Someone please Recommend some good chess books

Most chess books are so damn dry, I can't get thru them, does anyone have any suggestions on something a touch more upbeat?

Originally posted by kwjoe
Most chess books are so damn dry, I can't get thru them, does anyone have any suggestions on something a touch more upbeat?

Entertaining and instructional chess books:

"Chess for Dummies" -Eade
"Guide to Good Chess" - Purdy
"Chess the Easy Way"- Fine
"Mastering Chess" - Kopec, et. al.

How to cheat at chess by Bill Hartston is great.

Chess for Tigers by the late Simon Webb is also well worth getting.

I enjoyed 'How to play the middle game in chess' by Paul Keres. It is good as it uses whole games, rather than just jumping in at a specific position. Do a game at a time, it's entertaining and educational. 🙂

Originally posted by gaychessplayer
Entertaining and instructional chess books:

"Chess for Dummies" -Eade
"Guide to Good Chess" - Purdy
"Chess the Easy Way"- Fine
"Mastering Chess" - Kopec, et. al.

I forgot to mention Irving Chernev's classic, "Logical Chess: Move by Move."

Originally posted by kwjoe
Most chess books are so damn dry, I can't get thru them, does anyone have any suggestions on something a touch more upbeat?

I found that too but then I started to think of chess books to "study" rather than to read. That way it bothers me less that I'm still on the first chapter after a month.

"Analysis of the Game of Chess"

by F.A.D. Philidor, 1790 edition




Best of all, it's free.

http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC20429368&id=d2jnqeVdIdQC&pg=RA1-PR9&lpg=RA1-PR9&dq=analysis+game+of+chess#PPP6,M1

you might want to try dvds. for me they work a lot better.

Improve Your Chess Now, by Tisdall.

Originally posted by Bedlam
Improve Your Chess Now, by Tisdall.

I just got that book. Is there a PGN companion for that it?

All I need to buy now is time to read it.

Originally posted by briancron
I just got that book. Is there a PGN companion for that it?

All I need to buy now is time to read it.

I havent seen a pgn for it. One of the best chess books iv ever read though 🙂

Originally posted by kwjoe
Most chess books are so damn dry, I can't get thru them, does anyone have any suggestions on something a touch more upbeat?

Yeah just reading people explainging stuff can get kinda boring, sometimes. Maybe if you tried a puzzle book. that way you'd be actively engaged in it; trying to solve it's puzzles and stuff. This also really helps in learning tactics.
Reinfeld's "One Thousand and One Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations" & "1001 Brilliant ways to checkmate" are good.
If you want a reading book too, though. I like Silman's "How to Reassess your chess" & "The Amateur's Mind".
Good luck! 🙂

-- Paul (Pavlo87)

Originally posted by kwjoe
Most chess books are so damn dry, I can't get thru them, does anyone have any suggestions on something a touch more upbeat?

Chess books? All Seven Books of GM Lev ALburt's and GM Sam Palatnik's Comprehensive Chess Course Series. Great reading and you can make master with full dedication.

I would recommend Garry Kasparov's My Great Predecessors series. I have many other books but these are probably the best and easiest to follow in my opinion.