Top ten lists are extremely popular in modern society. Chess isn’t immune from this phenomenon. All around I see lists of the best world champions, the best players never to be world champion, the top ten games of all time, etc. Even those who seem resistant to the mass hysteria pay close attention to the FIDE rating list and the national rankings.


Having said all that I’m infected with the bug myself. I set out writing this blog post to give all my readers a glimpse into my way of thinking as well as recommending some very useful books. The following list is in no particular order and certainly isn’t comprehensive. Too often I think when we evaluate chess books we’re looking for a panacea to turn us into chess calculating machines. Such a book or collection of books does not exist. However, if I were asked by a student “what book should I read about chess?” I have little doubt that one of these books would be on the tip of my tongue.



1. Chess 5,334 Problems, Combinations, and Games - Laszlo Polgar Any chess teacher worth their salt knows a little something about the training the Polgar sisters received at the hands of their determined father. This book, manual, reference, or whatever you want to call it is a glimpse into the main tool of the chess coach: directed practice.



2. Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953 - David Bronstein I discovered this book on my own some time ago and I enjoyed it as a trip through professional chess history. Years later I was discussing great chess classics with some trainers whose experience far outweighed my own and was a little surprised to hear them talk about this book as a necessity. I had accidentally stumbled upon a brilliant gem. Consider yourself educated where I had been ignorant.



3. Think Like A Grandmaster - Alexander Kotov Kotov experienced success as a chess player and teacher but he recognized that his greatest idol, Mikhail Botvinnik, really was far beyond him. This knowledge led to a great adventure that Kotov is willing to share with us. It is a good lesson to realize the superiority of others and yet have the bravery to stand up and ask “why are you better?”. I remember when I was training with Grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov he produced an old Russian copy of this book that was so used the pages were falling out. That’s as good a recommendation for this book as I needed.



4. Play Like a Grandmaster - Alexander Kotov Some of the ideas in “Think Like A Grandmaster” are a bit innocuous and this is Kotov’s attempt to bring a better understanding of those concepts as well as adding to the methods of the previous book. If you loved “Think Like A Grandmaster” you’ll love this one.



5. How To Reassess Your Chess - Jeremy Silman I can sing the praises of Silman all day but two of the most valuable concepts are the idea of reassessment and imbalances. Reassessing your chess involves a breaking down of your play and rebuilding from the ground up. Ideas that you have about chess can many times be toxic to your improvement … get rid of them. The idea of ‘imbalance’ is much simpler. Better pawn structure, the two bishops, bishop vs. knight, etc. It’s a matter of classifying advantages. Not an entirely new concept but certainly effective in practice even today.



6. Art Of Attack In Chess - Vladimir Vukovic I don’t know many people who have even heard of this book. It’s not a read for the feint of heart. You have to be dedicated to your own improvement to wrestle this book. In my early days of playing chess I called myself a “positional” player. All this means is my unwillingness to calculate led to small attacks, a preference for closed positions, and little desire for all-out assaults. It may have its faults but this book will get your mind thinking more about attack. It was more important to me that my paradigm of thinking shifted than any other help this book could have given me. It can help you too.



7. Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual - Mark Dvoretsky Many students who have come to me complained that their previous instructor spent weeks or months going over king and pawn endgames with them. Books like Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual are not for the average player. I have tried many times to read this book from cover to cover only to give up. I haven’t got the patience required and for that reason I recommend the use of the manual as a reference only. I have been congratulated many times for fighting the clock and winning in a long endgame at the club/hobby level and it’s because of this book. If you can finish it in a few sittings you’ll be a Grandmaster of the endgame.



8. I Play Against Pieces - Svetozar Gligoric Little known and unappreciated, this book stands in my mind as the book I wish Petrosian had written. I like to think of Gligoric as the Petrosian of Yugoslavia. Petrosian was certainly the better player of the two but Gligoric’s home analysis and recollection of the games in this collection is still very instructive. It’s a good manual of what a positional player should be. The key here for all players is this: If you like positional play you need to steer the game in that direction and see how that is accomplished. If you’re a tactical player loving complication and you get bored with positional games you need to know how to survive without making gross errors in your desperation to steer the game. The true genius is two sided and you have to cultivate a love for tactical and positional play in yourself.



9. Modern Chess Planning - Efstratios Grivas Grivas is a very well respected chess trainer currently serving on the FIDE Trainer Commission. This book in my opinion has only one use but it is every bit as powerful for the average to advanced player as Laszlo’s book is to the improving calculator. Namely: directed practice. With the help of Grivas the reader is guided amidst extreme complication. Improvement is inevitable if you can combat the various ideas put forth in this deceptively small volume.



10. Chess Success: Planning After The Opening - Neil McDonald Middlegame texts that are useful are rare so when you find one hold onto it. This is one of my book recommendations and it actually came to me from a student who had a book fetish. This is one of those books that grows with the reader. You see a little more each time you read it. Don’t take my word for it, take a look for yourself.


I hope you enjoyed this list. I look forward to reading and replying to your comments. I’m especially interested in books that you’d recommend and your experience reading my recommendations.

Share your thoughts on this variation by commenting or contacting me directly.

Anton Taylor, Senior Administrator of Chessvine.com with the current Women's World Chess Champion, Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk.

I may be a day late but I just wanted to tell my mom Happy Mother's Day!

I was in Atlanta with her yesterday at a chess seminar and as you can guess I owe her a great debt for that! Your mom may be great but she doesn't hold a candle to my mom, I love you mom!

I'll be attending FIDE Training this weekend (gone Friday-Sunday) in Atlanta. If you see me don't hesitate to say hello!