Books for Novices: Weapons of Chess by Bruce Pandolfini (for 900 to 1400 range players) essay format How

w to Reassess your Chess by Silman/ Complete Book of Chess Strategy Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors Think like a Grandmaster by Kotov

The Amateurs Mind by Silman (for over 1,500 rating players) An invitation to Chess by Chernev great intro book
For a beginner or just beyond that level Bruce Pandolfini's, "Beginning Chess: Over 300 Elementary Problems" and for an intermediate player, Emms "Ultimate Chess Puzzle Book"

Pandolfinis Endgame Course (it's all at a beginner level (around 1000-1400 USCF)
CHESS TACTICS WORKBOOK CHESS WORKBOOK FOR CHILDREN

EVERYMAN CHESS BOOKS FOR BEGINNERS: Starting Out in Chess by Byron Jones Tips for Young Players by Matthew Sadler Learn Chess: A Complete Course by Alexander & Beech Basic Chess Openings by Gabor Kallai Improve Your Chess Now by Jonathan Tisdall Choose the Right Move by Daniel King and Chris Duncan First Steps in Chess by John Walker Chess Fundamentals Test Your Chess: Piece Power by John Walker Good beginner book, for about 1250 USCF rating.

Players Under 1000: Winning Chess Puzzles For Kids by Jeff Coakley

Winning Chess Strategy For Kids by Jeff Coakley Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess by Bobby Fischer Players Between 1000 and 1500 Winning Chess Strategies by Yasser Seirawan Winning Chess Tactics by Yasser Seirawan The Amateurs Mind by Jeremy Silman

these are best chess books for different ratings for: 1000-1200 bain book,yaseer sairwaan,lazlo pogar,shokolov and schiller for1300-1700 palliser,shokolov and schiller and jacob aagaard for 1700-2100+ jacob aagaard and think like grandmaster kotov

The 5334 book, along with both of Susan Polgar's books, Dan Heisman's "Back to Basics: Tactics" book, Alburt's Comprehensive Chess Course I & II, and Farsworth's books I believe are the best tactics books for the true beginner because the majority of the problems are solved within 2 moves and >80% of the problems are solved within 3-moves, appropriate for a beginner (yes I counted, after being frustrated by Seirawan's more difficult "beginner" book).

Seirawan's book, Winning Chess Tactics, I thought was way too difficult for a beginner, having lots of problems that are several moves long with multiple side-lines of analysis that were each multiple-moves long. Although his explanations of tactical motifs were fine, I thought he had too few examples and problems, and I believe Farnsworth does a far better job for the beginner or lower-level player. Chandler's books (How to Beat Your Dad at Chess and Chess Tactics for Kids) have misleading titles and I think are better tackled when one is more comfortable with simpler tactics/mates since he essentially classifies multiple 3-4 move tactics/mates which are much easier to understand when you have a grasp of the simpler tactics. Cheng's, Nunn's, Emm's, Palliser's, and Averbakh's books are for nonbeginners as far as I know.

Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess Books by Bruce Pandolfini Books by Jeremy Silman Chess! Lessons from a Grandmaster by Yury Shulman and Seth Rishi Comprehensive Chess Course Volumes 1 & 2 Chess Training Program for Beginners by Susan Polgar Highland Park Curriculum for Beginners and Intermediates Chess Tactics for Students by John Bain Logical Chess Move by Move by Irving Chernev How to Beat Your Dad at Chess by Murray Chandler Dan Heismans books, Novice Nook columns and videos
CurriculumThere is a wealth of material out there. i. The Gary Kasparov Foundationfree instructional materials for schools ii. Chess is Fun by Jon Edwardsfrom basic to intermediate iii. Chess Kids Academyespecially great for young children iv. And one of my favorites www.professorchess.com f. Resources Ive asked a number of great chess players (Maurice Ashley, Susan Polgar, Stephan Gerzadowicz) to tell me the most important things for beginners, and young players to work on. Every one of them gave me the same answerTACTICS. So I have several Tactics resources to recommend: i. The Chess Tactics Workbook- by Al Woolum ii. Ward Farnsworths Predator at the ChessboardEntire text online or available as a two volume set. iii. Chess Tactics for Students (Bain) iv. Alexy Roots Chess in Education series of books are also grea t

for teaching ideas that extend beyond chess.

For kids or any other beginner I would recommend 3 books 1, Chess Openings By Mike Basman 2, Logical chess move by move by Irving Chernev 3, Silman's complete endgame course by Jeremy Silman These are books for adults. For children, Chandler's "How to Beat Your Dad at Chess," Gillam's "Simple Checkmates," and Ivashchenko's "Manual of Chess Combinations" (only vols 1a and 1b) might be more appropriate.

The classic 'How to beat your dad at chess' should be in every library as well as Tim Onions' 'Ten ways to beat...' series. "Chess For Kids: How to Play and Win" by Richard James Onions books and for mate studies I like "202 Checkmates for Children" by Fred Wilson and Bruce Albertson. "Play Better Chess" by Leonard Barden is very good (not as a first book for U10s but over 10s, including beginning adults, should rip into it) GM recommended Bronstein's 1953 Candidates book when I asked for recommendations for keen 1011 year olds who want to become strong players.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess (3rd edition). Patrick Wolff. pub. Alpha, 2005 Simple Checkmates. Tony Gillam. pub. Batsford Manual of Chess Combinations, vols 1a and 1b. Ivashchenko, et al. pub. Russian Chess House.

The Art of the Checkmate. Renaud and Kahn. Dover, 1962

How to Beat Your Dad at Chess. Chandler. Gambit, 1998 Find the Checkmate. Lane. Batsford

Play for Mate. Hooper and Cafferty. Batsford Capablanca: A Primer of Checkmate. Del Rosario. Mongoose Press, 2010

Livshitz's Test Your Chess IQ -- the first volume only. Weteschnik's Understanding Chess Tactics and Bojkov and Georgiev's A Course in Chess Tactics. Du Mont's The Basis of Combination in Chess Averbakh's Chess Tactics for Advanced Players Minev's Mastering Tactical Ideas

Chess Tactics for Juniors. Hall. Hays Publishing. The Basis of Combination in Chess. Du Mont. Dover. Encyclopedia of Chess Middlegames: Combinations. Chess Informant, 1990? Test Your Chess IQ (three volumes). Livshitz. Cadogan. Mastering Tactical Ideas. Minev. ICE, 2000? Tal's Winning Chess Combinations. Tal and Khenkin. Simon and Schuster. Chess Tactics for Advanced Players. Averbakh. Chess Digest. Domination in 2545 Endgame Studies. Kasparyan. Moscow.

360 Brilliant and Instructive Endgames. Troitzky. Dover. How to Be a Deadly Chess Tactician. LeMoir. Gambit. Learn Chess Tactics. Nunn. Gambit, 2004. Chess Tactics. Littlewood. Batsford. Combinational Motifs. Maxim Blokh. Moscow, 2003. Understanding Chess Tactics. Weteschnik. Quality Chess, 2006 A Course in Chess Tactics. Bojkov and Georgiev. Gambit, 2010

Buy any book by the British school teacher and chess master John N. Walker. They are perfect for young players under 1200. Here are some Books by John Walker Chess for Tomorrows Champions provides an entertaining and amusing introduction along with historical tidbits. Winning on the Openings shows how to take advantage of your opponents mistakes. This is a great way to learn openings. Attacking the King shows how to build up what Walker calls "firepower." This is a killer middlegame book. Test Your Chess: Piece Power has got lots of problems well suited for junior instruction.

Paul Littlewoods Check Tactics is an outstanding exploration of the main tactical motifs. He explains overloading, deflection, decoying better than ever. If you only get one book on tactics, this is the one. CJ.S. Purdys Guide to Good Chess is truly a classic for both young and old chess players. Purdy explains chess like no one else. Learn Purdys rules and discover why Bobby Fischer considered Purdy the worlds greatest chess author. Andrew Soltis Grandmaster Secrets Endings is the most enlightening book Ive ever read. This book is challenging but dont let that stop you. Irving Chernevs The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played truly lives up to its title. It includes 62 masterpieces of chess strategy. If you have a rating of 1000 or higher then study this book and I guarantee you will improve your chess. If I could only have one chess book this would be it.

1. Chess Training Pocket Book: 300 Most Important Positions and Ideas, Second Edition by Lev Alburt (1997) 2. More Unbeatable Chess for Juniors (Chess) by Robert M. Snyder 3. How Computers Play Chess by David N. L. Levy
(1991) (2005)

4. Extreme Chess: C. J. S. Purdy Annotates the World Championships : Alekhine-Euwe I, 1935 : Alekhine-Euwe II, 1937 : Fischer-Spassky I, 1972 (Purdy Series) by C. J. S. Purdy (1999) 5. Winning Chess Tournaments for Juniors by Robert M. Snyder
(2004)

6. Chess Exam And Training Guide: Rate Yourself And Learn How To Improve by Igor Khmelnitsky (2004) 7. Chess Strategy for the Tournament Player (Comprehensive Chess Course Series) by Lev Alburt (2000) 8. How to Beat Your Dad at Chess (Gambit chess) by Murray Chandler 9. Best Lessons of a Chess Coach by Sunil Weeramantry
(1993) (1991) (1998)

10. Chess for Juniors: A Complete Guide for the Beginner (Chess) by Robert M. Snyder 11. Understanding Chess Move by Move by John Nunn
(2001)

12. Chess Tactics for the Tournament Player (Comprehensive Chess Course Series) (Comprehensive Chess Course, Third Level) by Sam Palatnik (1996) 13. The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings by Reuben Fine 14. Test & Improve Your Chess by Lev Alburt
(1989) (2001) (1980)

15. Chess Training for Budding Champions by Jesper Hall

TEN BEST BOOKS:

10. Chess Self-Teacher, by Al Horowitz (1961). Chess Primer and Chess Fundamentals both very useful books that should be required reading for novices. 9. Winning Chess Strategy for Kids, by Jeff Coakley Winning Chess Exercises for Kids (2004), is just as good but very challenging for the novice. Years ago, Reinfeld, Horowitz, Fine and Chernev taught beginners. Today, some competent authors who target the child novice are Pandolfini, Walker (the British Pandolfini), Heisman and Snyder. Lev Albert has authored many books that are geared toward the more mature novice. I especially enjoy the two-book course by Aleksander Kostyev, From Beginner to Expert in 40 Lessons (1998) and 40 Lessons for the Club Player (1990), both published by Batsford. These lessons cover a couple of topics which take approximately an hour of classroom time.

8. 1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations, by Fred Reinfeld (Wilshire Book Co., 1955) Puzzle books interest me so I choose the grand-daddy of them all (not its easier sibling, 1001 Winning Checkmates). Lazlos Polgar's 2534 Combinations is great for novices. Chris Ward authored many puzzle books targeting novice to intermediate players. Two other challenging favorites are Nunn's Puzzle Book and Barden's Puzzle Book (retitled Batsford's Puzzle Book). A beginner should devour these books, because "One who understands combinations, then understands chess." 7. Judgment and Planning in Chess, Dr. Max Euwe, 1979 McKay. DN. Strategy/middlegame. Other outstanding Euwe titles are; The Middlegame, Book one, Static features and Book two, Dynamic features with Kramer, A Guide to Chess Endings with Hooper, The Development of Chess Style, edited and enlarged by John Nunn, 1997, and the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby road books. They are The Road to Chess Mastery, Chess Amateur versus Chess Master and Chess Master versus Chess Master, written with Walter Meiden and can only be picked up in reruns. Judgment and Planning, The Middlegame books and A Guide to Chess Endings would help strong Class B players and up to advance to the Expert class. The other books would help those in the B-D classes. 6. Pawn Structure Chess, Andrew Soltis, 1995, McKay. Opening. Pawn Structure Chess was my most important opening book. It is better than Rueben Fine's The Ideas behind the Opening and the similar Pawn Power by Hans Kmoch (endorsed highly by IM Dan Kopec). 5. Lasker's Chess Manuel, Emanuel Lasker, Dover, DN. Philosophy. 4. One Hundred Selected Games, Mikhail Botvinnik, Dover, DN. Game collection. 3. Practical Chess Endings, Irving Chernev, Dover reprint of 1961 Simon and Schuster. Endgame. I enjoy endgame studies the same as puzzle books or combinations, mainly to stay in some chess shape. There is a plethora of good endgame books. Some of them are; How to Win in the Chess Endings by Horowitz, Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge by Averbach, Basic Chess Endings (revised by Benko) by R. Fine, Endgame Strategy by Shereshevsky, Mastering the Endgame volume 1 & 2 by Shereshevsky and Slutsky, The Survival Guide to Rook Endings by Emms and Essential Chess Endings by Howell. 2. The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played, Irving Chernev, Dover reprint from 1965 Simon and Schuster, DN. Instruction. One can never go wrong when purchasing a Chernev book, from An Invitation to chess, or 1000 Best Short Games of Chess, or The Fireside Book of Chess, or Logical Chess Move by Move or many others. 1. Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors, Part I, Everyman Chess, 2003. Most impressive

Keep in mind that my first published rating was under 1000, so some of these books you would probably consider too basic. I list them in chronological order of my reading them.

Invitation to Chess - Chernev & Harkness Last Lectures - J. R. Capablanca Lasker's Manual of Chess - Emanuel Lasker Chess Fundamentals - J. R. Capablanca Logical Chess: Move by Move - Irving Chernev Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur - Euwe & Meiden Modern Chess Strategy - Pachman I also am a big fan of Chernev's "Most Instructive Games of Chess", but I wouldn't include it on my list because I was already pretty good by the time I read it. Pachman's book has a reputation as a classic and I believe it is completely deserved.

Its Your Move by Chris Ward - This is also a very hard chess puzzle book (not for players below 1800) Avoid the older blue-cover "It's Your Move" by the same author. It's not bad, but it's too hard (and at that level, Silman is better). The "Improvers" version is much easier. Useful tool for low rated player (U1600 USCF), The book is very basic and fun to read, yet majority of positions are important and I wouldn't hesitate using them with my students

The Art of Chess Combinations - Znosko-Borovsky is a brilliant chess teacher; this and his How to Play the Chess Endings are his two best works. For the beginning tournament player, The Art of Chess Combination gives a wonderful, concise introduction to important motifs in attacking (and in some cases, defensive) play. Vukovic's Art of Attack in Chess is a good book, but after reading Znosko-Borovsky's shorter work felt it did not add that much extra. This book is superb. The only book you will ever need on combinations & attack on the castled postion. Very advanced, recommended for players 1800+ (USCF). This is a real classic of chess literature.

The Game of Chess by Tarrasch

This is quite possibly the best single volume on the game of chess for advanced beginners to early intermediate players. The book covers all three phases of the game - ending (first), middlegame (second), and openings (last). Tarrasch's writing style is very clear and easy to understand. A great book to be studied and restudied. The author has done an outstanding job in breaking chess into first principles, and then using these principles to illustrate how to play chess well.

"Power Chess" - Nigel Davies an advanced beginner/weak intermediate player is best suited for the text. This volume is not for beginer, but are some easy puzzles. In each lessons he gives 6 puzzles the first four are tactic combination, winning material or mate. The last two are positional puzzles, just moves to get better position, or drawback manoeuvres. In the forward of Winning Chess Tactics for Juniors it says to do this book 3 times and not to move on to Combination Challenge until you're around USCF 1700. One Thousand...Combinations: I'd like to mention that this shouldn't be the first book on tactics for the beginning player (under 1500). The first book you should read is 'Winning Chess: How to See Three Moves Ahead' by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld ('Chess Tactics for Students' by Bain or 'Winning Chess Tactics' by Seirawan are good alternatives.) '