it is clearly written for beginners, with no knowledge of such things as algebraic notation. i suspect that <just a kid> might be more advanced that the target audience of this book.

but as a general recommendation for beginners, i think that <The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess> is very good. it's not as simple as it sounds, it covers a lot of concepts in an accessible manner. also, lots of exercises, which i think is important for learning. i found it to be very helpful when i first started out.

<KingG: By the way, in his Chess Puzzle Book, John Nunn did some computer analysis of the games from Karlsbad 1911 to see how they compared with today's games, and he was far from impressed. It's far too long to reproduce here, so I'll just link to John Watson's review of the book where he quotes a large portion of that section: http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/jwa... I really recommend you all to read it, it's fascinating.>

Okay, maybe not 'really old' as in "taketh ye pawn that sitteth in front of the king's square and push him two squares forward in a direction perpendicular to the row of pawns. This shall be the first move"...

I used to have a 19th century handbook by Mason, and an early MCO from around 1910 -- but I sold 'em during my non-chess years. Not much use from a chessic POV, but interesting. Maybe I'm being a bibliophile rather than a chessplayer -- but, hey, if a bibliophile can't out himself in this forum, what's the point?

Subject for possible future discussion: on a scale from zero to thousands, how many chess books should one own?

Only one--but make sure it's the best book!

Seriously, it's not the number of books as much as the use made of them. After a point, you begin to love the books for themselves rather than what they can help you accomplish, and that's when you're doomed.

A book about sharp lines in the Dragon or Benoni (aha!) would, admittedly, soon show its age. But if the author has explained the ideas well, it should always be possible to update the analysis using databases.

One IM advised me not to bother with opening books -- just make a collection of key games and analyse them thoroughly, with the emphasis on ideas rather than memorizing moves.

1) That's how they learned things in school;
2) To avoid embarrassing themselves by falling into traps; 3) To embarrass their opponents by catching them in traps; 4) GMs memorize openings, so that's the way it should be done.

It's that last reason I find particularly insiduous, that of trying to play better than what you are capable of. The first time I reached Expert I immediately dropped over 200 rating points because I started trying to play like an Expert should play.

But how does this all relate to the original question of how many chess books should you own? If you're talking about a strictly functional library for a practical player, maybe a dozen books, with replacements as necessary, would suffice. Several well-explained opening books, some meaty middle-game and tactical books, a solid endgame text or two, and a few well-annotated game collections that will demonstrate all facets of the game in a variety of styles.

opening manuals are a waste of time for most of us, IMHO. it doesn't matter if you play the first 10 moves right if your 11th-15th moves are garbage.

for all the time i've spent on openings, i've found by looking at my own games that i can almost always get out of the opening with a decent position just by using general principles. then i start blundering.

You could profitably own up to 45,000 of these, I think.

I especially recommend <The Chess Artist>, a wonderful odyssey of a journalist and his <Master level> pal as they journey to <Kalmykia> in search of an interview with the elusive <Loch Ness Monster>.

It's the best chess book I ever read.

Probably because it's not a chess book.

of course, such books are very entertaining. but we don't buy them with the hope that they will improve our game, and we don't expect them to.

we don't buy opening manuals for entertainment, though. we buy them hoping <in vain> that the next book will be the one that finally makes us a stronger player.

a suggestion has been made by several kibitzers here - the typical chess player needs only a handful of high quality instructional books to improve. given the amount of time it takes to absorb a high quality chess book, getting 50 of them is not a constructive use of resources.

Yes, I agree. But you know- for a Club level player, there's more than enough free online resources available to build a more than adequate opening repetoire.

I was just watching an excellent basic video primer on the <Sicilian> from the website you found for us- by the always affable, and humorously named <FIDE International Master Dennis Rhinoceros>:

I'm going through it for a second time as we speak.

Really- if you can get the first five moves in safely in any opening I think you're good to go, no?

I'm not an expert on chess books though.

You know I tell you though that it's "fun" to read about various openings even if this is of little value to the Club Player improving.

For me- my "chess time" is <my> time and I tend to waffle about reading/doing things that make me feel happy.

So far that's working fine I think. As long as I avoid this Blitz nonsense but it's like a drug on FICS- a really bad drug. Ok that's off topic-

I need a meeting brother!

<Dennis Rhinoceros>- "How to Play the Sicilian in 45 minutes":

http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/vie...

I'm reading a book about <Bobby Fischer> right now that in no way is going to improve my playing strength.

But I was very pleased to discover some of the contents of <Bobby's> chess library:

<The Soviet School of Chess> by Kotov and Yudovich (in Russian!)

<Chess Openings--Ancient and Modern> by Freeborough and Ranken (published in 1893!)

What's interesting to me is that according to biographer <Frank "No Legs" Brady>, the pages of these two volumes had tons of scribbled notes made by <Bobby> on them.

Apparently, he was most interested in the old chess opening book primarily to add in his own new ideas on chess theory-

Including "reworked analyses of the Scotch Game, the Giuoco Piano, the Evans Gambit, the King's Bishop Gambit, and the Danish Gambit."

Notice how much of <Bobby's> early interest was in these wild "open" systems.

Later, of course, he would master closed openings as well, and as <Eyal> points out, by the early 1970s it seemed that <Bobby> could beat anybody with any opening at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handbu...

it was said that Fischer read 1000 chess books, and took the best ideas from each of them.

i suspect that i would have no trouble reaching 1000 if i tried, but the <best ideas> part is something i might have issues with. :)

it is significant that Fischer was finding ideas in 100 year old opening manuals. we should not allow the caprices and fashions of opening theory to blinker our perspective.

on the flipside of Fischer's digging is this interesting quote from Chernev's book "Wonders and Curiosities of Chess" - <G.A. MacDonnell was the winner of a tournament played at London in 1868. All the competitors began their games with the positions of their Knights and Bishops reversed - in order to avoid book play. And this was back in 1868!>

My first reaction after a little thought late last night was: 10... maybe just a few more. Following the same reasoning as I now see has been sofar presented.

But jazzing things up with a number of books JUST because, for example: <it's "fun" to read about various openings even if this is of little value to the Club Player improving.> can also have great value. It can be FUN - and at the same time a launch pad for further study (it was, is and never will be-- the Gospel)- in that the presented material may offer incentives to further study a part of the middle game, as well as certain endgame positions, which any GOOD opening book should stimulate to.

And if it doesn't, on my own initiative, I still would relate any opening manual/treatise, to strategical and tactical patterns and fundamentals, e.g. ensuing pawnstructures, the latter especially re the closed and semi-closed systems. But in essence use it as an incentive and launch pad for further study and training.

But any Chess Opening book, always stimulates my Chessbrain over the entire spectrum, even if, or because - as <JFQ said> - it is "just" a lot of FUN.

It is wonderfully written, very entertaining, and full of anecdotes and amusing stories about great chess players (including Donner himself).

It is a collection of columns written over a 30-year period by Donner. Nonetheless, it holds up very well to the modern reader. There is also much to be learned about chess from it as well.

<GAMES COLLECTIONS THAT FOLLOW FAMOUS BOOKS>

This outstanding resource takes you to hundreds of games collections from famous books such as <Mikhail Tal's> "My Life and Games," <Bobby Fischer's> "My 60 Memorable Games," and many, many, many more:

Game Collection: The Chess Book Companion (a meta-collection)

I just this second went to my suitcase and retrieved my copy of <JH Donner's> EXCEEDINGLY GREAT BOOK. It's sitting right in front of me right now!!!

It's the best <Chess Journalism Collection> in history, in my opinion.

It's hilarious as well.

What an amazing coincidence!!!

BTW, I am a <Book>...

Ok I know this isn't what you asked for= but it kind of goes with what I was posting about earlier in here.

I can only speak for myself- but I have been scoring really well with this set up against the <Petrov>-

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nf6
3. Nxe5 d6
4. Nf3 Nxe4
5. Nc3 Nxc3
6. dxc3 Be7
7. Bf4 O-O
8. Qd2 Nd7
9. O-O-O

click for larger view

This is a bit of a sideline variation but it has some recent play by top GMs.

This variation makes for a very exciting game for both colors IMO- You typically get opposite wing pawn storms and its "Open tactical chess Heaven" if you ask me. I love it. The key "Deviant move" is <White> playing <5.Nc3>- so if you run in to it with Black, this is what it looks like usually.

So you know what I've been doing?

I set up this variation against my Engine- and train from here. Or from some slightly different but same themed variations.

With both colors.

And I tell you <Blacksburg> I've been using this method of improving my Opening Repetoire and in my case it has been very helpful. I do this kind of training with all the openings I play.

But as I said earlier, I'm certainly not going to try to dissuade you from finding a good <Petrov Book>.

I am a book myself, after all.