Another posting prompted me to think of the most instructive chess book I've read. Andrew Soltis' Pawn Structure Chess clearly explained the strategies dealing with basic pawn formations, as well as the middlegame strategies resulting from several standard openings. So Soltis' book is my vote for the most instructive book for a young chess player. Any other favorites ?
SNL
I like that book as well, although I went through it when I was just learning so I didn't absorb it all. I noticed on my table the other day and made a mental note that I want to go through it again. I have another book by him "the inner workings of chess" or some such. I did not like that one.
I liked the sillman books and have been going through reasses your chess recently.
There was one other that I thought was very practicle for me when I was learning the game last year...it was by an author named Curry and it gave general principles very clearly.
Originally posted by snlI personally like 'Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess' by Fischer and two programmed learning experts. It is mainly about the endgame; Fischer introduces a concept, then poses chess problems that require its use. And since the problems are at most a few moves deep, the young student is not rendered unconscious reading long strings of moves.
the most instructive book for a young chess player.
SNL[/b]
Chuck
Irving Chernev's Logical Chess Move By Move is a classic, and picking it up recently, I can see why. Every move is explained (although it becomes tiresome why 1. d4 is a good move and is explained EVERY game).
Another one useful for weak club players is Richard Reti's Masters of the Chessboard.
Both offer common sense insights as to why masters make the moves they do
Originally posted by Chuck SmartI'd have to agree with you on this. It's a great 'pocket' chess book that helps you understand endings. I've often read that you should start your studying of chess by studying endings first and this is a great way to do it.
I personally like 'Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess' by Fischer and two programmed learning experts. It is mainly about the endgame; Fischer introduces a concept, then poses chess problems that require its use. And since the problems are at most a few moves deep, the young student is not rendered unconscious reading long strings of moves.
Chuck
Plus it is not a $30 book and can be had relatively cheap! 😉
I have an old book by Ed Lasker called 'Chess Strategy', in which there are sections on the opening, middle and end games. In the section on openings, Lasker concentrates on deep principles rather than memorising lots of moves. Obviously it's good to have some openings memorised, but the strength of Lasker's approach shows when an unforseen variation comes up in play. The book is also worth reading just for the middle and end game sections, and is credited with giving Keres and Reuben Fine their start in chess. Lots of emphasis on pawn structure and concepts like 'distant opposition'.😕
My native tongue is Dutch, but as far as I understand it, the word 'pedantic' means the same as the Dutch 'pedant', which is not so nice. However, I own 4 books by Silman and I just find him NOT pedantic. Easy to grasp language, not over his readers' heads... It's interesting to see how people's opinion can differ when it comes to the interpretation of one and the same wrting style.
Originally posted by Jan Pot, Antwerpe (Belgiusilman's prose is too descriptive for my taste. as said before, chess authors have to decide on the target audience for their books. if the book too advanced or too simple, then the reader will not like the book --- this is my reaction to silman's books.
My native tongue is Dutch, but as far as I understand it, the word 'pedantic' means the same as the Dutch 'pedant', which is not so nice. However, I own 4 books by Silman and I just find him NOT pedantic. Easy to grasp language, not over his readers' heads... It's interesting to see how people's opinion can differ when it comes to the interpretation of one and the same wrting style.
PS
i agree that the book by nunn is excellent too -- instructional but without excessive chess analysis.
The book that helped me most was Euwe's "Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur". Euwe uses games between amateurs and masters to illustrate key principles, and the games are explained very thoroughly.
I also want to put in a good word in for Bronstein's "Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953". The tournament surely had one of the strongest fields in history, and was won by Smyslov (Bronstein tied for 2nd). The text is well-written and nicely balances game analysis with the tournament situation (how much time was on the clock, etc.) and more general observations about the game. The best lessons are probably for more advanced players, but I suspect anyone interested in chess would appreciate it.
Max Euwe has been (and still is) a great chess writer. Next to the one you mentioned also his 'Judgement and Plan' is more that just useful reading. I bought the Dutch version around 1980 and now there's quite recently -and at last!- the English translation, updated with the cooperation of John Nunn. Can't possibly be bad, can it?!