dajava wrote (2004-02-04 07:21:07 PST):
I have only one chess book, which covers all the
aspects of the game Now, I want to buy a chess
opening book for the first time in my life.
I am a very low level player as you can guess.
Any recommendations?


John Macnab wrote (2004-02-04 07:53:14 PST):

... you need to have some idea of the sort of
openings you would like ...

A good, more general choice is Edmar Mednis's
*How to Play Good Opening Moves*. It will give
you a range of lightly annotated openings from
a variety of systems to help you get an idea of
how to control the centre, castle safely, develop
your pieces, etc.

_
I wonder if John Macnab has the wrong title (or
perhaps the book has been revised since I saw it).
As I remember it, the book devotes a large amount
of space to a discussion of only the first move
or two for both sides. Then there was only a
more lengthy discussion of a sample line from
the Ruy Lopez and from the Sicilian.


John Macnab wrote (2004-02-04 07:53:14 PST):

If your local library has a copy of Reuben
Fine's *The Ideas behind the Chess Openings*
you should get it. (Or buy it; it's cheap
these days.) It is well behind the times
in much of its theory, but it will give
you very important basic information. For
example, most beginners who open 1. e4 are
not looking to play d4 quickly. But it is
often a very important move, and Fine
explains why.

_
For that sort of explanation, I wonder if
some other book might be better. Fine's
book would be pretty long and hard reading
for many low level players. What book is
best depends, to some extent, on the person
reading it. Many would, I suspect, learn
more from a book like the ones by Seirawan
(Winning Chess Openings) and Ward (Improving
Your Opening Play).


Dick Schneiders wrote (2004-02-04 09:57:54 PST):

I really like Standard Chess Openings by
Eric Schiller published by Cardoza Publishing.
It is a large book ...

_
Indeed it is. My guess is that many would
be better off with a book that they could
realistically expect to read all the way
through in a reasonable amount of time.