Choosing my first chess book. Any suggestions?
My System - Aaron Nimzovich
There are many good books on the market. „My System“ is not bad but all those weird stories ring somewhat strange nowadays. I would prefer a contemporary (beginner‘s) book.
endgame university mark dvoretsky
Dvoretzky‘s endgame manual is probably the overkill and meant for pros.
Just a random beginners book will do; probably a simple google research will yield some pretty new and good ones.
Just a random beginners book will do; probably a simple google research will yield some pretty new and good ones.
I really loved Art of Chess by James Mason (and you can get a free e-book of it!)
It's archaic, descriptive notation, and doubtless hopelessly irrelevant, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was my first chess book.
MR
It's archaic, descriptive notation, and doubtless hopelessly irrelevant, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was my first chess book.
MR
Logical Chess Move By Move -- Chernev
Logical Chess Move By Move -- Chernev -> yes!
Capablanca's Chess Fundamentals. I believe this can be bought in its original descriptive notation or in modern algebraic. It's not new but it will raise your game a lot.
#2, #7 +1
I agree with "My System" by Nimzovich, and Chernev is my favorite chess author, period, so I agree with "Logical Chess Move by Move" as well.
If by "first book" you need something "novice" rather than abstract, consider Jeremy Silman's "How to reassess your chess" book (there are also supplementary exercise books; sometimes combined in publication).
And by "abstract" I mean to say -- some chess books can be rather dense in theory.
Also consider Polgar's shots book, and/or a studying compendium such as "Modern Chess Openings" (MCO, versus or opposed to ECO). Though, to be fair, for most novices or beginners, chess coaches tend to suggest concentrating on mid-game tactics (Polgar) versus openings (MCO or ECO) or end-game (table-bases).
My personal theory runs counter-clockwise ... if you need to start somewhere, you should start at the beginning (openings). But my experience tells me that better chess players have better middle-game pattern recognition, which segue's into better end-game position. (And, though "My System" can be a bit abstract, because it's about positional chess, that's where it becomes helpful to read books like this from the start, IMO.)
I agree with "My System" by Nimzovich, and Chernev is my favorite chess author, period, so I agree with "Logical Chess Move by Move" as well.
If by "first book" you need something "novice" rather than abstract, consider Jeremy Silman's "How to reassess your chess" book (there are also supplementary exercise books; sometimes combined in publication).
And by "abstract" I mean to say -- some chess books can be rather dense in theory.
Also consider Polgar's shots book, and/or a studying compendium such as "Modern Chess Openings" (MCO, versus or opposed to ECO). Though, to be fair, for most novices or beginners, chess coaches tend to suggest concentrating on mid-game tactics (Polgar) versus openings (MCO or ECO) or end-game (table-bases).
My personal theory runs counter-clockwise ... if you need to start somewhere, you should start at the beginning (openings). But my experience tells me that better chess players have better middle-game pattern recognition, which segue's into better end-game position. (And, though "My System" can be a bit abstract, because it's about positional chess, that's where it becomes helpful to read books like this from the start, IMO.)
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