The Best Books For Beginners
You’ve learned how the pieces move, you’re playing games and now you want to win games more often. It’s time to start studying!
So, what should you study?
While it is important to have a basic understanding of some key principles for developing your pieces in an opening, most beginner games are won and lost on mistakes and blunders. Studying tactics will help you recognise patterns which will help you identify threats and capitalise on your opponent’s weaknesses.
If you search online you’ll find that most FIDE rated players (1700 or above) advise any beginner who is asking for book recommendations to focus on tactics to improve their game.
Consequently, the list below includes recommendations is weighted towards chess tactics books, but I have also included some options for those of you who wish to build an understanding of key thought processes or learn an opening repertoire.
I’ve also kept this list short and sweet. Each book is of extremely high quality and, importantly, is entertaining. This significantly reduces the risk of overwhelming the beginner who is looking to improve.
Please note, I have used affiliate links to Amazon, Apple and Book Depository. If you purchase a book using the links below I will receive a small commission that will be used to cover the cost of running 1e4.org
Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess by Bobby Fischer
Theme: Tactics
Bobby Fischer (1943 – 2008) was one the greatest chess players of all time. For some, he was the greatest.
Fischer was the youngest player to win the US Chess Championship at the age of 14 and went on to become the first American-born player to win the World Chess Championship.
Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess is one of the best-selling chess books of all time. Each page in the book features a chess problem and asks the reader a specific question about the position – encouraging them to think and then answer. The correct answer, and why the answer is correct, is provided – allowing the reader to reinforce why their response was correct or learn why their response was incorrect before trying again.
This was the first book for beginners written by a world champion.
“Fischer’s approach is simple, yet innovative and deep. It takes the rights steps towards building the fundamentals of a strong chess player”
~ IM Danny Rensch
Buy at Amazon.com | Buy at BookDepository.com | Buy at Chessable.com
1001 Chess Exercises for Beginners by Franco Masetti and Roberto Messa
Theme: Tactics
Subtitled, “The Tactics Workbook that Explains the Basic Concepts, Too”, 1001 Chess Exercises for Beginners is a fantastic tactics book for beginners.
The authors (chess masters and trainers) explain the basic tactical idea and then provide a huge number of exercises to demonstrate the idea and help the reader recognise the associated patterns, visualise tricks and identify weak-spots in the opponent’s position.
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Everyone’s Second Chess Book by Dan Heisman
Theme: Thought Processes
Dan Heisman is a widely-acclaimed and popular chess author and teacher. This book, revised and republished in 2018, teaches the beginner player how to develop board vision, how to avoid common mistakes in thinking, how to analyse positions, what to do when you’re ahead in material and even some chessboard etiquette.
It is not a book full of chess problems, but instead guidelines on how to think when you are engaged in battle over the top of the board – a key element of chess development that is underrated and often overlooked.
Heisman’s writing is accessible and enjoyable and this book is highly recommended to help the beginner player think about, and properly assess, each move before they touch the piece on the board.
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Logical Chess Move by Move by Irving Chernev
Theme: Piece Development
Widely acclaimed as the book for beginners, Chernev’s Logical Chess is a collection of thirty three complete games, where each move has been analysed in an accessible and often entertaining way.
You should read Logical Chess – Move by Move with a chessboard beside you, moving the pieces as you read and thinking about Chernev’s analysis.
Originally printed back in the 1950’s, Logical Chess – Move by Move is a classic. While it can feel a little dated at times, the reader will walk away with a solid understanding of how to develop their pieces in the opening and how chess games are annotated.
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Keep it Simple: 1.e4 by IM Christof Sielecki
Theme: Opening Repertoire for White
Keep It Simple: 1.e4 is an easy-to-learn, precise and systematic repertoire for toppling every defence that Black has at its disposal.
With over 700 variations, this repertoire will give you a rock-solid game with White. By learning this repertoire, you also intrinsically learn some of the ways to play against 1.e4 with Black.
IM Sielecki’s YouTube channel has over 30,000 subscribers and his approach is informative and very accessible.
In a world first, this book was first developed for Chessable’s MoveTrainer™ system before then being adapted for print.
This is a highly recommended repertoire for beginners, intermediate and advanced players.
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Van Perlo’s Endgame Tactics by Ger van Perlo
Theme: Endgames, Tactics
Dutch correspondence grandmaster, Ger van Perlo’s book is a modern classic. Originally published in 2006, Van Perlo’s Endgame Tactics was elected the English Chess Federation Book of the Year and the ChessCafe Book of the Year – two of the most prestigious book awards in chess.
In 2013, publisher New in Chess, discovered more than three hundred previously unpublished tactics and republished a new and revised edition.
Renowned for making endgames fun, Van Perlo’s masterpiece can help you improve your endings and increase your wins.
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Buy at Amazon.com | Buy at BookDepository.com | Buy at Chessable.com
The Masters Recommend
Coming Soon
The Masters Recommend will detail the chess book recommendations of Chess Masters, collated through differing interviews.
“Play the opening like a book, the middlegame like a magician, and the endgame like a machine.”
~ Rudolph Spielmann
