Our Favorite Nonfiction Chess Books
- Chess Friends Books
- May 22
- 3 min read
Howdy! It’s the Chess Friends!
Today we would like to showcase some of our favorite nonfiction chess books and authors. These books can really help you become a much better chess player!
The Jeff Coakley series Winning Chess Puzzles for Kids and the books that follow are excellent starter books for kids, at any age. Start Red, then Green (Winning Chess Strategy for Kids), then Blue (Winning Chess Exercises for Kids)! These books are super fun, start from the very beginning and help you get better very quickly. If you feel you are ready, want a bit more of a challenge, or are around an 800 level, feel free to jump straight into Green, which is our favorite of the series.
Another comprehensive series for beginning tournament players is Susan Polgar’s amazing Learn Chess the Right Way. It's five great books that can take you from beginner to competitive tournament player very fast. We have met Susan many times as WA has played host to the fantastic Susan Polgar Foundation National Open the last several years. She may be the greatest chess teacher of all time and has written numerous books that can be very helpful as you go through your chess journey, including her most recent Rebel Queen, an autobiography, and her Chess Tactics for Champions series.
How to Win at Chess by Levy Rozman (aka GothamChess) is very helpful and teaches some basic openings, middle game tactics, strategy, and common endgames. I (the Myth Sarang) actually met up with Levy at the Chess Kid National Festival and exchanged books with him. Here he is posing with our family book Do Brown Cows Make Chocolate Milk, and me with a couple signed copies of his How to Win at Chess! Note he is the world’s top chess streamer and runs a fantastic chess coaching site Chessly, which both my brother (The Legend Vivaan) and I use daily for studying.
Jeremy Silman’s books are fantastic. Silman’s Complete Endgame Course helps with many basic endgame skills, and as you go deeper you get into more advanced topics. It's a favorite of The Man Benji! I (The Legend Vivi) LOVE his Complete Book of Chess Strategy because it can teach you the basic ideas of all phases of the game, from the opening to deeper middle game plans, and even some endgame ideas! As you get better, The Amateur’s Mind and How to Reassess your Chess, also by Silman, are very good, and help you understand imbalances and deeper positional topics, which become crucial around the 1400 level.
Jennifer Shahade’s Play Like a Champion is very nice as well and shows interesting positions from top games, and the puzzles really help you grow your chess. Her book Chess Queens is also a fabulous account of the greatest female players of all time and a super inspirational read. We’ve met up with Jen at several events over the past few years as The Legend Vivi and her son are in the same grade! At one event, we even did hula hoop chess with her!
Pro tip: Use two chess boards when reading a book. That way one can keep the original position and the other can go over variations. As you do this more, you will begin to see the chessboard in your mind and a better memory for the positions. Also using a notation sheet can be helpful as you analyze variations. As you improve, there are many books on specific openings, which go much deeper than beginner books. You probably wait to go there until you’ve already been playing tournaments for a little while. You know another good chess book to read?! Q & A Chess: Tournament Edition! #kneeslapper
Three Cheers, Fellow Future Master Chess Friends!
The Man Benji, The Myth Sarang, and The Legend Vivi
P.S. What's your favorite chess book and who's your favorite chess author? There are SO many great ones! Leave us a comment with your favorites!
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