What are some good books on positional chess?

[Graham Banks]

Highly recommended are:

"Logical Chess Move By Move" and "The Most Instructive Games Of Chess Ever Played" by Irving Chernev.

Once you get stronger, you could try "Test Your Positional Play" by Robert Bellin and Pietro Ponzetto.

I learnt chess through books and through playing, with no coaching whatsoever. These books were great.

[Erik Roggenburg]

Tactics, tactics, and more tactics!

This, from Ms. Susan Polgar:
http://www.amazon.com/Chess-Tactics-Cha ... 206&sr=8-4

A fine one from Mr. John Nunn:
http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Chess-Tacti ... 279&sr=1-1

And a beauty from the always entertaining Mr. Seirawan:
http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Chess-Tac ... 326&sr=1-4

All are very accessible for beginners or patzers (me), and they are put together by three GMs that not only know their stuff, but they also can teach - and do so in an entertaining manner. The "straightest" of the three is Ms. Polgar's. Nunn and Seirawan both inject more humor, with Nunn's being of the dry, British variety - which is no less amusing than Seirawan's lighter style.

[gerold]

I have no idea my rating, but below 1000 I am sure. Can any of you suggest a good book to study on positional chess?

Thanks.

S.

Welcome to the computer chess club. Best on the net
I know you ask for a good book and many good books
have been mentioned.

You can download Arena for free and many free chess
engines. You can improve your game and learn some
openings with computer chess programs. There are
some good sites on the net with chess openings.
Having a good strong opening is the key to a
winning game.

Best to you,

Gerold.

[swami]

There are
some good sites on the net with chess openings.
Having a good strong opening is the key to a
winning game.

Sorry, I disagree with that, Any irregular opening with the idea on how to develop pieces is suffice I think.

So, It's mostly tactics with basic positional knowledge for a start.

[stwils]

Thanks to all of you who responded with your thoughts and suggestions.
I am now trying to decide which books to order

For now I am leaning toward the easier books as my rating is not high. I'm looking at:
Best Lessons of a Chess Coach
Winning Chess Strategies- Seirawan
Positional Chess Handbook- Gelfer
And maybe Weapons of Chess - Pandolfini.

For downloadable software, Chess Tempo and Chess Tactics Server.

I have Susan Polgar's two books and am reading them daily.

By the way, what is Arena? Is it a full chess program that runs after it is downloaded?

Thank you all again for helping me. It is so good to have a place to come to and talk chess.

S.

[gerold]

Thanks to all of you who responded with your thoughts and suggestions.
I am now trying to decide which books to order

For now I am leaning toward the easier books as my rating is not high. I'm looking at:
Best Lessons of a Chess Coach
Winning Chess Strategies- Seirawan
Positional Chess Handbook- Gelfer
And maybe Weapons of Chess - Pandolfini.

For downloadable software, Chess Tempo and Chess Tactics Server.

I have Susan Polgar's two books and am reading them daily.

By the way, what is Arena? Is it a full chess program that runs after it is downloaded?

Thank you all again for helping me. It is so good to have a place to come to and talk chess.

S.

Arena 1.1 is the most stable. The new beta version is good to.

http://www.playwitharena.com/

on the arena web site go to arena downloads. go down the page
the versions you wish to down load. Some of the verisons
have engines that come with the program. You can start playing
with it after the download. If you wish other engines it will run
winboard and UCI.

[stwils]

What do you mean "engines?" Won't Arena play without adding something to it? I do not understand about stand alone things and software that needs an "engine." Please enlighten me.

S.

[Dirt]

What do you mean "engines?" Won't Arena play without adding something to it? I do not understand about stand alone things and software that needs an "engine." Please enlighten me.

S.

The version of Arena that I just installed came with several engines, so it was usable immediately. There are stronger ones available (some for free) if you want to go to the trouble. Or weaker ones if you want an opponent you can beat. I'm probably about your strength and I find Chad's Chess a suitable opponent.

[Kirk]

The Susan Polgar books are very easy to read and give a very good summary of the basics

[gerold]

What do you mean "engines?" Won't Arena play without adding something to it? I do not understand about stand alone things and software that needs an "engine." Please enlighten me.

S.

Graphical user inteface(GUI)
You need the GUI (Arena) to play computer chess programs.