My Favourite Chess Books

Books. I absolutely love books. Real books, not eBooks.

Why do I love books so much?

Quite simple really, we never had that many books in my house when I was growing up. There were local libraries with some good books, but that wasn't the same as actually owning one yourself.

Almost all books sold in South Africa while I was growing up had to be imported, which made them very expensive (especially chess books as there wasn't enough demand to get the prices down to a realistic level, bookshops simply wouldn't stock them and you had to order in single copies). So I grew up loving books, craving books of my own and appreciating books.

As I grew older, and started working and could afford my own books, I started buying books and chess books made up a fair proportion of my home library.

Then, having moved to the UK, I spend 2001 to 2010 working in the book trade - 4 years in book retail and 5 years at a literary agent. And my life was filled with books, books and more books - signed copies, first editions, advance copies, uncorrected proofs (same thing, but sounds cool), freebies...and chess books!!

I now sell a range of chess books as part of my coaching business and my own personal chess libary continues to grow!

So what are my favourite chess books, my personal top 10?

Lists like this are very subjective, they are MY favourites. You can disagree with MY list, that's fine, as I may disagree with yours.

And my list is a combination of books that have a personal story attached, great instructional books and also just some good chess reads.

Also, to be in my list I had to own a copy, seems fair enough...If I love a book that much that it makes my top 10 it should be in my library!

Maybe you know some or all of these, maybe you have even read some. If not, now is the time to go grab a copy and have a read. Who knows, some may even make it into your Top 10.

In random order:

How Fischer Plays Chess - David Levy
A favourite from my local library in South Africa, one of the first chess books I can remember reading.

Chess Openings: Theory & Practice - I A Horowitz
My first 'Openings Bible'.

Batsford Chess Openings Volume 2 - Kasparov & Keene
My first up to date (at the time) 'Openings Bible' - I own 2 copies!

Total Chess - David Spanier
A great collection of thoughts on chess by an amateur chess player.

Understanding Chess: Move by Move - John Nunn
Very instructive games collection.

Chess for Children - Raymond Bott & Stanley Morrison
Brilliantly written, a childhood favourite.

My 60 Memorable Games - Bobby Fischer
Do I need to say anything?

Fischer v Spassky - Svetozar Gligoric
Gligoric's account of the 1972 'Match of the Century'

The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings - Reuben Fine
Not just lines of theory, but great explanations, key positions, pawn structures etc.

Unlimited Challenge - Garry Kasparov
Along with Fischer, the world champion I rate most highly, Garry Kasparov tells his life story - 1963 to 1990
Inspirational.

That's it. For today.

My list might change tomorrow!

Simples.