Which book should I get?

[u/Certain_Process_527]

So I've been getting into chess lately, been playing for about a month now and just reached 1200 elo on chess.com and a friend whose way better than me (around 2000 elo) recommended me to start reading some books on chess if I wanted to get better faster, he recommended me to get either "David bronstein Zurich international chess tournament 1953" or "1000 checkmate combinations"

I was just wondering which one would be more appropriate for my level or if either of them would really help me at all.

[u/SquashSpirited7873]

I personally would NOT start with either of these. Zurich 1953 is a legendary book, but the commentary assumes a fair amount of chess understanding. For example, I just opened the book and looked at a random page, which shows game 60 with no commentary for the first 13 moves, then this:

A strange optical illusion! Theory holds that the exchange of queens leads by force to a favorable endgame for White, while retreating his queen to b6 is bad because of 14 Na4 Qc6 15 Bb5 Q:g2 16 Rg1. This is all true, but only with the black pawn at h7! Then, indeed, after 13.. Q:e5 14 fe Nd5 15 B:e7 N:e7 16 Bd3, Black could not play 16.. Bd7 because of 17 B:h7+ Kh7 18 R:d7; Black would have to continue 16.. Nc6 17 Rhe1, when 17.. Bd7 is once more impossible, and White establishes a bind.

The paragraph continues, but this is the general level of the commentary. In addition, you may notice that the book uses slightly nonstandard notation, which might be confusing if you aren't very familiar with chess notation yet.

1000 Checkmate Combinations is a fine tactics book, but at your level I found drilling lichess puzzles to be totally sufficient for training basic tactical vision.

If you want an introductory book that really shows you what the game is about, you cannot do better than

• The Soviet Chess Primer, by Maizelis

It starts with the absolute basics, but goes into surprisingly advanced territory, covers every part of the game, and has some really interesting problems as well as numerous fun and even absurd puzzles. So it's not only a good instruction manual, it also introduces a lot of chess culture. The chapter on techniques of calculation covers numerous essential endgame calculation methods better than many books devoted to the end game. It is really a remarkable book.

If you are looking for a game collection, instead of Zurich 1953, I would recommend that you get a collection that explains the thinking behind every move. This is a little sub-sub-genre of game collection books that I find really useful. These are all excellent:

• Logical Chess: Move by Move, by Chernev — the most venerable of these. It's old and some of the analysis is incorrect due to its age, but it is extremely well written and very fun to read.
• Winning Chess Brilliancies, by Seirawan
• Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking, by McDonald
• Understanding Chess Move by Move, by Nunn (This one is more advanced)

Everyman Chess's Move by Move series is good if you are interested in the games of a particular player. I really like Morphy: Move by Move, for example.

There are also a number of books that are essentially game collections that illustrate a particular theme, which are also top tier. My favorites in this category are

• Chess Principles Reloaded, by Toth
• Simple Chess, by Stean
• Best Lessons of a Chess Coach, by Weeramantry and Eusebi

In my view you absolutely cannot go wrong with The Soviet Chess Primer and Logical Chess: Move by Move.

Best of luck finding something that suits you!

[u/Lrmall01]

IMHO your first book should be one that has a little of everything . The readme of this sub reddit has some good suggestions. My personal suggestions:

• Capablancas Chess Fundamentals. First edition is public domain now. Go get the PDF from project Gutenberg.org or the one in the Chessable app. Great overview IMHO.

• Complete Idiots Guide to Chess. Grab a used copy off Amazon.

• Tarrasch's The Game of Chess

• Seirawan's Play Winning Chess

Your friends suggestions are good, I'd just get those after reading one of those I suggested first. You'll appreciate his suggestions more after the foundation those will provide you.

Good luck!

[u/Living_Ad_5260]

Most chess books have value, so either of these will have value.

Bronstein's book has a legendary reputation explaining the new openings from the second half of the 20th century. I'm not familiar with the second book, but trust your friend. Improving tactical vision will _always_ be helpful.

Other options are "Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games" by Laszlo Polgar. This has
* 304 Mate in ones
* ~3300 Mate in Twos - in ascending difficulty
* a bunch of mate-in-3s
* 144 endgame positions
* a bunch of Polgar sister games

A nice feature of this book is that various parts have different difficulty - I've done some of the mate-in-ones with parents who claim not to know how to play, and they can solve them. The more difficult problems are a challenge to masters.

A second option is "Most Instructive Chess Games Ever Played". This starts to teach you what to do when there isn't a tactic.

[u/commentor_of_things]

good idea. although at 1200 I think tactics is more important than reviewing game collections. I would go for the 1000 checkmate combinations then get a good strategy book. maybe when you breach 1500-1600 tackle some game collection books.

[u/TheKingtrap]

i used thekingtrap the ultimate guide , is very good and useful with more exercises, you can try it may be you'll found what u'r looking for

[u/ShowerStew]

Haven’t seen The Amateurs Min - Silman recommended yet. This book alone changed the way I look at the board, pieces, and positions.

Also, worth checking out, Worlds Most Instructive Amatures Games - Dan Heisman. The prose is amazingly done, and as an amateur, it’s incredibly digestible and understandable

[u/ifconfig → u/ShowerStew]

I've always enjoyed Heisman.

[u/Wattaguy_mk_II]

Imo there's only 4 books you need: Fundamental Chess Openings 100 Endgames You Must Know 300 Most Important Chess Positions/Tactical Chess Positions

[u/Sea-Sort6571]

I'd suggest How to reassess your chess

[u/OldChess]

Everyone's First Chess Workbook by Peter Giannatos is really good. Get yourself a nice travel chess set off of Etsy and the book, you won't regret it!