There are many studies showing how good playing chess is for a person’s mental health. Research demonstrates that regular games can improve concentration and memory, encourage creative thinking and increase your IQ level. This applies whether you’re approaching chess as a child or adult. Doctors, too, have seen the occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease and other age-related cognitive impairments drop in older players.
By booking lessons with one of our coaches, the advantages of regular play will soon become obvious, and not only will you enjoy the challenges but you’ll be joining a supportive online community.
There have been numerous books written about chess, and it can be confusing which books will back up your coach’s sessions, giving you something to work on between lessons. We’ve taken the hard work out of choosing by selecting our top 10 chess books. This list covers everything from beginners to advanced, openings, endgames, and the tactics throughout – if you’re seeking a challenge before you next speak to your coach, it’s right here.
1. Magnus Carlsen: 60 Memorable Games by Andrew Soltis
Many chess players consider Magnus Carlsen to be the greatest World Champion ever and with four championship titles under his belt, they could well be right. In this book, Soltis – arguably a very talented chess writer, takes the reader through 60 of Carlsen’s greatest games.
Analyzing the psychology behind Carlsen’s strategy, and that of his opponents, Soltis allows you to understand the game in easy-to-read detail. Explaining the combinations, why the opening moves were played, the sacrifices paid, and beyond the endgames all with clear diagrams, this is a book that any chess enthusiast will enjoy.
2. Complete Book of Chess Strategy by Jeremy Silman
Silman has produced a clearly written guide to chess strategy, which includes intelligible diagrams, illustrating each point. Easy to locate the detailed descriptions, it uses a dictionary-based format, with entries listed alphabetically, making it fun to flick through, and invaluable if you’re looking for more information on a given topic.
Tackling a vast range of concepts, including well-known and rare openings, middles and endgames, named defense or attacking moves, and many less familiar strategic combinations.
For sheer readability and number of ideas covered, this book is well worth getting.
3. Chess Fundamentals by Jose Capablanca
Designed to take the beginner player from understanding the rules to thinking and playing like an expert, Capablanca makes learning fun. He includes all the basics, covering essential openings, middles, and endings, in an approachable style, before moving on to more strategical moves, such as the Ruy Lopez, French and Petrov Defenses, and indirect attacks.
With examples from world champion players, and explaining all-important winner’s psychology, Capablanca has produced a readable book that can teach any level of player a good number of tricks that will be useful in their chess career.
4. Chess for Kids by Michael Basman
Dorling Kindersley (DK) are renowned for producing excellent books across a vast range of subjects and this is no exception. With beautifully clear illustrations and photographs, Basman makes chess fascinating for kids. Highly readable and easy to understand, the opening chapters cover each playing piece in detail, before moving on to explain basic openings, the necessary techniques to attack and defend successfully, and the endgame. Without overwhelming and pushing kids too far, this book keeps the interest flowing and follows a natural, organic learning process, increasing the reader’s knowledge and strengthening their self-confidence.
An awesome birthday gift for a chess fan, Basman’s Chess for Kids should be on every enthusiast’s reading list.
5. Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games by László Polgár
Polgár’s Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games has a well-earned place on many a chess experts bookshelf, and rightly so. With an approach that trains your subconscious to identify numerous recognizable patterns, while simplifying the way your memory accesses and retrieves the necessary information, Grandmasters and World Champions have benefitted from Polgár’s method. With regular practice, you can too.
Featuring over 300 checkmate-in-one exercises, more than 3,000 checkmate-in-two, and yes, you guessed it, nearly 800 three-move checkmates, there are enough challenges to keep you occupied every day for several years! This nicely produced book is broken down into logical sections, making it easy to find what you want, while understandable diagrams accompany each exercise.
6. The Amateur’s Mind: Turning Chess Misconceptions Into Chess Mastery by Jeremy Silman
Silman’s approach with The Amateur’s Mind is concerned with retraining the thought processes that cause ineffective chess games, resulting in painful defeats.
All players possess erroneous and biased thinking that affects the way games are seen, considered, and subsequently played. In order to bypass these flaws, the author studied countless chess players, detailing their thoughts during a game, analyzing and cataloging the most frequently observed misunderstandings.
This has enabled Silman to produce an easily comprehensible book that’s designed to strengthen your chess skillset by changing the way you think about the game in front of you. Approaching the board with an objective mind allows you to avoid those misconceptions that can plague players, and turns your newly discovered knowledge into
success.
7. My 60 Memorable Games by Bobby Fischer
Often acknowledged as one of the best chess books ever written, Fischer’s 60 Memorable Games takes an analytical look at 60 of his most enlightening and educational chess games. Written by the great man himself, this book offers much more hands-on insight than others produced by Fischer’s contemporaries and his explanation of the now-famous ‘Game of the Century’ played when he was just aged 15, is a joy to read.
This is a book that should be on every chess enthusiast’s shelf, both for the knowledge contained within and for the fascinating observations into one of the most gifted chess minds ever.
8. Modern Chess Openings, 15th Edition by Nick De Firmian
De Firmian is firmly acknowledged as an expert on chess openings, and his name has gone down in history thanks to his work on Deep Blue, the supercomputer that beat Kasparov in 1997. By teaching DB the opening moves of that infamous game, he ensured the World Champion’s defeat.
Modern Chess Openings, now in its 15th edition, contains detailed instruction on double king/pawn openings, semi-open games, including the Caro Kann and Alekhine’s Defense, and double queen/pawn openings. It also covers more sophisticated flank moves, such as Bird’s Opening and the Indian Attack.
De Firmian has produced an excellent resource to call upon in between lessons, presenting challenges to work through, and skills to adopt into your playing style. Written in a comfortably approachable way, this is an easy book to recommend.
9. Chess For Dummies by James Eade
The For Dummies series covers a vastly eclectic range of subjects, and with The Queen’s Gambit being such a blockbuster, it’s no wonder that this has crept into the bestseller lists.
Beginning by explaining the history and language of chess, it moves on to look at every playing piece and how to use them, followed by the laws of attack and defense. Eade even tackles how to find your perfect chess set and board!
Taking an approach based on a user-friendly writing style and easy-to-follow diagrams, Chess for Dummies is not only a great instruction manual but a really fascinating insight into the competitive world of chess. Although it may seem like this is aimed at the novice player, it has enough information to interest the most experienced chess enthusiast.
10. Chess Tactics for Champions: A step-by-step guide to using tactics and combinations the Polgar way by Susan Polgar
Polgar hit the news by becoming the first-ever woman Grandmaster, but even more astounding was her age – just 15 years old! Perfecting the use of strategy, and tactical play, she gained the edge over her opponents, and in this step-by-step guide, she presents her methodology.
Covering the common tactics, such as discovered attacks, pins, and forks, she carries on to include deflections and decoys, move calculations, and strategic sacrifices. With each topic having more than 30 tough-as-you-like hint-free challenges, coupled with clear, concise diagrams, this is a well-thought-out instruction book.
