Chess Book Recs for Beginners

If you want your friend to be grateful for you , encourage him to study endgames before everything.Endgames will help him increase important chess abilities like pattern recognition , calculation and planning , will help him understand the strengths and the weaknesses of the pieces and will also help him to understand how the pieces interact.
Endgame is the foundation for every chessplayer that wants to play good chess at some point of his (chess)life.
Practical Chess Endings by Paul Keres or Endgame Manual by Mark Dvoretsky is the only books he will need for the first months.
Tell him not to "fall" in the trap to study openings as many do.The basic principles are enough.

Van Perlo's Endgame Tactics book is also a good and funbook http://www.amazon.com/Endgame-Tactics-Comprehensive-Guide-Endgames/dp/9056911686, they have it at my local library, unfortunately i've been too busy with studying and switching openings to really have spend much time with it

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
I loved Logical chess move by move, its an old book, but it was excellently written.

That's a brilliant book for a beginner!

Originally posted by Roper300
If you want your friend to be grateful for you , encourage him to study endgames before everything.Endgames will help him increase important chess abilities like pattern recognition , calculation and planning , will help him understand the strengths and the weaknesses of the pieces and will also help him to understand how the pieces interact.
Endga ...[text shortened]... ll him not to "fall" in the trap to study openings as many do.The basic principles are enough.

Give 10 beginners Keres' encyclopedia or Dvoretsky and I bet 11 will quit the game.

Originally posted by Wilfriedva
Give 10 beginners Keres' encyclopedia or Dvoretsky and I bet 11 will quit the game.

True , unless they realise that it's their only hope not to stay below average all their life.

Originally posted by Roper300
True , unless they realise that it's their only hope not to stay below average all their life.

Don't they need to have a basic understanding of strategy & tactics to even reach an endgame on a regular basis?

Originally posted by Zygalski
Don't they need to have a basic understanding of strategy & tactics to even reach an endgame on a regular basis?

The beginner that hasn't study endgame , will never fully understand the basics.
Basic understanding in strategy and tactics comes from the study of endgames.
From endgames you can understand the "abilities" of each piece and also how the pieces interact.Your calculation skills will increase and your ability to evaluate a position , determine the weak points and construct and execute plans will also develop significantly.Players who study endgames also develop their tactical understanding of the position.
There are many more abilities that endgame study develops.
For example , pattern recognition, which is so important in chess , is significantly increased with endgame training.
It's not a surprise that Capablanca said that Endgame should be first mastered before anything else because opening and middlegame should be studied in relation to endgame.Very important trainers and teachers like Vasily Smyslov(one more World Champion) , Grigory Levenfish , Rashid Nezhmetdinov and others, also said that the beginner should first study endgames before studying anything else.

Originally posted by Roper300
The beginner that hasn't study endgame , will never fully understand the basics.
Basic understanding in strategy and tactics comes from the study of endgames.
From endgames you can understand the "abilities" of each piece and also how the pieces interact.Your calculation skills will increase and your ability to evaluate a position , determine the weak po hers, also said that the beginner should first study endgames before studying anything else.

The book "Chess Self-Teacher" by Al Horowitz, which I recommended, does actually start with the endgame after the basic rules of the game. Then it goes on to tactics and ends with strategy. It is not extensive in any of these areas, but still a good starter for the biginners to give them an overall understanding of the game.

Originally posted by Roper300
True , unless they realise that it's their only hope not to stay below average all their life.

I disagree.Not with the study of the endgame but with the particular books you mention.
No good for beginners imo.

Originally posted by Roper300
The beginner that hasn't study endgame , will never fully understand the basics.
Basic understanding in strategy and tactics comes from the study of endgames.
From endgames you can understand the "abilities" of each piece and also how the pieces interact.Your calculation skills will increase and your ability to evaluate a position , determine the weak po ...[text shortened]... hers, also said that the beginner should first study endgames before studying anything else.

Both of you are right - Without an understanding of tactics one may never reach the endgame. However, a good understanding of the endgame enables one to formulate a middle game strategy. Of course a common problem amongst beginners is knowing how to win a won game.

Originally posted by kbear1k
Without an understanding of tactics one may never reach the endgame.

It doesn't matter if you never reach the endgame.If the beginner studies endgame, he will play better all parts of the game.There is a "wisdom" behind endgame study that, unfortunately, very few can comprehend.
Here is what Joshua Waitzkin said about endgames:

"Endgames are the heart of chess and studying the endgame builds an important foundation to support one’s skill development in all other phases of the game.In endgames, pieces can be studied in isolation so that a player can grasp their true potential without any ‘distractions’. Studying the capabilities of each piece will allow a player to not only play better endgames, but use and coordinate their forces more effectively in the opening and middlegame."

Originally posted by Roper300
It doesn't matter if you never reach the endgame.If the beginner studies endgame, he will play better all parts of the game.There is a "wisdom" behind endgame study that, unfortunately, very few can comprehend.
Here is what Joshua Waitzkin said about endgames:

"Endgames are the heart of chess and studying the endgame builds an important foundation to s ...[text shortened]... games, but use and coordinate their forces more effectively in the opening and middlegame."

It does matter, if you never reach the endgame by being checkmated. Also if you reach an endgame that leaves you material down in a lost position, it is very unlikely that your study of endgames is going to be of much help. Surely, one should study the basic endgames and checkmates before even beginning a game of chess, and if that has not been done, those endgames must be studied. However, I do not see how advanced endgame study can help one in the openings.

I think opening study is also necessary for improvement, because there is an advantage in not falling into opening traps and being able to enter the middlegame with a good position. Why are there so many opening books written by the grandmasters, if knowledge of opening theory is not that important? Knowledge of the current opening theory makes one more likely to get into favorable positions in which the middlegame tactics study will be helpful.

It is not until these stages of opening and middlegame are passed consistently that advanced endgame study would be necessary for improvement in my opinion. The beginner is not at this stage yet.

However, I am just a patzer club player, who has not done advanced endgame study and I do not like studying anymore, anyway. I have bought several chess books hoping to get in the mood, but they seem to have a way of putting me to sleep. It is probably due to my old age.

2 best books for beginners are:

THE FIRST BOOK OF CHESS by Joseph Leeming

and

THE MODERN CHESS SELF-TUTOR by David Bronstein.