Chess version of 2+2?

[nolanfan34]

I posed this question in another thread, but I know there are some chess experts out there, and would like some recommendations on the best way for a beginner to learn the game. I know the rules/moves, etc, but have very little knowledge of attacking/defense strategy, and would like to learn more about the game.

Anyone out there with some recommendations on where to turn? Books, software? Is there a chess version of 2+2?

[lu_hawk]

Jeremy Silman's books are very good, you should read them if you haven't already done so. That will give you some pretty good knowledge for all parts of the game. He also has a website that has some pretty good stuff.

Then I would get a book or two on the endgame, many players ignore this part of the game because they want to focus on learning new openings, but you can't get good at chess without getting good at endgames.

After this you probably want to get a book that covers a variety of openings. 'Winning Chess Openings' is pretty good. Then pick an opening for white and learn that, and then pick a black response to 1. e4 and 1. d4 and learn those.

There probably are forums out there for chess but I don't know which ones are the good ones.

[karlson]

My favorite books for true beginners are Seirawan's series. I think that the first one is called "Play Winning Chess" and then there are a few others, of which I remember liking "Winning Chess Strategies", but I'm sure they are all good.