must-read chess books

Practical chess endings.
Ludek Pachman

A great book; not over complicated, just a great summary of virtually all endgame themes

Originally posted by queenabber
Practical chess endings.
Ludek Pachman

A great book; not over complicated, just a great summary of virtually all endgame themes

I found 'Practical chess endings' by Keres,Chernev and Znosko-Borovsky

Maybe you meant Pachman's 'Chess endings for the practical player'?

@eternal
if the notes are variations,skip them.If they're words then the more the merrier.
And don't buy Keene's books,he's evil!

Originally posted by torten
I found 'Practical chess endings' by Keres,Chernev and Znosko-Borovsky

Maybe you meant Pachman's 'Chess endings for the practical player'?

@eternal
if the notes are variations,skip them.If they're words then the more the merrier.
And don't buy Keene's books,he's evil!

I stand corrected
"chess endings for the practical player" is indeed the book
(my memory fails me: I read it avidly 20 odd years ago!)

Originally posted by queenabber
I stand corrected
"chess endings for the practical player" is indeed the book
(my memory fails me: I read it avidly 20 odd years ago!)

No problem.I err all the time 🙂
Just had to establish where the error was situated,title or author.

Thanks for your contribution.

Originally posted by Paul Leggett
I second the motion on this one. A brilliant and underrated book.

John Emms also did a more modern version of the approach in two books, Simple Chess and More Simple Chess, and they are excellent and worthy tributes to Stean's original work, which Emms admires and intentionally tries to emulate.

Thanks for the tip. I have been looking for something that comes close to Stean's book. I have ordered "More Simple Chess". Most chess writers are too difficult for me (often excessive long variations), or may just be boring. I like the Greenpawn blog level of writing. Stean was a joy. Hope Emms comes close.

How about getting a book on the rules of the Belgian Chess Federation?

Originally posted by ketchuplover
How about getting a book on the rules of the Belgian Chess Federation?

Not certain that even exists!But if it does,why on earth would I want it?

Sounds like a boring read,btw 😉

Originally posted by torten
Not certain that even exists!But if it does,why on earth would I want it?

Sounds like a boring read,btw 😉

And as with all Belgian ruling: you probably understand it better BEFORE you read about it.

Originally posted by Peteruks
Thanks for the tip. I have been looking for something that comes close to Stean's book. I have ordered "More Simple Chess". Most chess writers are too difficult for me (often excessive long variations), or may just be boring. I like the Greenpawn blog level of writing. Stean was a joy. Hope Emms comes close.

I hope the recommendation turns out well for you! To me, the chapter discussing the advantage of the two bishops alone was worth the price of the book, but I am sure there will be some other aspect of the book that will have special appeal for you.

Paul

Originally posted by torten
And don't buy Keene's books,he's evil![/b]

To be fair, Keene has written a few decent books. In particular, "Aaron Nimzowitsch: A Reappraisal" stands out. "Flank Openings" is quite good, too; as is "Becoming a Grandmaster", about how the Great Raymondo... well, became a Grandmaster. I have a soft spot for "How to Play the Nimzo-Indian Defence" too; that one co-authored with Shaun Taulbut I think. Then there's the two books with Botterill, on the Pirc and the Modern. I know he has the reputation of churning out potboiler after potboiler, but I haven't read any of them -- well, there is "The Evolution of Chess Opening Theory", but that's more a compilation of other's work with filler from Keene, and isn't all that bad.

Originally posted by pdunne
To be fair, Keene has written a few decent books. In particular, "Aaron Nimzowitsch: A Reappraisal" stands out. "Flank Openings" is quite good, too; as is "Becoming a Grandmaster", about how the Great Raymondo... well, became a Grandmaster. I have a soft spot for "How to Play the Nimzo-Indian Defence" too; that one co-authored with Shaun Taulbut I think. ...[text shortened]... ore a compilation of other's work with filler from Keene, and isn't all that bad.

His "Flank Openings" book is one of the best chess books I have ever read. The format alone made me completely rethink how I approached and classified openings.

Originally posted by Peteruks
Thanks for the tip. I have been looking for something that comes close to Stean's book. I have ordered "More Simple Chess". Most chess writers are too difficult for me (often excessive long variations), or may just be boring. I like the Greenpawn blog level of writing. Stean was a joy. Hope Emms comes close.

Maybe we should convince GP to continue writing chess books?

Originally posted by nimzo5
Maybe we should convince GP to continue writing chess books?

I do one every 20 years. (Raymond Keene in reverse).

Perhaps I could RHP's 100 best games.
The first 99 will be my games. 😏 and the 100th will be one of Paul Leggetts.
(finding it will take me 20 years) 😉

Speaking of RK his books are OK.
Yes he has found been out by Edward Winter a few times.
(cutting and pasting stuff from one of his books into another).
But they are readable and I've not seen him give out any bad advice.

(Though I've got nowhere near everything he has written.)

You guys,I didn't say he writes bad books,I haven't seen any of his.Although I'm skeptical of anyone who seems able to write a chess book in less than a week AND cooperates with schiller.

I said he's evil.Little joke hinting at his bad rep

Don't fund satan! 😉

I have seen or read many chess books, some are excellent, many are almost useless. The 10 best ("best" in my subjective view. At least these are the books I've learned from the most) I've ever read are: 1) New Ideas in Chess by Larry Evans; 2) How to Reassess your Chess by J. Silman; 3) Grandmaster of Chess by Paul Keres; 4) Practical Chess Endings by Paul Keres; 5) Chess Fundamentals by Jose Capablanca; 6) My 60 Memorable Games by Bobby Fischer; 7) The 1960 World Chess Championship by M. Tal; 8) Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess (excellent for beginners); 9) How to Open a Chess Game by 7 International Grandmasters; 10) The 1966 Piatigorsky Cup (commentaries by all participants, highly unusual but an excellent tournament book).