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There are many games that are played to keep oneself, fit, and healthy. Games can be of several types, such as physical games, mental games, indoor games, outdoor games, etc. While talking about mental games, the most famous one is chess. Chess is not only a game but an art.
To play chess, one needs to be continually active, both physically and mentally. There are several techniques and strategies that get used in playing chess. If you are unaware of these tactics, then you will not be able to continue with the game. It is because chess is a game for those who make use of their brains.
What are the Best Chess Books to read?
Many genius people have authored whole books that enable the reader to know all about chess. Below are we mentioning 20 best books that can guide you through the real tactics that you must learn to master chess.
Also, that there are several secrets behind the moves that are made while playing chess. If you want to develop your mental skills and add on to your chess-playing abilities, then do not miss the chance to go through short overviews of the best books related to chess.
Best Chess Books: Our Top 20 Picks
Here are some of the best chess books that you can consider to expand your knowledge on the subject:
1. Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess by Bobby Fischer, Stuart Margulies, and Don Mosenfelder
Has several techniques and strategies that enable you to enhance your chess skills. Also, that this book is good for those who want to master the art of chess. It is equally beneficial for both beginners and advanced chess players. The people who have just started learning the tactics of chess and those who have mastered these tactics will find this book useful for them. This piece of writing is necessary to be present in every chess library. It guides us through the complicated techniques that get used during chess. It is based on a complete program that enables us to learn various strategies of chess by question and answer sessions. Also, it tells you the logic behind the wrong answers that you give.
- Authors: Bobby Fischer (Author), Stuart Margulies (Author), Don Mosenfelder (Author)
- Publisher: Bantam; Later Printing Edition (July 1, 1982)
- Pages: 352 pages
2. Chess for Kids by Michael Basman
Complete visual guide to making chess easier for children. Also, it has visuals that guide the children through the rules of chess. Moreover, children get received help from this book by learning various techniques and strategies that prove helpful for them during the chess game. Chess for Kids by Michael Basman is a book that plays a big part in transforming you from an ordinary child chess player to an expert chess player. Before beginning with the basic techniques and strategies of chess, the book has a detailed note on each piece of chess, including the pawn, the bishop, the king, and all others. There are also placed chessboard graphics in this book to make it even easier for the kids to visualize the moves.
- Authors: Michael Basman (Author), Mary Ling (Editor)
- Publisher: DK Children (January 23, 2006)
- Pages: 48 pages
3. Logical Chess: Move by Move: Every Move Explained New Algebraic Edition by Irving Chernev
Complete guide that teaches you through the real art of chess. It enables you to learn several strategies that prove helpful in developing your chess skills. The book makes you think deeper and better about different situations that you must come across while playing chess. Logical Chess: Move by Move: Every Move Explained New Algebraic Edition by Irving Chernev is no less than an entire ocean that is full of wisdom. It tells about the real secrets behind the basic moves of chess. Also, that it lists various strategies that are necessary to follow if you want to master your chess skills.
- Authors: Irving Chernev (Author)
- Publisher: Batsford; Revised ed. Edition (June 30, 2003)
- Pages: 256 pages
4. Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games by László Polgár
Instructs us about dealing with different situations that we might come across while playing chess. It lists about 5000 unique situations that are necessary to know if you aim to master the art of chess. It also includes 306 problems for checkmate in a single move, for two moves, 3412 mates, for three moves 744 mates, a count of 600 for miniature games, a number of 144 for simple endgames, and about 128 tournament game combinations. Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games by László Polgár also have solutions along with the problems that are extremely easy to follow. These solutions enable the reader to understand the problem in depth. Finally, it has above 6000 illustrations that make it even easier and helpful for the reader to understand chess.
- Authors: László Polgár (Author), Bruce Pandolfini (Introduction)
- Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal; Illustrated Edition (August 13, 2013)
- Pages: 1104 pages
5. How to Beat Your Dad at Chess (Gambit Chess) by Murray Chandler
Right choice for those who have just turned eight to those who have crossed their eighties. This means that this piece of writing proper for everyone, either it is a child or an old. The book lists strong content that tells the reader the right way to deal with a stronger opponent and make him lose the game. How to Beat Your Dad at Chess (Gambit Chess) by Murray Chandler is written in a format that is very readable and is easy to follow. According to the words of this book, to win from a stronger opponent, all you need to do is to cleverly force your checkmate. Also, it has appealing and informative positions that are taken from real games. The book is a perfect choice for beginners who aim to learn the techniques that get used in chess with passion and brains.
- Authors: Murray Chandler (Author)
- Publisher: Gambit Publications; Gambit chess Edition (October 1, 1998)
- Pages: 128 pages
6. Tactics Time! 1001 Chess Tactics from the Games of Everyday Chess Players by Tim Brennan and Anthea Carson
Further clarifies the fact that to win the chess, you need to master the tactics puzzle. The real thing is to learn the trick behind the art of chess, and then you will be able to play it well. The book has positions that are taken from amateur games for a better understanding of the readers towards the game of chess. Tactics Time! 1001 Chess Tactics from the Games of Everyday Chess Players by Tim Brennan and Anthea Carson is the best way to add on to your chess skills in a limited time. Just make sure that you put both your brain and heart in it to gain the vest knowledge of chess. It means stay contented and wise to learn this art.
- Authors: Tim Brennan (Author), Anthea Carson (Author)
- Publisher: New In Chess; Illustrated Edition (December 7, 2013)
- Pages: 144 pages
7. Complete Book of Chess Strategy
A complete guide about the art of chess. The book is written in the dictionary form so that the reader gets easy access to what he is looking for. This pattern of writing enables the reader to quickly reach out to his required piece of information without wasting even a single second out of his precious time. Complete Book of Chess Strategy supplies useful information for chess players at every level. No matter if someone has just developed an interest in playing chess or has been playing it for years. This book is worth reading for both. There has been carried out the alphabetical listing of every strategy, which is noticeably clear to find. Also, all the strategies are followed by short explanations that are easy to understand.
- Authors: Jeremy Silman (Author, Introduction)
- Publisher: Silman James Press; 1st Edition (July 1, 1998)
- Pages: 360 pages
8. Checkmate! My First Chess Book (Everyman Chess) by Garry Kasparov
Discusses the pieces of chess, including the bishops, pawns, knights, the queen, and the king. It describes the values of all these pieces and about certain moves. This is a full guide for chess. It not only involves the tricks, tactics, and strategies but also defines and describes all the elements of chess. Checkmate! My First Chess Book (Everyman Chess) by Garry Kasparov is all about chess. If you do not have any idea about chess, chess elements, moves used in chess, the values of the elements, or any other thing, you can read this book. Starting from how to move the elements to how to deliver a check, this book includes everything.
- Authors: Garry Kasparov (Author)
- Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st Edition (October 1, 2004)
- Pages: 98 pages
9. CHESS: The Ultimate Chess Tactics and Strategies! by Andy Dunn and Aleksandr Smirnov
Enables you to discover the most required rules of chess to perform even better during the game. It is a book that guides you through the most effective paths of learning chess skills and reaching the levels of success. Chess is quite an old game, but it never goes out of trend. CHESS: The Ultimate Chess Tactics and Strategies! By Andy Dunn and Aleksandr Smirnov enables you to learn the wisdom of quite moves. Also, it throws light upon the most common term i.e., chess trading. The book aims that to lose is to win, but the condition is that it must be a wise loss.
- Authors: Andy Dunn (Author), Aleksandr Smirnov (Author)
- Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (October 31, 2015)
- Pages: 171 pages
10. Capablanca’s Best Chess Endings: 60 Complete Games by Irving Chernev
About chess endings that are an important part of playing chess. These chess endings are the different board positions present in the game where the most important or most valuable one is left behind. Capablanca’s Best Chess Endings: 60 Complete Games by Irving Chernev is about the importance of chess endings. According to the author, before someone begins the game, it is important to study the endgame so that you can play better. And then so chose the middle game. The author has presented the top sixty games in his book. He covered all the basics and essentials of the chess and described them wonderfully so that anyone can learn about it. So, if you have any questions in your mind about chess, do consider this book.
- Authors: Irving Chernev (Author)
- Publisher: Dover Publications; Annotated Edition (February 1, 1982)
- Pages: 288 pages
11. Progressive Tactics: 1002 Progressively Challenging Chess Tactics by Dave Couture
Adds more to your rating, or it can also serve to enhance your game if in case you are not a rated player. It is necessary to try some tips, tricks, or tactics to bring improvement in your games. Progressive Tactics: 1002 Progressively Challenging Chess Tactics by Dave Couture is a guidebook about the tricks and importance of tricks in games. Along with this, the author has also described his experience in dealing with different tactics and strategies to improve games. The author started playing chess at the tournament level in the 1980s. During his time, he read different endgame books and strategy books to develop and enhance his skills of performing better at gaming.
- Authors: Dave Couture (Author)
- Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (September 26, 2016)
- Pages: 162 pages
12. How to Play Chess for Kids: Simple Strategies to Win by Jessica E Martin
Detailed guide about playing chess for the kids. If you are a beginner in this game, you must learn many things before starting. There is a variety of techniques and strategies to keep in mind before you start playing chess. These techniques will help you in performing better. How to Play Chess for Kids: Simple Strategies to Win by Jessica E Martin tells that after reading this book, one will be able to know about how to play chess in the best way. You will also learn about the chess language, and with the help of illustrations, it will be much easier for you to play and win chess.
- Authors: Jessica E Martin (Author)
- Publisher: Rockridge Press (November 12, 2019)
- Pages: 160 pages
13. Winning Chess: How to See Three Moves Ahead by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld
Has examples, along with illustrations that make it even easier for the reader to understand. The book is a complete guide for those who are looking forward to learning about chess. It has several strategies and tactics that are proven to help with the results of chess. Winning Chess: How to See Three Moves Ahead by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld enables the readers to get a knowledge of situations that they may come across while playing chess. It teaches them the most working strategies to opt for to master the art of chess. Moreover, readers get able to understand the potential opportunities and correctly make use of their brains.
- Authors: Irving Chernev (Author), Fred Reinfeld (Author)
- Publisher: Simon and Schuster; Revised Edition (April 15, 1971)
- Pages: 252 pages
14. The Chess Player’s Bible: Illustrated Strategies for Staying Ahead of the Game by James Eade and Al Lawrence
Tells about the art of chess, which is the king of all the games. With the help of this book, the inexperienced players can learn much faster because much of the instructions are present in it. Moreover, you can get a complete guideline from how to begin, what to do, and how to do along with learning the best techniques. The Chess Player’s Bible: Illustrated Strategies for Staying Ahead of the Game by James Eade and Al Lawrence describes the importance of learning and practicing various strategies. Learning the tactics is necessary to make your brain more active, and so that you can perform much better. One should adopt these strategies so that you can win the game.
- Authors: James Eade (Author), Al Lawrence (Author)
- Publisher: B.E.S.; 2nd Edition (March 1, 2015)
- Pages: 288 pages
15. Winning Chess by Irving Chernev
Shows diverse ways in how one can achieve perfection in playing better at chess. To be good at playing chess, you need to use your brain and keep it active throughout the whole game. Also, if you are just a starter, you should read guides or books that can help you in doing good at playing chess. Winning Chess by Irving Chernev has certain illustrations along with some tips and techniques to learn or to keep in your mind when playing chess. This book is one of the best books available for your aid and supplies a wide range of information for chess players. You can learn different strategies necessary for a chess player to implement.
- Authors: Irving Chernev (Author), Fred Reinfeld (Author)
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Reprint Edition (February 14, 2015)
- Pages: 256 pages
16. Complete Chess Course: From Beginning to Winning Chess–a Comprehensive Yet Simplified Home-Study Chess Course. Eight Books in One by Fred Reinfeld
Supplies detailed information about chess ranging from the basics to the complex techniques used in playing chess. If you want to be an expert at playing chess, you must understand certain tricks or techniques to play your turn, win the game, or defeat your opponent. This book has vast and extensive information ranging that is necessary for both the beginners and the experienced ones to perform better at playing chess. Complete Chess Course: From Beginning to Winning Chess–a Comprehensive Yet Simplified Home-Study Chess Course. Eight Books in One by Fred Reinfeld is the most detailed book on the topic of chess ever published in the world.
- Authors: Fred Reinfeld (Author)
- Publisher: Doubleday; 1st Edition (November 5, 1959)
- Pages: 704 pages
17. Chess Strategy for Club Players: The Road to Positional Advantage (New in Chess) by Herman Grooten
Book forming of details about dealing with a chess game. For amateur players, the author has authored this book so that they can take guidance at any point. This book is for those who face trouble in memorizing the key characteristics in various positions. The author also explains the most suitable ways in which one can use these key characteristics and get the maximum results. Chess Strategy for Club Players: The Road to Positional Advantage (New in Chess) by Herman Grooten also presents many examples to make the learners clearer about how to use these key characteristics while playing a chess game. He describes everything so clearly because he was a coach for the young and new chess players.
- Authors: Herman Grooten (Author)
- Publisher: New in Chess; 3rd Edition (March 28, 2017)
- Pages: 413 pages
18. Chess Tactics for Intermediates: Know the basics stronger to become a better player! by Karthik PM
Deals with supplying various kinds of tactics and strategies that one can adopt to perform well while gaming. There are various tactics one can know about but understanding your concepts about those tactics is a challenging task. So, this is a book that has simple techniques presented in simple words so that anyone can understand them. Chess Tactics for Intermediates: Know the basics stronger to become a better player! By Karthik PM has a wide list of useful strategies along with excellent quality and easy to understand explanations. Even if you are a beginner, you will get plenty of things to learn from this book.
- Authors: Karthik PM (Author)
- Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1st Edition (August 4, 2016)
- Pages: 105 pages
19. My Best Games of Chess by Alexander Alekhine
Classic book based on the topic of chess. There are some books available in the market that supply information about chess. If you want to be good or an expert at chess, you should read the books published on it. Before this one, an outdated version of this book was also published. It was published about 75 years ago, and there was only one picture in that book. There were two volumes of that book available, and there were no cross tables in them. The notation used in that book was descriptive, while the notation used in this book is algebraic one. This book has more than three dozen pictures and a sum of all the information that was present in two different volumes of the earlier original one. You will also find cross tables in this book.
- Authors: Alexander Alekhine (Author), Igor Zaitsev (Foreword)
- Publisher: Russell Enterprises; 21st ed. Edition (May 1, 2013)
- Pages: 456 pages
20. How to Beat Anyone at Chess: The Best Chess Tips, Moves, and Tactics to Checkmate
Exclusively made for supplying tips and tricks that can help you in winning the game. It does not matter if you are a new player or you have a wonderful experience, there are certain things that you always must keep in mind. Chess is not a hard game, and it just involves the use of the brain much often as compared to the other games. How to Beat Anyone at Chess: The Best Chess Tips, Moves, and Tactics to Checkmate are full of instructions, guidelines, tips, and tricks. There are easy to understand, and simple tips present on each page with simple descriptions so that you can pick the point much faster and with great ease.
- Authors: Ethan Moore (Author)
- Publisher: Adams Media (October 2, 2015)
- Pages: 256 pages
Choosing the Best Chess Books
These books will prove helpful if you are looking forward to adding on to your mental skills. In addition to this, these books have worthy content that will help you transform from an ordinary chess player to an expert chess player.
But for this, you must keep two things in mind. One is that the right use of the brain is the quality of those who master chess. And the other one is to keep your heart and brain indulged deep into the game. The heart is for staying passionate to win the game, and the mind is for keeping your brain active.