Which chess books should you read?

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

Book of the week

silman's complete endgame course chessreads

Silman’s Complete Endgame Course

4.69
13 ratings·5 reviews
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Table of Contents

  • ELO: 1600
  • -
  • 1800
1 review
Chess book review, King's Anti-Sicilians for Black, Daniel King
  • King’s Anti-Sicilians for Black
  • Daniel King
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  • ELO: 1600
  • -
  • 2000
1 review
Chess book review, The Triangle System, Noteboom, Marshall Gambit and other Semi-Slav Triangle lines, Ruslan Scherbakov
  • The Triangle System, Noteboom, Marshall Gambit and other Semi-Slav Triangle lines
  • Ruslan Scherbakov
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  • ELO: 1800
  • -
  • 2000
0 reviews
Chess book review, The Even More Flexible French, Viktor Moskalenko
  • The Even More Flexible French
  • Viktor Moskalenko
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  • ELO: 1800
  • -
  • 2000
0 reviews
Book cover of Italian Game and Evans Gambit by Jan Pinski, chess book review
  • Italian Game and Evans Gambit
  • Jan Pinski
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  • ELO: 1600
  • -
  • 2000
0 reviews
Chess book review, Zwischenzug!, Natasha Regan
  • Zwischenzug!
  • Matt Ball, Natasha Regan
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  • ELO: 1600
  • -
  • 1800
0 reviews
Chess book review, Clinch it!, Cyrus Lakdawala
  • Clinch it!
  • Cyrus Lakdawala
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  • Elo: -800
  • -
  • 2200+
  • Promoted
600 of the world's most realistc chess bots
  • 600 Chess Bots
  • IM John Bartholomew
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  • ELO: 1400
  • -
  • 1600
0 reviews
Book cover of Better Chess for Average Players by Tim Harding, chess book review
  • Better Chess for Average Players
  • Tim Harding
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  • ELO: 1400
  • -
  • 1600
0 reviews
Chess book review, After Magnus, Anish Giri
  • After Magnus
  • Anish Giri
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  • Elo: 800
  • -
  • 2200
chessmind grid image 1
  • Mauricio Flores Rios
Try for Free
  • ELO: 1600
  • -
  • 2000
0 reviews
Book cover of The Bb5 Sicilian: Detailed Coverage Of A Thoroughly Modern System by Richard Palliser, chess book review
  • The Bb5 Sicilian: Detailed Coverage Of A Thoroughly Modern System
  • Richard Palliser
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  • ELO: 1800
  • -
  • 2000
2 reviews
Chess book review, My Best Games of Chess 1908-1937, Alexander Alekhine
  • My Best Games of Chess 1908-1937
  • Alexander Alekhine
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  • ELO: 1400
  • -
  • 1600
0 reviews
Book cover of Bobby Fischer's Outrageous Chess Moves by Bruce Pandolfini, chess book review
  • Bobby Fischer’s Outrageous Chess Moves
  • Bruce Pandolfini
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  • ELO: 1600
  • -
  • 2000
1 review
Book cover of Origins: Ruy Lopez, Book 3: Closed Main Lines by Cyrus Lakdawala, Carsten Hansen, chess book review
  • Origins: Ruy Lopez, Book 3: Closed Main Lines
  • Carsten Hansen, Cyrus Lakdawala
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  • Elo: -800
  • -
  • 2200+
Chessbook is the fastest way to build a bulletproof repertoire.
  • Chessbook
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  • ELO: 1800
  • -
  • 2000
0 reviews
Chess book review, Excelling at Positional Chess, Jacob Aagaard
  • Excelling at Positional Chess
  • Jacob Aagaard
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Latest reviews

  • ELO: 1600
  • -
  • 2200
0 reviews
Book cover of The 3...Qd8 Scandinavian: Simple and Strong by Daniel Lowinger, chess book review
  • The 3…Qd8 Scandinavian: Simple and Strong
  • Daniel Lowinger
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  • ELO: 1600
  • -
  • 2200+
1 review
Book cover of The Modern Scandinavian by Matthias Wahls, chess book review
  • The Modern Scandinavian
  • Matthias Wahls
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  • ELO: 2000
  • -
  • 2200+
2 reviews
Chess book review, The Zaitsev System, Alexey Kuzmin
  • The Zaitsev System
  • Alexey Kuzmin
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  • ELO: 1400
  • -
  • 1800
1 review
Chess book review, Chess Fundamentals, Jose Capablanca
  • Chess Fundamentals
  • Jose Capablanca
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  • ELO: 1600
  • -
  • 2000
0 reviews
Book cover of The Original Arkhangelsk by Tibor Karolyi, chess book review
  • The Original Arkhangelsk
  • Tibor Karolyi
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  • ELO: 1600
  • -
  • 2000
0 reviews
Book cover of Archangel and New Archangel by Krzysztof Panczyk and John Emms, chess book review
  • Archangel and New Archangel
  • John Emms, Krzysztof Panczyk
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  • ELO: 2000
  • -
  • 2200
2 reviews
Book cover of Bobby Fischer's Endgame Technique by Alex Colovic, chess book review
  • Bobby Fischer’s Endgame Technique
  • Alex Colovic
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  • ELO: 1000
  • -
  • 1200
1 review
Book cover of Starting Out: The Ruy Lopez by John Shaw, chess book review
  • Starting Out: The Ruy Lopez
  • John Shaw
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Articles
Everything You Need to Know About Reading Chess Books
Christmas Gifts for Chess Players
Best Chess Books of 2025
Books for Ambitious Beginners

Chessreads is a collection of chess book reviews written by chess players of varying strength, from beginner to master. Our goal is to help every chess player find out which books they should read based on their rating, weaknesses and ambition.

Chessreads is accompanied by a YouTube channel where we post reviews in video format, interviewing authors, and recommending reading lists for players of different ratings.

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