Studying chess books is the best way to improve your chess strength. When you start your chess journey you don’t know exactly what to study and how to study and then you end up buying some random books. It is very important to learn the basics and fundamentals of chess when you are a beginner chess player.  Also, I will recommend you to read the history of chess and the biography of famous chess players. That will help you to understand how chess was started and you will get knowledge about legendary chess players.

In this article, we are going to see the 10 best books to learn Chess for beginners. Some books in this list are e-books. One thing to keep in mind is that don’t purchase all these books at once.  Purchase only 2 or 3 books, study those books and then go for the next. 

I will also recommend that you should not purchase the Kindle version of any chess book, Because in Chess Book there are a lot of chess positions and Kindle is not suitable for that type. That’s why it is always better to get a hard copy or a soft copy. 

5 Basic tips to study chess books

  • Don’t study under pressure. Study chess books to get knowledge.
  • Start with the chapter you like most.
  • Don’t try to finish the book, instead study the book carefully. 
  • Chessable is a very interactive way to study chess. 
  • If you get bored by reading books, take a break or play some games.

1-1001 Chess Exercises for Beginners

This book is all about puzzles and tactical patterns in chess. After solving this book you will understand different mating patterns, winning patterns, and some chess concepts. This book is perfect for those who love to solve chess puzzles. Learning from practical exercises will really help you to grasp fundamental knowledge. I will recommend you to start with this book because when you will see different checkmate patterns and a lot of exercises on tactical themes.

2-How to Beat Your Dad at Chess

How to beat your dad at chess

When I  first read the title of this book, I started laughing. This book is really interesting to study. In this book, the author analyzed 50 very interesting games which ended in deadly checkmate. This book is published by Gambit Publications which was very famous 10 years before. If you are an intermediate or advanced player then don’t go for this book because you will find it very easy and a waste of money. 

3-Game changer by GM Matthew Sadler, WIM Natasha Regan

Best books to learn chess

This book is not recommended for beginners but I included it in this article. The main reason for that is it’s a very interesting book written by Grandmaster Matthew Sadler. GM Mattew Sadler and Natasha Regan analyzed more than 2000 chess games played by Alpha Zero which is currently one of the strongest chess engines. Sadler and Rogan reveal its thinking process and tell the story of human motivation and the techniques that created AlphaZero. If you study how the engine works in the beginner stage then it will definitely be useful for a long time. 

4-My Systems by Aron Nimzowitsch

My systems is an excellent book to improve your fundamental chess. This book is not for absolute beginners but for those who have little experience in playing chess. This book is written by Aron Nimzowitsch who was one of the greatest chess players between 1920 to 1930. This book is divided into two sections, Elements of chess and Positional play. If you are an Intermediate or Advanced player then also I will recommend finishing this book if you haven’t done it already. You can purchase this book from a quality chess website or from Amazon.

5-Double-sided Mates in 2 

This is an ebook published by Chessable. Recently Chessable was acquired by the Play Magnus group and become very popular. There are many free courses available on Chessable you can sign up for free and try out. In this book, Grandmaster Simon Williams explained How to develop your killing instinct via checkmate. There are three hundred puzzles in this book with chapters like checkmating patterns, easy exercise, Intermediate Exercise, and advanced exercise. 

Simon also created a free book on double-side checkmates in 1 with Chessable.

6-Chess Brilliancy

Chess brilliancy is a book with a collection of brilliant chess games. These games are short, sweet, and included with full of tactics. There are more than 100 chess games in this book. The book was published by Everyman Chess.

7-Anand Files by Michiel Abeln

This book is recommended for all levels. This book is all about Viswanathan Anand’s Championship matches with Vaseline Topalov, Vladimir Kramnik, and Boris Gelfand.

In this book, the author spoke about Viswanathan Anand‘s journey toward all these world championships. He also explained his mindset, chess journey, team, etc. I will highly recommend this book to everyone!

If you love to read storybooks or biographies then the Following is the list of best storybooks that you can read and enjoy

  • Mind Master by Viswanathan Anand 
  • Garry Kasparov my great predecessors (Total 5 parts)
  • Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov (Total 3 parts)
  • Russians vs Fischer
  • Kramnik: My Life and Games

8-100 Endgames You Must Know by Jesus de la villa

This is the only endgame book in this list. Generally, I don’t recommend endgame Books for beginners but this book is excellent to improve fundamentals in chess endgame. In this book, Jesus de la villa explained 100 basic endgame positions. Again if you are going to purchase this book I will recommend you to purchase it from the Chessable website. Their move trainer will help you to not get bored. 

9-Winning Chess Series by Yassir Seirawan

nikhil dixit

This is one of the best book series I have ever seen for beginners. In this series, there are a total of 7 parts written by  Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan. Currently, Yassir is working in the Saint Louis chess club as a commentator in the USA.  Following is the list of all books in this series.

  • Play Winning Chess
  • Winning Chess Tactics 
  • Winning Chess Strategies 
  • Winning Chess Brilliancies
  • Winning Chess Endings
  • Winning Chess Openings
  • Winning Chess Combinations

10-A Modern Guide to Checkmating Patterns by IM Vladimir Barsky

The modern guide to checkmating patterns is not only a puzzle book but also a Brilliantly organized course. This book is published by New In Chess which is owned by the Play Magnus group. The author is International Master Vladimir Barsky a very famous chess player and coach.

He selected the most beautiful combinations from different games and Explained typical combinations which will help you in a real game. 

All these books are worth reading and helpful. I hope you like this blog. I will again recommend that you don’t purchase many books at one time. 

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