Originally posted by Sicilian Smaugi'm still going through Art of Attack and I'm going through Reassess for the 3rd time now
Eugene Znovsko Borovsky - Art of Chess Combination
Vladamir Vukovic - Art of Attack in Chess
Paul Keres & Alexander Kotov - Art of the Middle Game
Jeremy Silman - How to Reassess your Chess
All the Chess books I've finished (Well, the first one I am half way through) , I plan to read all again to understand anything i may not have absorbed first time around. All are excellent and come highly recommended.
Reassess Your Chess should be on everyone's list, but here's two more of my top 10 that I think get overlooked:
Storming the Barricades
Rocking the Ramparts
Both on attacking, but splendidly written. Some great stories are in there, very good material, and obviously written by probably the best Attacking player the US has ever seen, Larry Christiansen.
Originally posted by likeforestI have yet to thoroughly "finish" a chess book (i.e. work through all the annotations and variations). My favourites would be:
Name a couple of your favorites (ones you have acctually finished).
My Great Predecessors (any except vol I) by Kasparov
The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings by Reuben Fine
How to Reassess Your Chess by Jeremy Silman
I own over 30 chess books yet have finished only two! Essential chess Endings by Howell is essential reading for the busy club player. This slimmed down manual can easily be assimilated in a weekend by the motived.
Simple Chess by Stean is a goldmine of postional ideas. Presented as a collection of games, this book also could be read in a weekend and is ideal for the player making his first venture into strategic play.
These books come highly recommended. Just look at the reviews at Amazon and Jeremysilman.com
King Power in Chess - Edmar Mednis (Very Good)
Solving in Style - John Nunn (puzzles for strong players and how to go about solving them very good book)
Garry Kasparov's Greatest Chess Games Vol. 1+2 - Igor Stohl (Very educational and a great read)
Rapid Chess Improvement - Michael de la Maza (Very solid techniques on how to improve your rating, chess vision drill, combination etc. great book)
Award-winning Chess Problems - Burt Hochberg (very advanced puzzles, really broadens the mind, full of "only move" problems, requires a good understanding of zugzwangs excellent for practice)
Fundamental Chess Endings - Karsten Muller and Frank Lamprecht (excellent for endgame study, good examples and question and ideas)
Art of Attack in Chess - Vladimir Vukovic (excellent book, recommended for advanced players who want to understand very deep tactical and positional battles.)
Storming the Barricades - Larry Christiansen (Very nice book on attacking chess backed up by previous experiences in the authors life)
My Great Predecessors Vol. 1-5 - Garry Kasparov (some of the best books ever written, based on the development of chess since Steinitz all the way to Kramnik. Lots of history, interesting positions and ideas during certain periods of time, a must read!)
Bobby Fischer Goes To War - David Edmonds and John Eidinow (A very interesting autobiography on one of the best chess players ever. It deals mainly about the significance of the World Championship match with him and Spassky in 1972)
Simple chess - Michael Stean (lesser known book my a short-lived GM, received great expert judgements, some of the chapters are outstanding, you won't find such ideas anywhere else)
How to re-assses your chess - Jeremy Silman (modern middle-game classic, provides a great way of looking at the game)
My system - Aron Nimzowitsch (another middle-game classic, the "source" for many things about chess, though the language troubles some people, still a position play bible)
Essential chess endings - James Howell (tournament end-game book - recommended by the top players of my own club.. the only book on end-games! easy to read, great pedagogics and learning factor)
That is four (out of my eight) golden books that I can recommend to anyone..
In my opinion there are a few essential chess books that must be read. I'll go in order of how I think they should be read.
Note that while reading these tactics should be done as often as possible on something like the Chess Tactics Server, CT ART, or any other place where tactics are available.
1.Winning Chess Tactics - Actually most tactics books would go excellently here, but this seems well suited for a beginner.
2.Winning chess Ending - I actually got Pandolfini's Endgame Course instead, and found that I'm too bored to read it. 😀
These two books alone will probable take most people over a month to finish, especially if they are read thoroughly, and I recommend that your tactics book and endgame book be bought, because you'll want to read them more than once. If you do tactics consistently and read these two books thoroughly your rating should be over 1400. And it's time to expand...
3.Basic Opening book. I chose Starting Out: the Sicilian around this point. This helped me choose my opening and gain a basic understanding of what I should be playing. Books like Reuben Fine's Ideas Behind the Chess Openings should be superb as well.
Note that tactics should still be done, and endgames if you can handle it. 😉
4.The Amatuer's Mind - The next step in chess progression, and a very enjoyable book. This book gives players a deeper understanding of the game both from a moves standpoint and a psychological one.
After those two you should be 1500+ easily, in my opinion. This is kind of a tricky point because few books seem to be made for the 1400-1600 player, they seem mostly 1600+ or sub 1400.
5.Another book on tactics - The best way to improve, I am going through Chess Tactics For Champions by Susan Polgar and enjoy it. Lazlo Polgar's huge tactics book is often mentioned on here with good reviews.
6.The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal - I read this book sparodically because it's very thick, it takes a long time to read (I've been reading it for months and am only around page 100) but it's good to go through a game or two every week to get some inspiration and see how masters play. Any book that covers the games of a great player (Fischer, Kasparov, Alekhine, Capablanca, etc.) is great to go through. It gives an insight into their mind and is probably the best way to get ideas for your own games.
7.Art of Attack in Chess - I just started it. So right now I'm reading Chess Tactics For Champions, The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, and Art of Attack in Chess. I don't read all three everyday, although I do try to practice tactics as often as possible. This might not the most efficent method, but I am the type of person that has trouble reading just one book at a time. Tactics seem the very best way to bolster one's rating, but if you don't understand ideas then you will not be as strong a player. Art of Attack in Chess is essential for any attacking player. After one chapter I already feel confident that I can make any player within 200 points of my rating feel uncomfortable in certain positions (Uncastled King with a queen on e7, or leaving the point f2/f7 weak). It's an essential book for chess improvement.
8.Reassess Your Chess.