In article 2v3Ua.124034$OZ2.25055@rwcrnsc54,
"Russell Reagan" wrote:

I would like to know what stronger players think is a good book (or small
set of books) to build a solid foundation for playing chess. Most people
want a quick fix, but I am asking for a book (or books) that when studied,
will give a player a solid foundation for moving on to become a strong
player.

I am not exactly sure if this is a good example, but the Inner Game of Chess
comes to mind. It seems like it teaches a method to play chess which will be
applicable to any situation on the board. You still have to fill in some of
the details such as gaining knowledge, becoming tactically sound, and so on,
but the overall system seems like it would give one a solid foundation to
build upon.


Read "Inner Game" once you have built your foundation. It is pretty
advanced. Instead, start with Fine's "Ideas Behind the Chess Openings,"
and use MCO-14 to compensate for the modern theory that you won't learn
from Fine. Then cover Nimzovich's "My System," any middlegame primer by
Silman or Seirawan, and any endings primer by Mednis. All of these books
should be read in combination with a good tactics book.