Recommended Chess Book Reading List by Rating (Updated)

The following list of books has been compiled from a number of web resources.

1200-1400

1) Chess Tactics for Students by John Bain

2) Logical Chess Move by Move by Irving Chernev

3) Back to Basics: Tactics (ChessCafe Back to Basics Chess) by Dan Heisman

4) Winning Chess Tactics, revised (Winning Chess – Everyman Chess) by Seirawan

5) Silman’s Complete Endgame Course by Jeremy Silman

6) A First Book of Morphy by Del Rosario

7a) Chess Openings for White, Explained

7b) Chess Openings for Black

1400-1600
1) Modern Chess Strategy by Ludek Pachman

2) The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev

3) Chess Training Pocket Book by Lev alburt

4) Chess Exam and Training Guide By Igor Khelmenitsky

5) Best Lessons of a Chess Coach by Weeramantry & Eusebi

1600-1700

1) The Amateur’s Mind by J. Silman

2) Alekhine’s Best Games

3) Practical Chess Exercises by Cheng

4) Capablanca’s Best Chess Endings

5) Chess Praxis by Nimozwitch

1700-1800

1) Art of Attack in Chess by Victor Vukovic

2) My 60 Memorable Games by Bobby Fischer

3) One Hundred Selected Games by Botnnivik

4) Understanding Chess Move by Move by Nunn

1800-2000

1) How to Reassess Your Chess by J. Silman

2) Fire On Board by Alexei Shirov

3) Fundamental Chess Endings
by Mueller

4) Improve your Chess Now By Johnathan Tillman

5) Dvoretsky’s Analytical Manual by Dvoretsky

6)  Chess Strategy for Club Players by Grooten

7) Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953

8. Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual by Dvoretsky

9) My System by Nimzowitch

11) Think Like a Grandmaster by Kotov

4 Responses to “Recommended Chess Book Reading List by Rating (Updated)”

1. Farbror the Guru says:

   July 3, 2009 at 10:25 am

   Great List! I am a litte surprised to find “My System” so high up on the list.
2. Rita L. Crist says:

   October 17, 2009 at 7:09 pm

   Very interesting post.Thanks for the information.
3. Steve Wollkind says:

   March 13, 2010 at 11:12 am

   I also think that My System is fairly accessible to lower rated players….and isn’t Chess Praxis supposed to be a follow on book? I haven’t read it but my understanding is that it demonstrates applications of the principles he outlines in MS.

   Also: my new favorite “intro to the openings for beginners” book is the recently published FCO. It’s not a repertoire book, nor a reference work, but it’s very useful for understanding the reasons and history behind why the openings are played the way they are.
4. Bill says:

   May 2, 2010 at 10:01 pm

   This list meets my approval.

   And I have no problem with My System being a 1800+ book b/c that is exactly where it belongs. A sub-1800 player should be reading books such as “modern chess stategy” or “simple chess”….and save MS for later.