Desert Island Books

Hi,

I've recently gotten back into chess and in a few months I will be in Ghana teaching physics (peace corps).

From what every returned peace corps volunteer has told me boredom is the #1 enemy; daily life in Ghana is typically slower than my native country (us) and having a hobby with which to amuse yourself is vital. Thus I'm bringing my set and a few books. I only have 5 books, and only one of them I consider useful enough to bring (Chernov, 'Most Instructive Games of Chess'😉 so I'm now in the market to pick a limited number of books. I'd like to cover a large range (opening, tactics, game books, etc) with no more than ten books.

So, if you were 'stranded' with only ten books what would you take?

I've done a little research and found a few opinions on this matter. The books I am considering are:

Fine, Reuben Ideas Behind the Chess Openings
De Fermian Nick Modern Chess Openings: MCO-14

Vukovic, Vladimir Art of Attack in Chess
Nimzowitsch My System
Euwe The Middlegame I, II

Averbakh, Iuri Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge

Bronstein, David Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953
Tal, Mikhail Life & Games of Mikhail Tal
Fischer, Bobby My 60 Most Memorable Games

Any suggestions are recommended. Am I covering a broad enough area? Are there any books which should simply be replaced with another? Are there any that don't belong? Are there any that you'd recommend in addition?

Originally posted by jbm
Hi,

I've recently gotten back into chess and in a few months I will be in Ghana teaching physics (peace corps).

From what every returned peace corps volunteer has told me boredom is the #1 enemy; daily life in Ghana is typically slower than my native country (us) and having a hobby with which to amuse yourself is vital. Thus I'm bringing my set and a fe ...[text shortened]... th another? Are there any that don't belong? Are there any that you'd recommend in addition?

I'll add another recommendation for Life & Games of Mikhail Tal. Great games, great read.

Max Euwe, The Development of a Chess Style paired with all available volumes of Garry Kasparov, My Great Predecessors could make for a valuable chess education

First on my list would be J.H. Donner's "De Koning" ("The King" in English translation). It's a collection of interesting, outrageous, usually deliberately political-incorrect observations (1950 to 1986) about chess, the people that play chess and the people that organize chess (FIDE). Cold War, poetry, polemics, rants, humor, a lot of irony, it's all in there, and great games as well of course. For me, an easy number one. (I assume some of the topics will be lost to the non-Dutch though.)

From the books you are considering, I only know those from Nimzowitsch and Euwe well. "Mein System' is a masterpiece, written in a very light tone of voice. It presents a very entertaning and personal view on chess, with a lot of text trying to convince you of the author's looks on things. There's also a follow-up; "Die Praxis Meines Systems" with lots of games illustrating the authors points (I assume there's an English translation as well).

Euwe's books are much more analytical and rigid. I sometimes get the impression that he was just too strong a player to understand what us mundane people struggle to grasp (even though he was a teacher 🙂). Also, compared to todays fighting chess, his books sometimes seem a bit dogmatic. (Although I'm completely convinced that if he would have lived now, he just would have adapted and written more 'modern' books.)
So, even though he's a fellow Dutchman I can't really warm to those books.

I'm not familiar with the Awerbach title you listed, but I own several other books of his making, and I think they're great. A very comprehensive way of writing. Not merely the ".. and white is winning" approach, but the "I'll show you why white is winning until black is utterly mated", and the "I'll show you *how* white is winning by showing this logic and these easy-to-remember patterns", kind of thing. Great stuff.

The list MUST include Tal-Botvinnik 1960. In my opinion, it's the best chess book ever. Period. The Art of Attack in Chess has been mentioned by others. I suppose I'd take the full set of Kasparov's My Great Predecossors if only because I haven't read them yet.

Nimowitch, My System
Znosko-Borovsky, The Middle Game in Chess

Those I've read and greatly profited from. For my own benefit, I'd go for:

Tactical puzzle book
Endgame book
Lasker's book (Lasker's Manual or something)
Books on the openings I play
The Amateur's Mind
Other books by past greats like Tal, Steinitz, etc.

I prefer mostly tactics-theme books, but one great book, which i didnt see in other messages is "The Reassess your chess workbook" by J. Silman. It contains lot of comments and tips.
"Bobby Fischer teaches chess" by BF is also excellent (thought elementary)

Originally posted by Citanul
First on my list would be J.H. Donner's "De Koning" ("The King" in English translation). It's a collection of interesting, outrageous, usually deliberately political-incorrect observations (1950 to 1986) about chess, the people that play chess and the people that organize chess (FIDE). Cold War, poetry, polemics, rants, humor, a lot of irony, it's all ...[text shortened]... winning by showing this logic and these easy-to-remember patterns", kind of thing. Great stuff.