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: -800
  • -
  • 2200+
Chessbook is the fastest way to build a bulletproof repertoire.
  • Chessbook
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  • ELO: 2000
  • -
  • 2200+
1 review
Book cover of Grandmaster Repertoire 2A: 1.d4 King's Indian and Grünfeld by Boris Avrukh, chess book review
  • Grandmaster Repertoire 2A: 1.d4 King’s Indian and Grünfeld
  • Boris Avrukh
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  • For any rating
1 review
Book cover of Birth of the Chess Queen: A History by Marilyn Yalom, chess book review
  • Birth of the Chess Queen: A History
  • Marilyn Yalom
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  • ELO: 2000
  • -
  • 2200
1 review
Chess book review, Playing the Nimzo-Indian, Renier Castellanos
  • Playing the Nimzo-Indian
  • Renier Castellanos
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  • ELO: 1200
  • -
  • 1400
0 reviews
Chess book review, World Champion Chess for Juniors, Joel Benjamin
  • World Champion Chess for Juniors
  • Joel Benjamin
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  • ELO: 1400
  • -
  • 1600
0 reviews
Chess book review, The Greatest Attacker in Chess, Cyrus Lakdawala
  • The Greatest Attacker in Chess
  • Cyrus Lakdawala
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  • ELO: 2000
  • -
  • 2200+
0 reviews
Book cover of Opening For White According To Anand 1.e4, Volume 5 by Alexander Khalifman, chess book review
  • Opening For White According To Anand 1.e4, Volume 5
  • Alexander Khalifman
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  • ELO: 2000
  • -
  • 2200+
1 review
Book cover of Grandmaster Repertoire: The Open Spanish by Victor Mikhalevski, chess book review
  • Grandmaster Repertoire: The Open Spanish
  • Victor Mikhalevski
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  • ELO: 1200
  • -
  • 1400
0 reviews
Chess book review, A Modern Guide to Checkmating Patterns, Vladimir Barsky
  • A Modern Guide to Checkmating Patterns
  • Vladimir Barsky
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  • ELO: 1400
  • -
  • 1600
0 reviews
Book cover of The Power Chess Program, Book 1 by Nigel Davies, chess book review
  • The Power Chess Program, Book 1
  • Nigel Davies
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  • Elo: 800
  • -
  • 2200
chessmind grid image 1
  • Mauricio Flores Rios
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  • ELO: 1600
  • -
  • 1800
2 reviews
Chess book review, Endgame Strategy, Mikhail Shereshevsky
  • Endgame Strategy
  • Mikhail Shereshevsky
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  • Elo: -800
  • -
  • 2200+
  • Promoted
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  • ELO: 1400
  • -
  • 1800
0 reviews
Book cover of Kasparov against the World by Garry Kasparov, Daniel King, chess book review
  • Kasparov against the World
  • Daniel King, Garry Kasparov
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  • For any rating
0 reviews
Book cover of Genna Remembers by Genna Sosonko, chess book review
  • Genna Remembers
  • Genna Sosonko
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  • ELO: 1800
  • -
  • 2000
0 reviews
Book cover of Grandmaster Performance by Lev Polugaevsky, chess book review
  • Grandmaster Performance
  • Lev Polugaevsky
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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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