Instructive books

Which chess books for you were the most instructive? In my experience, the game collections of Botvinnik and Smyslov did more for me than Fischer's 60MG.

Yusupov's instructional series. The first three books are supposed to be for players around 1500, and some of the lessons are on that level like basic opposition in pawn endgames...then there are some lessons that 2000's don't know yet.

Zo leer je goed schaken,volume 1 & 2,Max Euwe.

English language probably My best games of chess 1908-1937,Alekhine

Originally posted by dsmichel
Which chess books for you were the most instructive? In my experience, the game collections of Botvinnik and Smyslov did more for me than Fischer's 60MG.

This most instructive books will depend on many factors

Your
* rating
* current state of your opening, middlegame and endgame
* How much effort/time you are willing to invest

When I was about 1700 I read through My System by Nimzovitch. This and some extra general work on my game saw me improve about 200 point in a year.

Most of the ideas are antiquated now and sometime incorrect but it definitely made me think.

Originally posted by kingshill

When I was about 1700 I read through My System by Nimzovitch. This and some extra general work on my game saw me improve about 200 point in a year.

Most of the ideas are antiquated now and sometime incorrect but it definitely made me think.

My System is a good choice and well worth reading. I'd be interested to know which parts did you thought were outdated.

When I first started studying chess I found Irving Chernev's "Logical Chess Move by Move" really helpful. It annotates almost every move, even mulling over why a player might favour e4 as opposed to d4. My favourites were the rapid attacks by Pillsbury and the slow squeezes by Capablanca.

Also "Blunders and Brilliancies" is a great book as well if you can get a copy. I may self-publish my own book one day - and name it "Blunders" ;-)

I liked Reti's, Masters of the chessboard and Modern Ideas in chess, i dont think it did
anything actually for my chess strength but the latter is one of the few chess books I
enjoyed enough to read again.

Originally posted by kingshill
This most instructive books will depend on many factors

Your
* rating
* current state of your opening, middlegame and endgame
* How much effort/time you are willing to invest

When I was about 1700 I read through My System by Nimzovitch. This and some extra general work on my game saw me improve about 200 point in a year.

Most of the ideas are antiquated now and sometime incorrect but it definitely made me think.

Similarly, I've mentioned before that I really got a lot out of Watson's "Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy - Advances since Nimzowitsch" and its follow-up, but some players have complained that they found this book very opaque. I'm sure this is a good example of a book for "somewhat advanced players".

I also really like Shirov's Fire on the Board books - I got a lot out of these, too. I've also heard a lot of players say some version of "They are great games, but I didn't really understand them", so its probably another set of books that what you get out of it really depends on your overall chess development.

Originally posted by dsmichel
Which chess books for you were the most instructive? In my experience, the game collections of Botvinnik and Smyslov did more for me than Fischer's 60MG.

Before one dives in chess games collections, they should go through some books about strategy and endings. Most think endings are boring and they prefer games from data bases, but that is what makes the difference between a patzer and a decent player: good play in endings and knowing some principles of positional chess.

There are myriads of books on that subjects, but I will recommend
Averbach´s books about endings
Vukovic´s book "Art of Attack in Chess"
Vukovic´s "Chess Sacrfice"
and about positional play
Drazen Marovic´s "Secret of Positional Chess".

Regarding chess games collections, Anatoly Karpov's book from 1980 and something "My best games" (in Russian) is very useful for positional play.

No use (only) in fast replay grandmasters' games

Every time I read a book by John Nunn, I learn something. Sometimes I relearn it, in that reading Nunn at times recalibrates my thinking and regrounds my approach to the game.

Originally posted by Paul Leggett
Every time I read a book by John Nunn, I learn something. Sometimes I relearn it, in that reading Nunn at times recalibrates my thinking and regrounds my approach to the game.

Yep, their is Nunn like him! I have a book of his games, very deeply annotated.

As was already said, it all depends on your level of play.

For players who are not absolute beginners but still have a lot to learn, I would say that The Amateur's Mind by Jeremy Silman is a good starting point.

The Art of Logical Thinking by Neil McDonald is another book I found very instructive. It is a move by move study of 30 grandmaster games. Though the comments for the very first moves get a little repetitive.

I found Euwe's book, the first volume, to be most instructive

Max Euwe and H. Kramer. The Middlegame.

Chernev's "Logical Chess Move By Move" is also one of my favourite instructive books

Originally posted by w0lver1ne
For players who are not absolute beginners but still have a lot to learn, I would say that The Amateur's Mind by Jeremy Silman is a good starting point.

I found this a lot more enlightening than Silman's other books. I don't think it made me a better chess player, but at least it explained why I'm not a better chess player.

Richard

(older) -- John Nunn: Chess Move by Move (Amazon for $7. or $8. U.S. used)
(newer) -- Colin Crouch: Modern Chess Move by Move

Both are very good. Still working my way through Colin's, but Nunn's book was memorable: well-written and good production values.
I would also recommend one of many good tomes out on endgames. Glenn Flear's series is a good read. That is, the layout is fun. Endgame reading needs to be fun, eh?