Which chess books should you read? Find out.

Current rating?

Current rating? Any Below 800 800 - 1000 1000 - 1200 1200 - 1400 1400 - 1600 1600 - 1800 1800 - 2000 2000 - 2200 Above 2200

Playing style?

Playing style? any positional dynamic tactical theoretical

Biggest weakness?

Biggest weakness? any openings strategy tactics and calculation endgames

Target rating?

Target rating? Any 800 - 1000 1000 - 1200 1200 - 1400 1400 - 1600 1600 - 1800 1800 - 2000 2000 - 2200 Above 2200

Chess book reviews from a perspective of an improving player. The books on Chessreads are divided by category (opening, middlegame, endgame, etc.), and by difficulty (beginner, intermediate, advanced, master). That way you can filter them according to your current strength and according to what you think you have to work on the most. Each book is given two separate scores: readability and usefulness. The readability score represents how difficult it is to read the book without using a board. A book with 10/10 readability is a bedtime story, a book with 1/10 is a puzzle book full of variations. Readability doesn’t represent the quality of the book. Usefulness is a measure of how useful the book is for chess improvement within the topic it covers. Books with a high usefulness score should help you improve quicker than those with a low score.

Chessreads article cover, Best Christmas Gifts for Chess Players in 2025

10 Best Christmas Gifts for Chess Players in 2025

Stjepan Tomić November 1, 2025

Are you looking for a perfect gift for a chess player this Christmas?

Rating:

1400
-
2200

Ding Liren’s Best Games

Davorin Kuljasevic

Rating:

-800
-
2200+

Capablanca & Alekhine

Luis Fernández Siles

Rating:

1400
-
2200

King’s Kalashnikov Sicilian

Daniel King

Rating:

2000
-
2200+

Beyond Material

Davorin Kuljasevic

Rating:

2000
-
2200+

Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual 6th Edition

Mark Dvoretsky, Karsten Müller, Alex Fishbein

Rating:

1800
-
2200+

Benko Bible Volume 1: The Gambit Accepted

Vassilios Kotronias, Mikhail Ivanov

Rating:

1600
-
2000

Lessons with A Grandmaster 3, Strategic and Tactical Ideas in Modern Chess

Boris Gulko, Joel Sneed

Rating:

1400
-
2200

Analyzing the Chess Mind

Boris Gulko, Joel Sneed

Rating:

1400
-
2200

Technique in Chess

Mark Dvoretsky, Artur Yusupov

Rating:

1000
-
2200

Endgame Strategy

Mikhail Shereshevsky

Rating:

1400
-
2200

Lessons with a Grandmaster, Enhance Your Chess Strategy And Psychology With Boris Gulko

Boris Gulko, Joel Sneed

Rating:

1600
-
2200

Lessons with a Grandmaster 2, Improve Your Tactical Vision and Dynamic Play with Boris Gulko

Boris Gulko, Joel Sneed

Rating:

1000
-
1800

Practical Chess Exercises: 600 Lessons from Tactics to Strategy

Ray Cheng

Rating:

-800
-
2000

Boris Spassky’s Best Games 1

Tibor Karolyi

Rating:

1600
-
2200

Chess Imbalances: A Grandmaster Guide

Mauricio Flores Rios

Rating:

-800
-
1200

Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess

Bobby Fischer

Latest reviews

Rating:

1400
-
2200

Ding Liren’s Best Games

Davorin Kuljasevic

Rating:

-800
-
2200+

Capablanca & Alekhine

Luis Fernández Siles

Rating:

1400
-
2200

King’s Kalashnikov Sicilian

Daniel King

Rating:

2000
-
2200+

Beyond Material

Davorin Kuljasevic

Latest YouTube video

Chess book reviews from a perspective of an improving player. The books on Chessreads are divided by category (opening, middlegame, endgame, etc.), and by difficulty (beginner, intermediate, advanced, master). That way you can filter them according to your current strength and according to what you think you have to work on the most. Each book is given two separate scores: readability and usefulness. The readability score represents how difficult it is to read the book without using a board. A book with 10/10 readability is a bedtime story, a book with 1/10 is a puzzle book full of variations. Readability doesn’t represent the quality of the book. Usefulness is a measure of how useful the book is for chess improvement within the topic it covers. Books with a high usefulness score should help you improve quicker than those with a low score.