The best way to get better at chess is simply by playing. You can't train intuition, you have to play many games. (though analyzing afterwards helps of course, but lichess features Stockfish analysis so that's not a problem)
If you literally have just learned how the pieces move, all those books may be trying to run before you can walk, though the Logical Chess one is closest to being ok.
I have been looking into beginner level books to help some nieces and nephews that are interested. Two of the adult-oriented ones that have looked the best to me are "Chess for Dummies" by James Eade and "Learn Chess" by John Nunn. (Some books aimed at kids have very good content as well, but come with cartoons and humor that may not be to your taste.) Both those books take you from learning the moves to a pretty decent level of understanding in gradual steps. After working through those kind of books and getting a fair amount of playing under your belt, you might be ready to get more out of the Chernev. The Silman is probably not appropriate unless you've been playing enthusiastically for at least a couple of years. For you that's like giving a book on algebra to someone that just learned to count.
Be careful with book advice and improvement advice on these forums. People usually just trot out lists of their own favorite books, or whatever they've found useful for their own learning without much thought about how your needs would be different to theirs. Often the suggestions are way too advanced and only relevant if you're already a pretty good player.
One useful thing to remember is you can read the beginnings of a lot of books for free on Amazon.com or via a Kindle app on a PC or tablet. Between the table of contents, the intro, and an early chapter or two, you have a reasonable chance of telling if the book at least starts off being understandable, and is likely to cover things you don't already know. Also you can get an idea - and this can be very important! - whether you enjoy the style of writing.
I have been looking into beginner level books to help some nieces and nephews that are interested. Two of the adult-oriented ones that have looked the best to me are "Chess for Dummies" by James Eade and "Learn Chess" by John Nunn. (Some books aimed at kids have very good content as well, but come with cartoons and humor that may not be to your taste.) Both those books take you from learning the moves to a pretty decent level of understanding in gradual steps. After working through those kind of books and getting a fair amount of playing under your belt, you might be ready to get more out of the Chernev. The Silman is probably not appropriate unless you've been playing enthusiastically for at least a couple of years. For you that's like giving a book on algebra to someone that just learned to count.
Be careful with book advice and improvement advice on these forums. People usually just trot out lists of their own favorite books, or whatever they've found useful for their own learning without much thought about how your needs would be different to theirs. Often the suggestions are way too advanced and only relevant if you're already a pretty good player.
One useful thing to remember is you can read the beginnings of a lot of books for free on Amazon.com or via a Kindle app on a PC or tablet. Between the table of contents, the intro, and an early chapter or two, you have a reasonable chance of telling if the book at least starts off being understandable, and is likely to cover things you don't already know. Also you can get an idea - and this can be very important! - whether you enjoy the style of writing.
I'm not sure about any of those, but my personal recommendation for any beginning player who is looking to study and improve their game is Aron Nimzovich's My System.
He literally starts with an explanation of the board and each piece's strengths and weaknesses, and slowly unfolds all the great ideas that are still the backbone of all modern chess theory. I don't think you can go wrong by studying from it. There's also a good video series on Youtube if you are more of a audio-visual learner.
The main problem I think for beginners studying any book is that they remember certain guilding principles of the game and assume if they follow them they will win. While they do indeed help, often times there are many priniples that can be applied to a situation and you have to learn which are more or less important. Knight on the rim is dim...except when it isn't. Most rules have exceptions, and these exceptions usually stem from other principles that are more important in a position. But overall, I think Nimzo is a great place to start.
He literally starts with an explanation of the board and each piece's strengths and weaknesses, and slowly unfolds all the great ideas that are still the backbone of all modern chess theory. I don't think you can go wrong by studying from it. There's also a good video series on Youtube if you are more of a audio-visual learner.
The main problem I think for beginners studying any book is that they remember certain guilding principles of the game and assume if they follow them they will win. While they do indeed help, often times there are many priniples that can be applied to a situation and you have to learn which are more or less important. Knight on the rim is dim...except when it isn't. Most rules have exceptions, and these exceptions usually stem from other principles that are more important in a position. But overall, I think Nimzo is a great place to start.
I was going to mention Nimzovich too. "My System" was published in 1925 and is still one of the most instructive books ever published.
If you're going to become a serious chess enthusiast you'll need to understand Nimzo's place in putting down on paper a method of understanding chess in a scientific way.
If you're going to become a serious chess enthusiast you'll need to understand Nimzo's place in putting down on paper a method of understanding chess in a scientific way.
I've been playing chess for over two decades and have read at least a dozen chess books cover to cover and can say that "My System" is possibly the worst choice of a chess book you can suggest to a beginner.
Well, of course, that's correct chess240 a true beginner (someone who knows nothing more than how the pieces move) should simply play games with someone more advanced (ideally a coach) who can demonstrate why certain moves are better than others. Not just that, but what a player should be thinking about and why. I doubt there is any book that can effectively replicate that experience.
It's also why I recommended the video series, because it's got a strong player breaking down what Nimzo is saying and demonstrating the illustrations on a board. I probably wouldn't recommend actually trying to read and study it actually if you're super brand new to chess.
My first book was "How to Be A Winner at Chess" - by Reinfeld
He also made 2 chess puzzle books
reinfeld was a great teacher just starting out and the books were thin enough for you to get through them completely. After that, the books got thicker and havent read one through except fischers 60 memorable. nimzowitch could have condensed his "praxis" into 10 pages. actually you cant avoid getting SOMETHING from any book. eventually something will stick if you play, read, and go over your games. persistence is the key and taking long breaks of at least a week.
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