5 books

Thanks for the suggestions, chaps. 🙂

I have Silman's "Reassess Your Chess " on order (Amazon is out of stock at the moment 😠), but have the corresponding workbook, which I suppose could serve as a puzzle book, which seems to have been a frequent suggestion.

Originally posted by bishoco
Is Chess Fundamentals by Capablanca a good semi-introductory book? The reviews on Amazon suggest it is.

I'm a self-taught novice and new to this site. I just won my first game here (a few minutes ago). I'd like a good book to start with. My chess skills are rather unrefined and I'm unfamiliar with much of the lingo. I'd like to learn about openings ...[text shortened]... ast to start.

So, should I go with Chess Fundamentals or is there a better suggestion?

There are two books I'd recommend that might suit you..either "Play Winning Chess" by Yasser Seirawan or "Chess For Dummies" Both books start from the beginning and offer a good introduction and more to all aspects of the game.

With "Chess Fundamentals" I think you'd find it a little harder to work through...not quite so accessible for you at the moment. I don't know if you read chess notation as yet but it is required for all but the most introductory books...so will be worth getting across that if you haven't already....both my suggested books explain notation.

Good luck!

I'm working my way through the One Move a Day (2) thread, so I'm starting to pick up notation, but could certainly use more education. Play Winning Chess looks like the one for me. The reviews are good on Amazon as well.

Thanks

Get an endgame book, the Keres book someone mentioned earlier on endgames has a good reputation, and a book on the middle game, I have a copy of Stean's Simple Chess - it is a good book and probably the one you should get. A book of tactical puzzles is a good idea as well; I don't really see the point in books on tactics - why pay someone to tell you that when a knight attacks two pieces it's called a fork? Don't get more than 2 books - 5 is too many you'll try and read them all at once and not take in the information. Spend the rest of your money on some novels or something.

Depending on how long you've been playing, I assume less than 1 year, avoid getting any opening books on specific lines of play and probably don't get one at all. The difficulty is that you can end up in a mind-frame where you think that there is a correct way to open a game of chess, and when your opponent deviates from it you think you must be winning and switch your brain off. As long as you aren't doing anything completely ridiculous you're better off working out what to do in the opening for yourself.

Originally posted by Mahout
[b]Winning Chess by Chernev and Reinfeld,
Well if it's better than Seirawans book and has a similar straightforward approach and clear explanations then yes....although another poster says it's in old notation so might be a bit tricky if this is so.

Understanding Chess Tactics by Weteschnik,
Be like giving a high school French student a copy o ...[text shortened]... ion to openings like Winning Chess Openings or similar and an end game book[/b]

Agree[/b]

I was wondering how Amateur's Mind fits in with Reassess Your Chess. Are you suggesting that it is more advanced and should be read after? I wasn't sure whether I should get it.

Originally posted by exigentsky
I was wondering how Amateur's Mind fits in with Reassess Your Chess. Are you suggesting that it is more advanced and should be read after? I wasn't sure whether I should get it.

I hope Mahout doesn't mind me jumping in with a response, but there's some info on Dan Heisman's web site that addresses that very question. If you go to Dan's Recommended Books page (about 3/4 of the way down the page. See link below), you'll see an e-mail from Silman to Dan that gives Silman's recommended reading order for those books. The order is a little convoluted, because the first 52 pages of HTRYC is much more basic than the rest of the book.

http://danheisman.home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Events_Books/General_Book_Guide.htm

Originally posted by Mad Rook
I hope Mahout doesn't mind me jumping in with a response, but there's some info on Dan Heisman's web site that addresses that very question. If you go to Dan's Recommended Books page (about 3/4 of the way down the page. See link below), you'll see an e-mail from Silman to Dan that gives Silman's recommended reading order for those books. The order is a litt ...[text shortened]... ook.

http://danheisman.home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Events_Books/General_Book_Guide.htm

Thanks! This is very helpful.

Looking on the first page he suggests that one should start with Amateur's Mind.

"How To Reassess Your Chess and the How to Reassess Your Chess Workbook– Jeremy Silman – The books I would recommend after reading Amateur’s Mind. See Silman's recommendations on book order. The first 52 pages of HTRYC is much more basic than the remainder." http://danheisman.home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Events_Books/General_Book_Guide.htm

Silman's suggestion is more complicated:

""My recommended order (though all stand alone):

1) Read Reassess Your Chess through page 52. Then put it away!
2) Read all of The Amateur's Mind.
3) Read the rest of How to Reassess Your Chess.
4) Read The Workbook.
And yes, you have to start people out with tactics and the basic mates else they will get shredded instantly.”

- IM Jeremy Silman in an e-mail to Dan, 11/16/2001." http://danheisman.home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Events_Books/General_Book_Guide.htm#Silman

Still, all this suggests to me that Amateur's Mind is a more basic book than HTRYC. Since I've read all of HTRYC, is it really worth it to get Amateur's Mind? Maybe I should just get the workbook.

Originally posted by exigentsky
Thanks! This is very helpful.

Looking on the first page he suggests that one should start with Amateur's Mind.

"How To Reassess Your Chess and the How to Reassess Your Chess Workbook– Jeremy Silman – The books I would recommend after reading Amateur’s Mind. See Silman's recommendations on book order. The first 52 pages of HTRYC is much more basic t ...[text shortened]... , is it really worth it to get Amateur's Mind? Maybe I should just get the workbook.

Dan clearly agrees that The Amateur's Mind is a more basic book than HTRYC, since he classifies TAM as an intermediate book and HTRYC as an advanced book. Whether to get TAM may depend in part on your rating. Of course, I'm shocked that you didn't immediately take the noble path of volunteering to help keep food on the table of starving chess book authors. 😉

At the risk of muddying the waters a bit, you might read the Chesscafe reviews for TAM and the Reassess workbook. Taylor Kingston wrote the review of TAM, and I just love to read his literate reviews, even if I ultimately decide not to get the books. Kingston actually gives a strong recommendation of TAM for anyone above novice and below about 1800.

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/ammind.txt
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review285.pdf

Thanks for these insights Mad Rook and clearing up the confusion as to which Silman book should be read first...and the book review references. As I'm working though Amateurs mind at the moment then I guess I'm in the right place. It does feel like the right book at the time.

Here's a quote from the review:

"...For above-average players, his How to Reassess Your Chess is an
outstanding work. For anyone below that level, The Amateur's
Mind may be a latter-day Book of Revelation, or at least a set of
minor epiphanies that can add up to major chess improvement."

Here is a possible five-book reading list that should be both entertaining and instructive:

1. First, read ONE of the following:

a. "Play Winning Chess" by Seirawan and Silman
b. "Chess for Dummies" by Eade
c. "Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess" by Wolff

2. Second, read "Logical Chess: Move by Move" by Chernev

3. Solve the puzzles in "Chess Tactics Workbook" by Woolum

4. Read "Pandolfini's Endgame Course" by Pandolfini

5. Solve the puzzles in "Chess Gems" by Sukhin

Originally posted by gaychessplayer
Here is a possible five-book reading list that should be both entertaining and instructive:

1. First, read ONE of the following:

a. "Play Winning Chess" by Seirawan and Silman
b. "Chess for Dummies" by Eade
c. "Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess" by Wolff

2. Second, read "Logical Chess: Move by Move" by Chernev

3. Sol ...[text shortened]... Endgame Course" by Pandolfini

5. Solve the puzzles in "Chess Gems" by Sukhin

Seems like pretty good advice to me, at least for numbers 1, 2, and 4. I'm not familiar with #5, so no comment on that one.

My only minor disagreement is with #3. For a 4th edition tactics book, Woolum's "Chess Tactics Workbook" has way too many mistakes (and a number of duplicate problems, too!). If you don't mind hunting down all of the mistakes, I guess it's okay. But it wouldn't be near the top of my list for novice tactics books.

I second the recommendation for Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess by Wolff. You may not look like a chess scholar with it under your arm, but it's straightforward, has plenty of puzzles/examples to play through, and has good overview/general chapters on history, computers, tournament play, etc.- all good beginner info.
I tried Silman when I was starting, but I think he's usually too advanced for beginners.
Definently check out Dan Heisman's column Novice Nook on Chesscafe.com and read through the archives. I think he's definently one of the better beginner coaches/writers out there.

Originally posted by Mad Rook
My only minor disagreement is with #3. For a 4th edition tactics book, Woolum's "Chess Tactics Workbook" has way too many mistakes (and a number of duplicate problems, too!). If you don't mind hunting down all of the mistakes, I guess it's okay. But it wouldn't be near the top of my list for novice tactics books.

I agree that the Woolum book has a few typos that should have been corrected. One reason that I like the book is that the diagrams are large and are very easy to read. I also like the fact that there are numerous sets of problems in the book that don't "give away" in advance the tactical theme involved in the solutions.

Weapons of chess by bruce pandolfini helped me from 1300 to 1500, aided with attacking chess by josh waitzkin.

I would highly suggest an endgame book, jeremy silmans complete guide to endgames is the best endgame book out there, an easy read that had me winning games that I use to draw or even lose in!!

I would not suggest an openings book. Simple as this if you want to be an attacking player choose an agressive opening and go onto a database online and watch how they move the pieces. Watch where each piece is placed and watch how they move the pawns around it. Look for key ideas.

I would suggest irving cherneves book, it explains the opening moves so you don't have to worry about how to play the opening.

I have some opening principles written somewhere that I could pm to you too. Focus on not making mistakes in the openings and making good moves in the endgames. The middle game is the hardest to master! The reason you don't need an openings book is you can go onto a database and use that to learn the moves, also it prohibits you from making mistakes. My favorite site is chesslive.de you can enter in a position and it will give you up to 2000 games that you can look at. best of luck

Originally posted by gaychessplayer
I agree that the Woolum book has a few typos that should have been corrected. One reason that I like the book is that the diagrams are large and are very easy to read. I also like the fact that there are numerous sets of problems in the book that don't "give away" in advance the tactical theme involved in the solutions.

Yeah, I agree that the diagrams are easy to read, and the book has probably a higher-than-normal number of problems that don't give away the theme. But it just galls me a bit that after three subsequent editions, either Woolum or his publisher has never seen the need to correct all of the mistakes in the book. I interpret that as an indication that at least one of them couldn't care less about putting out a quality product. As long as it keeps selling, who cares that all these mistakes will keep slapping the little scholastic kiddies upside the head as they're going through the book?

Oh yeah, Woolum does give the reader a break by listing nine corrections to the answer key, but if you think that's anywhere close to all the mistakes, you're in for a rude awakening. I think the book has value, but you'll need to find and correct all of the mistakes on the initial read. At least further read-throughs will be painless.

One subtle criticism I have of the problems is that too many of them seem "artificial" to me, sort of like bizarre positions that would never happen in real games. Despite this artificial aspect to the problems, I think I did learn some valuable tactical themes from the book.

Even if someone does get Woolum's book, I'd suggest that he also get a tactics book like Heisman's "Back To Basics: Tactics", which has fewer mates and queen sacrifices and more problems that only win a piece or a pawn. Most of the problems in Heisman's book came from real games played by his students. (Yep, there are some mistakes in Heisman's book too, but you'd expect that in a 1st edition!) Heisman also gives a strong rec to Jeff Coakley's book, "Winning Chess Exercises for Kids". John Bain's "Chess Tactics for Students" is also a decent tactics book, although it's easier than either Woolum or Coakley's books.