Does anyone have any thoughts about Lev Alburt’s Comprehensive Chess Course? Has anyone used it? What are any positives and/or negatives about it?
I am trying to learn how to play and am looking for something that breaks the game of Chess down in an easy to understand format. Most of the books I see assume you already know a lot about chess and are hard to understand.
Any comments or suggestions?
I’ve heard good things about these books. I have a couple of Alburt’s higher level chess books, and they’re pretty good.
However, from what I’ve seen, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Chess” seems to be the most commonly recommended beginner’s book. Apparently, it covers not only the rules of the game, but also basic tactics and strategy, as well as some history and stuff. I haven’t personally read it, but as I said, I’ve seen it recommended all over the place.
Thanks. I know the rules and stuff. I just have no clue when it comes to strategy and tactics. I need a book to explain some basic strategy and tactics and not just say, do this and then do this… but to say " do this and here is why". I need to know the why of doing things.
Thanks for the input.
For tactics, I like the book “How to beat your Dad at Chess” by Murray
Chandler. Don’t be put off by the title, it’s a great book on 50 common
tactical patterns.
For an introduction to strategy, I like the book “Teach yourself Visually
Chess” by Jon Edwards. It starts with the basics, like the rules of the
game and how the pieces move, but then it goes on to give strategies
for all the pieces and also for the opening, middle, and endgames.
It’s all explained in really clear language, and it uses pictures of chess
boards in place of diagrams.
Jim
Thanks. I will see if I can find them and see what they look like.
I would recommend two sorts of books for a relatively new player:
Endgames include basic checkmates, but also pawn endings, rook-and-pawn endings, minor piece and pawn endings, etc. There’s a lot of depth in those simple positions, and what you learn there will also improve your play in the earlier parts of the game. Trust me. 
Feel free to add any strategy and openings books that look interesting, but the two things above will provide the basic knowledge that you need to mature further as a player. Some of the “reasons why” that you seek will take some time and experience to understand and to feel, but the concrete ideas in tactics and endgames can be studied productively now. Have fun!
I agree with you about endgames, but I am hard pressed to recommend a
endgame book for relative beginners. I have Jeremy Silman’s “A Complete
Endgame Course”, but that is a hefty volume.
If anyone knows of a good book that provides an introduction to
endgames, I’d like to hear about it.
Jim
I picked up the “How to Beat Your Dad at Chess” book last night and it looks to be good. I like the way it explains and has diagrams about the possible checkmate traps you will see.
Thanks for the recommendations and thoughts everyone.
There is a sequel to How to Beat Your Dad at Chess named Chess Tactics for Kids which covers a bunch of tactical motifs in the way the 1st book covers mating patterns.
Endgame books for beginners? Silman’s Complete Endgame Course definitely covers beginning stuff. It has everything broken in rating sections. Perhaps Averbakh’s Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge would fit the bill, or Seirawan’s Winning Chess Endings.
Yasser Seirawan’s whole Winning… series is a pretty good set to start with.
The series consists of:
Play Winning Chess
Winning Chess Tactics
Winning Chess Strategies
Winning Chess Openings
Winning Chess Endings
Winning Chess Brilliancies
Winning Chess Combinations
Jeff Coakley has a book called Winning Chess Strategy for Kids that is highly recommended.
Thanks so much for the list. I will check some of them out. So far I am enjoying the Beat dad book. I will have to look at the other book on tactics.
Thanks again.
I would definitely recommend “Silman’s Complete Endgame Course” to beginners. Don’t let the large size fool you - you don’t have to read it all at once. That’s the beauty of the layout. Instead of being grouped by types of pieces like most endgame books, it just goes in order from the most basic stuff that every beginner needs to learn and works up to the common endgames for intermediate players, then eventually the expert stuff. You can read a couple of chapters and get good information, then put it down and come back to the more complex stuff later.
I also really like “How To Beat Your Dad at Chess”, but not as a first tactics book for a beginner. Maybe as a second or third tactics book. I’d start with something that just hits the basic tactical motifs and gives lots of examples for practice, ie teaching about forks, skewers, pins, removal of the guard, etc, then has lots of practice puzzles to train yourself to spot those tactics in relatively easy middle game puzzles.
–Fromper
I forgot to mention Dan Heisman’s excellent tactics book Back to Basics: Tactics. His book covers tactical motifs and also discusses the neglected subject of counting.
Another book for beginners is John Bain’s Chess Tactics for Students.
For a raw beginner a good book is “You First Games of Chess” by A.J. Gilliam.
Two general books to teach how to play better and whet your ambitions are:
“The Genesis of Power Chess” by Leslie Ault and “Excelling at Chess” by Jacob Aagaard. Both require time and effort to absorb, but well worth it
On tactics, motifs and attacking play I would suggest you consider the following:
“Attacking the King” by J.N. Walker - a classic, with an excellent section on checkmate patterns.
“Chess Combinations: the Improving Player’s Puzzle Book” by J.N. Walker - motifs and puzzle tests to evaluate your progress.
“Combination Motifs” by Maxim Blokh - hundreds of modern puzzles to solve, a gem of a book that few U.S. amateurs know about.
“How to Become a Deadly Chess Tactician” by David LeMoir. Better than most books written by GM’s. Fabulous examples of tactics and sacrifices.
“Attack with Mikhail Tal” by Mikhail Tal and Iakov Damsky. This book explores how the famous world champion set up his attacks. Includes test puzzles at the end of each chapter.
On endgames, it is best to study the games of the greats. I would like to suggest two inexpensive books by Irving Chernev:
“Capablanca’s Best Chess Endings” - this book alone sent my rating from 2000 to 2195. It paid for itself over and over again.
“The Most Instructive Games Ever Played.” - This book is the closest in chess to a symphony.
If you had only $25 to spend on chess books I would buy these two. But you have to spend time and read them carefully. There are some awesome games in these books. I still dip into these books to immerse myself in the beauty of chess.
After you go through some of these books to increase your understanding of chess, then worry about openings.
Tom Magar, Life Master
I have taught Jr. High School Chess students for the last 10 years and have found the “Comprehensive Chess Course” an excellent starting set of lessons for teaching chess to beginners.
As they become familiar with the game, I supplement it with John Bain’s, “Tactics for Students” workbook, and “Logical Chess, Move by Move” by Chernov.
Another book that is a good introduction to tactical motifs is Paul Littlewood’s Chess Tactics.
Don’t forget to look for free chess (e)books and advice online.