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Originally posted by Nordlys
Not long after I had started playing (which was 1 1/2 years ago), I went through Josh Waitzkin's Chess Academy in Chessmaster 10th Edition to grasp some basic principles, and that has helped me a lot. So it may not be entirely true to say that I haven't studied the game, but I just went through that Academy rather quickly, and since then I have mostly just p ...[text shortened]... e I feel that just playing and picking up some tips here and there won't get me much further.
I see. Thanks

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Originally posted by stanloh
I don't any chess book can include "everything". Chess is such a vast game thus it would just be impractical to do so.
Obviously not if it contained "everything". I didn't talk about how practical or feasible it was, I was wishing. I do think it is possible to write some sort of chess bible though.. the big problem would be that some parts of the book wouldn't be as good as the others, and I think books which have one clear aim sells better. Yet I think Silman is a great author, so I wouldn't mind simply having more stuff in that book. It's not like there's a lack of things to say (about chess).

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I just picked up Fischer's "My 60 Memorable Games" on Amazon.com in "Used - Very Good" condition. It's Simon and Schuster's 1969 edition, 4th printing, hardcover with dust jacket. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it "only" cost $60 USD. There are 3 auctions on ebay.com going on right now that some of you might be interested in if you want his book. Amazon's got some, too, but they're at least $80.

I'm excited to have this book! Hope it's worth the money. Anybody out there who's read it think it's worthy of the dough I had to spend?

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Originally posted by pinkthunder
I just picked up Fischer's "My 60 Memorable Games" on Amazon.com in "Used - Very Good" condition. It's Simon and Schuster's 1969 edition, 4th printing, hardcover with dust jacket. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it "only" cost $60 USD. There are 3 auctions on ebay.com going on right now that some of you might be interested in if you want his book. A ...[text shortened]... Anybody out there who's read it think it's worthy of the dough I had to spend?
If you find out it's not worth it, you can always sell it for $80. 🙂

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Originally posted by pinkthunder
I just picked up Fischer's "My 60 Memorable Games" on Amazon.com in "Used - Very Good" condition. It's Simon and Schuster's 1969 edition, 4th printing, hardcover with dust jacket. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it "only" cost $60 USD. There are 3 auctions on ebay.com going on right now that some of you might be interested in if you want his book. A ...[text shortened]... Anybody out there who's read it think it's worthy of the dough I had to spend?
I think $60 and up is about the going rate for a hardback copy of this book. Sometimes you can get a softcover for between $36-$46. Another book from the same period that is harder to come by is a hardback copy of "Bent Larsen's Selected Games," however, there is a reprint available in softcover for between $12 and $25. Other great books from this period are "Petrosian's Best Games of Chess 1946-1963," "Spassky's 100 Best Games," by Cafferty and "The Best Games of Boris Spassky," by Soltis.

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It sounds like Fischer is pretty ticked about later versions of this book. Sounds like the algebraeic notation version is laden with move errors, misquotes, and other typos. He thinks they did it to "make him look like a patzer".

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Originally posted by pinkthunder
I just picked up Fischer's "My 60 Memorable Games" on Amazon.com in "Used - Very Good" condition. It's Simon and Schuster's 1969 edition, 4th printing, hardcover with dust jacket. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it "only" cost $60 USD. There are 3 auctions on ebay.com going on right now that some of you might be interested in if you want his book. A ...[text shortened]... Anybody out there who's read it think it's worthy of the dough I had to spend?
A guy at my local club recently payed $450 for a hardcover mint version of this book. I don't know what edition it was, but everyone acted like it was rare.

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Originally posted by o0obruceleeo0o
A guy at my local club recently payed $450 for a hardcover mint version of this book. I don't know what edition it was, but everyone acted like it was rare.
There are a few on Amazon.com going for that price right now. Crazy.

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For those who are interested:

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Book Reviews by John Watson:

http://www.chess.co.uk/bookreview.html

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Seagaard Chess reviews:

http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/content/index.asp

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Originally posted by ivanhoe
For those who are interested:

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Book Reviews by John Watson:

http://www.chess.co.uk/bookreview.html

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Seagaard Chess reviews:

http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/content/index.asp
And by Silman and others (including Watson):

http://www.jeremysilman.com/book_reviews/book_reviews.html

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Originally posted by Nordlys
And by Silman and others (including Watson):

http://www.jeremysilman.com/book_reviews/book_reviews.html
Great, thanks !

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Re: Fischer's 60 Memorable Games book: Two auctions are ending in a few hours on ebay.com:

Soft cover: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4628017338

Hard cover: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4628654653

They're both reasonably priced--at the moment.

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Originally posted by zebano
How to Reassess your Chess: Jeremy Silman
My System: Aron Nimzovich
Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual
dvoretsky's endgame book is great. much more instructional than fine's BCE.

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Originally posted by der schwarze Ritter
The following books would form the basis of a good chess library. Also, many of them can be found in economical Dover editions:

A. Alekhine, “My Best Games of Chess 1908-1937”
Max Euwe, “The Middlegame: Pts. I and II”
M. Botvinnik, “100 Selected Games”
David Bronstein, “Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953”
Smyslov and Levenfisch, ...[text shortened]... tem,” and “Chess Praxis”
Richard Reti, “Masters of the Chessboard,” and “Modern Ideas in Chess”
Id like to add Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy: Advances Since Nimzovitsch by John Watson to this very good list it takes everything that Nimzo did and shows how things have changed in the modern system.

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"...Other great books from this period are...The Best Games of Boris Spassky, by Soltis."
The Best Chess Games of Boris Spassky by Andrew Soltis is a wonderful chess book for beginners. There's a ton of 1. P-Q4 leading to King's Indian for players who like that opening, and also lots of Ruy Lopez & Sicilians in the 70-game book.

I found Soltis's comments very easy to read, the games are excellent, and the analysis simple yet elegant.

[Published by David McKay & Co., NYC, 1973]

~Carnak.

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