Favourite Christmas Book…?

What is your favorite Christmas book(s)?

If you’re looking for a Christmas gift (or birthday or other holiday gift) for a chess-playing friend or relative, you can hardly go wrong in giving him or her a good chess book. The aspiring chess master is always looking for additional sources of education and inspiration to improve his game.

You should discretely find out what books your chess-lover already has. This should be fairly easy, as devoted chess players are generally proud of their libraries and anxious to show them off. You might as what books they need to fill in the gaps of their library. The missing volume of an opening series or a particularly coveted book on tactics will be sure to please.

If you want some recommendations, here are some of the old tried and true chess books that have stood the test of time.

Openings

The ideas Behind the Chess Openings, by Reuben Fine. Fine was one of the strongest American masters from the middle of the 20th century, and was considered a likely contender for the world championship in the 1940′s. His book on the openings is a classic. And while it does not have the extensive analysis of modern opening “encyclopedias,” it has useful treatments of the broad ideas behind the major opening systems.

For the latest on opening theory, most tournament players will want to have the 15th edition of Modern Chess Openings, by Nick DeFirmian. “MCO-15″ is a modern (published 2008) and more extensive treatment than Fine’s Ideas. While no book can cover every opening line, this one covers most of the important ones, and has extensive footnote references.

Tactics

There are two classic works on tactics that every amateur chess player should have: 1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations, and its companion volume, 1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate, both by Fred Reinfeld. Many of today’s masters have learned their tactics from these books.

Endings

Another of Reuben Fine’s great works is his book on the endings, Basic Chess Endings. this is a fairly comprehensive work on the endings. The book has been criticized for its inaccuracies, but these are mostly minor. It is still extremely valuable for Fine’s teaching of the principles of endgame play.

Another great book on the endings is A Guide To Chess Endings, by former world champion Max Euwe and David Hooper. This book focuses on practical endings with pawns. As such it is extremely valuable for the practical tournament player.

These are just a few of the many good books available on the game of chess; enjoy looking around to find just the right book for your chess-playing friend.

Steve Coffee has been playing chess for over 5 decades, and has loved every minute of it.

Visit Steve’s website about chess strategies for chess players of beginning and intermediate skill levels.

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