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

4.73
11 ratings·5 reviews
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Table of Contents

  • ELO: 2000
  • -
  • 2200+
1 review
Book cover of Grandmaster Repertoire: The Pirc Defense by Mihail Marin, chess book review
  • Grandmaster Repertoire: The Pirc Defense
  • Mihail Marin
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  • ELO: 1800
  • -
  • 2000
0 reviews
Book cover of Opening Repertoire: The Sveshnikov by Cyrus Lakdawala, chess book review
  • Opening Repertoire: The Sveshnikov
  • Cyrus Lakdawala
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  • ELO: 1800
  • -
  • 2000
1 review
Book cover of Kramnik: My Life & Games by Vladimir Kramnik, chess book review
  • Kramnik: My Life & Games
  • Iakov Damsky, Vladimir Kramnik
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  • ELO: 1200
  • -
  • 1600
0 reviews
Chess book review, The Chess Battles of Hastings, Jürgen Brustkern
  • The Chess Battles of Hastings
  • Jürgen Brustkern, Norbert Wallet
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  • ELO: 1600
  • -
  • 1800
0 reviews
Book cover of Winning Chess: How To Perfect Your Attacking Play by Irving Chernev, Fred Reinfeld, chess book review
  • Winning Chess: How To Perfect Your Attacking Play
  • Fred Reinfeld, Irving Chernev
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  • ELO: 1200
  • -
  • 1600
0 reviews
Chess book review, Improve your middlegame play, Andrew Kinsman
  • Improve your middlegame play
  • Andrew Kinsman
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  • ELO: 1600
  • -
  • 2000
1 review
Book cover of Play the Ruy Lopez by Andrew Greet, chess book review
  • Play the Ruy Lopez
  • Andrew Greet
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  • Elo: 800
  • -
  • 2200
chessmind grid image 1
  • Mauricio Flores Rios
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  • ELO: 1600
  • -
  • 2000
0 reviews
Book cover of Complete Chess Strategy, Play on the Wings by Ludek Pachman, chess book review
  • Complete Chess Strategy, Play on the Wings
  • Ludek Pachman
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  • ELO: 1800
  • -
  • 2000
0 reviews
Book cover of Attacking the English/Reti by Alexander Delchev, Semko Smekov, chess book review
  • Attacking the English/Reti
  • Alexander Delchev, Semko Smekov
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  • ELO: 1600
  • -
  • 2000
0 reviews
Book cover of Queen's Gambit Declined by Matthew Sadler, chess book review
  • Queen’s Gambit Declined
  • Matthew Sadler
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  • Elo: -800
  • -
  • 2200+
Chessbook is the fastest way to build a bulletproof repertoire.
  • Chessbook
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  • ELO: 1600
  • -
  • 2000
0 reviews
Book cover of Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov, Part 2: 1985-1993 by Garry Kasparov, chess book review
  • Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov, Part 2: 1985-1993
  • Garry Kasparov
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  • ELO: 1800
  • -
  • 2000
0 reviews
Chess book review, Sultan Khan, Daniel King
  • Sultan Khan
  • Daniel King
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  • Elo: -800
  • -
  • 2200+
  • Promoted
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  • Chess DNA Test
  • Chessiverse
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  • ELO: 1800
  • -
  • 2000
0 reviews
Book cover of The French Defence Main Line Winawer by John Moles, chess book review
  • The French Defence Main Line Winawer
  • John Moles
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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+
0 reviews
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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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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