Favorite Books

Home Endgame Books Fun What ? No Nimzo ?

 

(originally posted on Chesstalk December 20, 1999)

Hello fellow chess addicts to chesstalk.com

Please find below a list of thirty-odd books that no self respecting GM would ever be found dead NOT having in his library...(please note that this only includes books published before '85, and does not include 'good stuff' published since...)

Merry Xmas

Kevin Spraggett

Classics

Complete Chess Strategy, by Pachman (3 vol)    
The Middle Game in Chess, by Euwe (2 vol) (Static Features, Dynamic Features)
500 Master Games of Chess, by Tartakover
Lasker's Manual, by God (Em.Lasker)
Common Sense in Chess, by Em.Lasker
Chess from Morphy to Botvinnik, by Konig
Pachman's Decisive Games, by Pachman
Tarrasch's Best Games, by Reinfeld (no, he didn't play them, thank god)
Life and games of Mikhail Tal, by Tal
Fischer's 60 Memorable Games, by the 'MAN' himself
Rubinstein's Chess Masterpieces, by Kmoch (god
couldn't do better...)
Pawn Power in Chess, by Kmoch
Paul Keres' Best Games, by P.Keres (no, not the
'Nunn' edition)
Botvinnik's 100 selected games, by Botvinnik
himself (Mr. Soviet Chess )
Zurich '53, by Bronstein (one of the ten best of all time)
Nottingham '36, by Alekhine
Practical Chess Endings, by Keres (the 'must'
first book of endings)
Tal vs Botvinnik match of '60, by Tal himself (one of the top ten)
Ideas behind the openings, by Fine
Art of Positional chess, by Reshevsky (truly great book)
The Application of Chess Theory, by Geller (or how to beat the world champions)
The Art of Attack in Chess, by Vukovich (or how to 'screw' your opponent)
A guide to the Chess endings, by Euve
How Not to Play Chess, by Borovsky (a great book)

Chess Improviser, by Bronstein (one of the
greatest books of all time)

Hypermodern Chess, by Reinfeld (again, he didn't play any of these games...)
From Steinitz to Fischer , by Euve
World Chess Championship '37, by Alekhine
(necessary reading)
Art of the middle game, by Keres and Kotov (super book)
Dynamic Chess, by Coles (great book by complete unknown)
My Best Games of Chess , by Tartakover (one of the best of all time)
Meet the Masters, by Euwe
GM preparation, by Polugaevsky (one of the top ten)
125 selected games, by Smyslov
My best games of chess, by Alekhine (3 vol)
The Chess Terrorist, by Shamkovich (great reading)

Home Endgame Books Fun What ? No Nimzo ?