suggested library at www.amazon.com. (A.J. Goldsby I) 10-13 books ... all you will ever really need. (I have given untold lessons. I go to a student's house, they usually have 30+ chess books in their own, personal library. I always ask them: "How many have you actually read - cover-to-cover?" The answer is usually one ... or none!)

brother7

Oct 31, 2018

0

#6

FLchessplayer wrote:

I have a suggested library at www.amazon.com. (A.J. Goldsby I) 10-13 books ... all you will ever really need. (I have given untold lessons. I go to a student's house, they usually have 30+ chess books in their own, personal library. I always ask them: "How many have you actually read - cover-to-cover?" The answer is usually one ... or none!)

I found your Amazon profile but could not locate your Idea List of 10-13 books.

StinkingHyena

Oct 31, 2018

0

#7

Me neither.

StinkingHyena

Oct 31, 2018

0

#8

DeirdreSkye wrote:

Excellent suggestions.

Maybe Reti's book "Masters of the chessboard" deserves a place in this list.

Havent read it but heard good things about it.

NM FLchessplayer

Oct 31, 2018

0

#9

The link is still on my home page. (For my Amazon collection of books ... unless they deleted it for some odd reason ... it was there for maybe 10-15 years.)

NM FLchessplayer

Oct 31, 2018

0

#10

If it IS deleted, that gives me a good idea for my next blog ...

NM FLchessplayer

Oct 31, 2018

0

#11

StinkingHyena wrote:

Tongue in cheek, but I think you couldn't go far wrong with these.

Learning the game: First Book of Chess, Fred Reinfeld

More advanced concepts: The Most Instructive Games of Chess ever Played, Irving Chernev

Database: 500 Master Games of Chess, Tartakower

Opening: How to Open a Chess Game, Larry Evans

Ending: Practical Chess Endings, Paul Keres

I figure used might set you back 30 quid, and would be useful from never played to about expert level.

What would be your short list? Is there one book that could replace all of these?

If you add MCO-15 to this list, you are probably set. However, once you cross the 1800 level, it pays a lot of dividends to buy books on the opening lines that you play. (Another good book that you might want to add to your list - is: "Chess Fundamentals," by Jose R. Capablanca.)

NM FLchessplayer

Oct 31, 2018

0

#12

The book: "Practical Chess Endings," by Paul Keres is probably my favorite endgame book of all time.

NM FLchessplayer

Oct 31, 2018

0

#13

If I had to pick "10 Chess Books ... that I could take to a desert island," ... ... ...

Chernev's book: "The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played," would be in my book bag, you can bet a finger on that one ...

kindaspongey

Nov 1, 2018

0

#14

The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev (1965)

https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/

kindaspongey

Nov 1, 2018

0

#15

I have often seen praise for How to Open a Chess Game, but it should perhaps be mentioned that, having been written about four decades ago, it used descriptive notation (1 P-K4 P-K4 2 N-KB3 N-QB3 etc.). Also, the reader should perhaps be warned that, apart from Evans himself, none of the GM authors "was given a specific topic or assignment." For more overall organization, one might want to turn to a book by a single author, such as Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
or Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014)
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/
https://www.mongoosepress.com/excerpts/OpeningsForAmateurs%20sample.pdf
or Winning Chess Openings by Yasser Seirawan (1999).
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf

kindaspongey

Nov 1, 2018

0

#16

In a previous discussion, someone reported a passage from Pawn Power in Chess by Kmoch: "The lengthening of the rearspan is often favorable, inasmuch as the expansion of territory behind the pawn increases the freedom of the pieces. By the same token, the shortening of the frontspan limits the freedom of the opposing pieces."
I'm not exactly a big fan of that sort of writing, but there nevertheless seems to be a widespread opinion that the Kmoch book is worthwhile.
"... [Pawn Power in Chess] should be on everyone's list [of favourites]. ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2010)
Another point of view:
"... Hans Kmoch’s Pawn Power in Chess is considered a classic by many. Nonetheless, most people found it daunting and confusing, given its weird terminology. Also the scope of the book was more theoretical than practical; not an easy book to read and study with. ... must be frustrating to read and study from for those rated below 1700. ..." - Stephen Ham (2000)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708110136/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review249.pdf

One can see a sample at:

http://store.doverpublications.com/0486264866.html

kindaspongey

Nov 1, 2018

0

#17

One can get some idea of the lasting scope of the respect for My System by looking at:
https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-books-ever
Still, it might be noted that My System apparently did not occur to GM Yasser Seirawan as something to include in his list of personal favorites, and Aaron Nimzowitsch was not identified by the GM as a very worthy author.

https://www.chess.com/blog/RoaringPawn/an-open-letter-to-the-four-time-us-chess-champion-gm-yasser-seirawan

https://www.chess.com/blog/GMYAZ/open-letter-response-user-radovics-letter-to-me

My System has accumulated some direct negative commentary over the years.
"... I found [the books of Aaron Nimzowitsch to be] very difficult to read or understand. ... [Nimzowitsch: A Reappraisal by Raymond Keene explains his] thinking and influence on the modern game in a far more lucid and accessible way. ... The books that are most highly thought of are not necessarily the most useful. Go with those that you find to be readable; ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2010)
In 2016, IM pfren wrote:
"My System is an iconoclastic book. A lot of things in there is sheer provocation, and it does need an expereienced player to know what exactly must be taken at its face value.
I love 'My System', and I have read it cover to cover one dozen times, but suggesting it to a class player is an entirely different matter."
Also: "[Some things] ARE wrong, and it's not easy for a non-advanced player to discover those wrong claims.
Nigel Short has claimed that 'My System' should be banned. Stratos Grivas says that the book is very bad. I don't share their opinion, but I am pretty sure that there are more useful reads for class players out there."
Although he is a fan of My System, IM John Watson similarly acknowledged (2013) that:
"... Not everything in it has stood the test of time, ..."
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/john-watson-book-review-108-of-eplus-books-part-2-nimzowitsch-classics
One last point to keep in mind is that, even if My System would eventually help a player, it might not necessarily be helpful to a player now.
"... Just because a book contains lots of information that you don’t know, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be extremely helpful in making you better at this point in your chess development. ..." - Dan Heisman (2001)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626180930/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman06.pdf
A My System sample can be seen at:

https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/MySystem-excerpt.pdf

A Chess Praxis sample can be seen at:

https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/ChessPraxis-excerpt.pdf

Various samples:

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9027.pdf

kindaspongey

Nov 1, 2018

0

#18

"... [Fundamental Chess Openings by Paul van der Sterren] is not particularly suited for players who are just starting out. I would imagine players rated at least 1400-1500 would get the most benefit from this volume. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2009)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140626173432/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen128.pdf

http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/FCO-Fundamental-Chess-Openings-76p3561.htm

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

I would strongly recommend examining the sample and trying to judge whether or not you feel yourself to be at a stage where you would be likely to read hundreds of pages of that sort of thing.

kindaspongey

Nov 1, 2018

0

#19

Amateur's Mind by Jeremy Silman
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094419/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/ammind.pdf
https://www.silmanjamespress.com/shop/chess/amateurs-mind-the-2nd-edition/

kindaspongey

Nov 1, 2018

0

#20