recommend a beginner's chess strategy book

[Rhone]

Any book you'd recommend to a smart person who basically knows how the different pieces move, but not much beyond that?

thanks in advance,
Rhone.

[JackWilson]

Yeah, I've got an awesome book for you.

Winning Chess Strategies
- Yasser Seirawan

ISBN 1-55615-663-4

Hands down the best beginner book on strategy and thinking about an overall plan, not just moves that look good. This is like the Theory Of Poker but for Chess.

[jason_t]

What the first replier said plus Irving Chernev: Logical Chess.

[ilya]

G.M. Lisitsin's "Chess Strategy and Tactics" is hard to find, but is clearly the best beginner/intermediate strategy book.
If you can't find that, I'd recommend J.R. Capablanca's "Chess Fundamentals."

ilya,
USCF 2180

[Joe826]

The Idiot's Guide to Chess is fantastic IMO.

[JaBlue]

Get a basic tactics book first. The two best ones are Reinfeld's 1001 problems .. forgot the real title, or Manual of Combinations Volume 1.

Don't get anything from Seirawan. Also, the best strategy book you will find is Nimzowitch's My System.

Lastly, get yourself a collection of Paul Morphy's games. Do your best to understand his playing and you will learn a ton.

[Fianchetto]

Read books by:

Yasser Seirawan.
Jeremy Silman.

When you are no longer a beginner, read Nimzowitch's "My System", not the easiest read, but it will take your game to the next level.

[JaBlue]

My System is only a hard read because of the language Dr. Nimzowitsch uses. The chess concepts are very straightforward and will benefit the beginner greatly. Seirawan is trash. His books just suck.

[heavybody]

I don't know which books to recommend but I would download a good chess engine and this is one: Play With Arena (http://www.playwitharena.com/)


heavily bodied

[Munga30]

Winning Chess: How to See Three Moves Ahead by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld. A solid tactics book containing hundreds of positional quizzes arranged by theme; pin, fork, double attack, etc. I'm no great player, but it definitely improved my game. Might be out of print, but worth looking for in used bookstores or chess booksellers.

[AlienCorpse]

[ QUOTE ]
The Idiot's Guide to Chess is fantastic IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]

I second that. It may not sound like the best book, but it is.

[Jake (The Snake)]

All of the replies seem to be good.

In addition, I really recommend finding a good club or some buddies to play with. It's what really makes the game so fun IMO.

[Rhone]

[ QUOTE ]

Don't get anything from Seirawan.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I ordered the Seirawan book based on the advice of the first two people who responded...then I saw this. No big deal, of course, people have differences of opinion, but I'm just curious why you don't like it?

Thanks for everyone's responses, by the way.

[Rhone]

[ QUOTE ]
All of the replies seem to be good.

In addition, I really recommend finding a good club or some buddies to play with. It's what really makes the game so fun IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]

My wife and I have decided to play. We wanted to find a hobby we could do together, and she can't seem to get into poker, so chess it is...