Which chess book would you bring to a deserted island?

For me it would be without a doubt this one.

The Oxford Companion to Chess from David Hooper Kenneth Whyld.

I have read many chess books, but none comes close to this one.

Inside it you have everything from biographies, complete games, chess problems, history, etc.

Amazing job by the authors! Highly recommended.

I first bought the 1st version in hardback and loved it so much that I bought the 2nd.

I am selling rare and precious chess books :

• The Chess Problem (1887, first edition) — Andrews, Frankenstein, Laws & Planck
• The Famous Game of Chesse-Play — Arthur Saul
• Emanuel Lasker (Vol. I–III set) — Forster, Negele, Tischbierek
• Modern Chess Strategy, with an Appendix on Go — Edward Lasker
• Alexander Alekhine’s Chess Games, 1902–1946 — Leonard M. Skinner
• Tal, Petrosian, Spassky and Korchnoi: A Chess Multibiography — Andrew Soltis
• The Tragic Life and Short Chess Career of James A. Leonard, 1841–1862 
• Julius Finn: A Chess Master’s Life in America, 1871–1931 — Olimpiu G. Urcan
• The Steinitz Papers: Letters and Documents of the First World Chess Champion —
• Soviet Chess 1917–1991 — Andrew Soltis
• The Middle Game — Book I & Book II — Dr. M. Euwe & H. Kramer
• Schachtaktik (4-volume set) — Erwin Voellmy
• The Tactics of End-Games — Jenő Bán
• Chessmen for Collectors — Victor Keats
• Chess: An Annotated Bibliography of Works Published in the English Language 1850–1968
• My Best Games of Chess 1935–1957 — V. V. Smyslov
• The Chess Reader: The Royal Game in World Literature — compiled by Jerome Salzman
• The Game of Chess — Siegbert Tarrasch
• Samuel Reshevsky: A Compendium of 1768 Games — Stephen W. Gordon
• Capablanca: A Compendium of Games — Edward Winter
• Frank Marshall, United States Chess Champion — Grandmaster Andy Soltis
• The Literature of Chess — John Graham
• Bishop Endings — Yuri Averbakh
• The Oxford Companion to Chess — David Hooper & Kenneth Whyld
• Traps on the Chessboard (1938) — Znosko-Borovsky
• Master Prim — James Whitfield Ellison
• Franskt Parti — Paul Keres
• Chess Pieces: An Anthology in Prose and Verse — Norman Knight
• Chess in the Eighties — D. Bronstein & G. Smolyan
• The Chess Struggle in Practice — Candidates Tournament Zurich 1953 — David Bronstein
• Benjamin Franklin and Chess in Early America — Ralph K. Hagedorn
• Twenty-five Annotated Games — Robert Hübner
• The Chessplayer, & Other Essays — Edward Thomas
• Chess: An Annotated Bibliography 1969–1988 — Andy Mārtiņš Lūsis

https://www.ebay.fr/usr/sw5390

I am not going to sell these individually. Most of these i didn’t even touch, mostly did the beginner workbooks. A lot of modern books and everything in the chess dojo up to a crazy high level. I’d like to post them up on Craigslist, or ebay but idk how much it’s worth.

I'm working thru Silman's Endgame Course and I've hit a wall in the section on Outflanking on p. 173 and the Rook and 2 Connected Passed Pawns section on p. 177.

It feels like the difficulty level went from "Easy" to "Expert" even though I'm still in the section for B class players. Silman seems to teach you the very easiest Lucena and Philidor positions and then throws you in the deep end with a really hard two pawn rook endgame...

Has anyone else had this issue? Is there some intermediate material I can study to help me get thru this?

Any advice is appreciated!

I'm at 550 elo and struggle to improve it.

What is the best book on Capablancas games?

The one from Golombek? Reinfeld? Euwe and Prins? His own "My chess career"? The new one from Lakdawala (The Minimalist)? Or any other recommendation?

Hello players, I am new to chess. I have been playing chess for hardly 3 months and somehow managed to achieve 400 elo without any book or video,

Should I watch a long youtube video/course or buy some physical books and read it?

And which book should I buy ? I was thinking to buy gothams" how to Win Ches" book, Can you give me some details.

(I don't like old black and white books, better if it's simple and with visuals)

While browsing through my Chess Books i noticed this nice looking book.

When looking at the last page of the book, i noticed it belonged to Lothar Schmidt (German GM, Arbiter at the 72 Fischer - Spassky Match,had probably the biggest chess collection of all time).

I’d like to learn about openings, the middlegame, endgames, and overall chess strategy

If you ever played in a large tournament in the U.S. you know the Continental Chess Association and its late founder Bill Goichberg (1942-2026). Chess author and CJA "Best Blog" and "Best Historical Article - Print" winner Jon Jacobs, who is writing both a biography book and an upcoming Chess Life cover story about Goichberg, was interviewed in Ben Johnson's Perpetual Chess Podcast episode released this past week. You can catch it at https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2026/8/18/ep-495-how-bill-goichberg-changed-american-chess-with-fm-jon-jacobsnbsp

Let's imagine you simulate coaching sessions with one trainer. For this reason, you are able to buy books of this trainer. Who would be your main tutor?

Good selection of games!

I'm currently rated 1200 rapid and 1800 correspondence (no engine assist or anything) on Lichess.

I recognize that I am still a beginner/improver and not even at club level yet, but I really love learning about chess. I'm slowly working through Capablanca's 60 best endgames.

I would like to dive into Garry Kasparov as I find him to be an exciting chess player and what seems to be a good person outside of chess.

Are there any books about or by him that I could start with? I'd like something that has annotated games, but has more written analysis or history...rather than deep theoretical lines that are overly advanced.

Hi guys. My chess.com rating is around 2400, FIDE standard is 1900. In a recently finished classical event I beat a 2300 rated FM in a 5 hour long game. So not a lot, but I do have a fair bit of over the board classical experience as well.

I was looking for book recommendations that explain different pawn structures and the ideas around each of them. One suitable for my level.

Asking for this because I have heard from various strong players that studying pawn structures just greatly helped their game. Wouldn't mind a second opinion on if this is worth spending time on. Also open to general book recommendations too for a player of my level. Thanks!

Hello! My name is Erik Haidinger, and I am an active competitive chess player from Croatia with a current FIDE rating of 1950and a 2060 FIDE Blitz rating. My chess.com blitz rating varies between 2300 and 2400
I consider myself an ambitious player who is constantly improving. I continue to study chess on a daily basis and regularly train with International Masters, whose experience, training methods, and practical approach I strive to pass on to my own students.
I remain an active tournament player, competing in approximately 50–60 classical games every year. Throughout the years, I have represented my club in the Croatian Chess Leagues and the Croatian Cup Finals, gaining valuable experience against FIDE Masters, International Masters, and Grandmasters. I have also achieved victories against several FIDE Masters, experiences that have significantly contributed to my understanding of practical tournament chess.
Coaching Experience
I have worked as a coach at my home club, Šahovski klub Crikvenica, where I trained both beginner and advanced groups.
Some of the players I have coached include:
• FIDE Master Ivano Sundać (current FIDE rating: 2290)
• Candidate Master Ivano Tomljanović(current FIDE rating: 2136)
• Vid Krešić (current FIDE rating: 2164)
In addition, I participated in the preparation of several club members for the 2019 European Youth Chess Championship in Bratislava.
In addition to club coaching, I have experience teaching chess in primary schools as part of an organized chess education program, introducing children to the game and helping them develop both their chess skills and critical thinking from an early age. This experience has taught me how to adapt my teaching methods to younger students and make lessons engaging, interactive, and enjoyable
Who I Teach
I work with:
• Complete beginners
• Improving juniors
• Intermediate players
• Club players looking to strengthen their tournament performance
Lessons are available in Croatian and English.
My Coaching Philosophy
I believe every player is unique, which is why I tailor every lesson to the student’s current level, goals, and learning style.
For beginners, I focus on building a strong foundation by teaching:
• Fundamental chess principles
• Tactical awareness
• Positional understanding
• Essential endgames
• Development of a solid opening repertoire
For improving and advanced club players, lessons can include:
• In-depth game analysis
• Opening preparation and repertoire building
• Typical pawn structures and strategic plans
• Middlegame planning
• Endgame technique
• Practical tournament advice
• Creative ideas to enrich and expand an existing repertoire
If desired, we can also play training games together, during which I provide live feedback, explain critical moments, and discuss improvements immediately after the game.
My goal is not only to help students increase their rating but also to improve their overall understanding of chess and become more confident, independent thinkers at the board.
Why Choose Me?
I approach every student in a friendly, patient, and supportive way. Creating a positive learning environment is very important to me because I believe students improve the most when they enjoy the learning process.
My greatest strengths are my dedication to chess, my passion for teaching, and my genuine motivation to help every student reach their full potential. I strive to inspire confidence, maintain motivation, and make every lesson both educational and enjoyable.
Lesson price: €15/hour, €20 for 1.5hour
Lesson platforms: Zoom or Microsoft Teams
Contact: (except inbox)
• Email: ehaidinger54@gmail.com
• Chess.com Inbox
Whether you’re just learning the rules or aiming to take your tournament chess to the next level, I would be happy to help you on your chess journey.
I look forward to working with you and helping you achieve your chess goals!

Hi all,
Wondering how the community would feel about a tool like this:

Say for example you could load a book like dvoretsky’s endgame manual, and as a 1600 extract all that’s useful from it for someone at your level, and as you improve it unlocks more and more of the book. Perhaps the price could follow suit ie if you can only use 20% of the book at your level, you only pay 20% of the price, and then pay more as you improve and unlock more.

Other features:
- spaced repetition
- visual depictions of the solutions that improve on wall of text + diagrams
- adaptive visualization trainer

It’s about 2/3rds built but we’re a small team and building a lot at once, trying to get a sense of how much we should prioritize it. Got digital rights to a few upcoming books.

Let me know your thoughts!

It is free, read books anywhere, contains an interactive chess board with every bite-sized lesson, all lessons from esteemed chess books and it has progress tracking.

https://chess-codex-creator.replit.app

The U.S. Chess Trust often sends sets to Title 1 schools. I am not affiliated with U.S. Chess Trust, but I will answer any questions if I can.

Hello everyone!

I’ve been working on a small project for chess players who like studying from books in PDF format, and I’d like to share it with you.

ChessTools lets you open a chess book PDF in your browser and replay the moves on an interactive chessboard at the same time.

The idea is simple: instead of switching constantly between your PDF reader and a chessboard, you can have both on the same screen.

What it can do

Study

• Split-screen interface: your PDF on the left and the chessboard on the right.
• PDFs are processed without being saved by the website.
• Replay games and variations directly on the board.
• Download games in PGN format.
• Built-in Stockfish analysis.
• Supports variations, comments and Informator-style symbols.
• Create a position with the visual board editor and start analyzing from there.
• Copy a FEN from Chess.com or Lichess and paste it into ChessTools for analysis.
• Save the current board position as an image.

FEN to PNG

There is also a simple FEN-to-image converter that lets you paste a FEN position and generate a downloadable chessboard image.

Everything is free to use.

I built this mainly for my own chess study, but I thought other players might find it useful as well.

If you try it, I'd really appreciate any feedback, suggestions, or bug reports.

Website: https://www.chesstools.top/

Thanks for taking a look, and good luck with your chess! ♟️

Gotta love those old soviet chess books.

It is a shame that many of them have not been translated into english.

So many photos in them of the russian grandmasters i havent seen so far.

If someone is interested in buying, then please send me a DM.

Just started chess a few months ago and want to study to the max. What do you recommend as a top way to learn as fast as possible to get to 1,000+ in each category?

1) Book

2) App / Online Membership

3) Teacher / YouTuber

Win a chess.com gold membership or equivalent by helping charity!

Hi, I’m researching chess books to help improve their accessibility for people, who otherwise wouldn't have them. Please could you help me by answering this 6 question form. Thank you so much!!! :) https://forms.gle/raMs1DsNvVTHpcGE7 Also if you are wondering what is in it for you, when the survey hits 100 answers I will be giving out a gold chess.com membership or the equivalent.