| Need | What the book does | Planning use |
|---|---|---|
| Tactics foundations | Everyone’s First Chess Workbook by Peter Giannatos gives a comprehensive introduction to the foundational themes, with guided exercises followed by test positions. | Start here if you know how the pieces move and want tactical themes in a sensible order. |
| Tactics volume | 1001 Chess Exercises for Beginners by Franco Masetti and Roberto Messa has over 1,000 tactical exercises, and its chapters open with example positions. | Use it as the long-running supply of puzzles for daily practice. |
| Tactics beyond the basics | Winning Chess Tactics by Yasser Seirawan covers basic and intermediate tactics and ends with a chapter of test positions. | Buy it once the workbook feels comfortable and you want a higher ceiling. |
| Checkmates | CCT for Kids and Club Players Level 1 by Romain Edouard is mostly about checkmates and trapping the king. | Suits players whose games stall at the finish. |
| Openings | Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms (2006) and Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014) are both listed for openings. | Add one after your tactical habits are forming, not before. |
| Endgames | Chess Endgames for Kids by Karsten Müller (2015) is listed for endgames. | Add it when you want to convert and save finished positions. |
The table draws on the tactics reading list from Forward Chess and a titles-and-dates list from a Chess.com forum discussion.
The best chess books for beginners are a tactics workbook first, then an opening primer and an endgame book. Tactics are the moves that can quickly decide a game, so they repay study earliest.
If you are building a wider shelf beyond chess, our guide to the best books to read collects reviews across genres.
What your choice of book changes
The book you pick decides what you practise most, and that shapes which mistakes disappear first. A tactics workbook trains you to spot and finish attacks. An opening book gives you a plan for the first moves. An endgame book helps with positions that are nearly decided.
- Start with tactics if games end suddenly. Forward Chess describes tactics as the moves that can quickly decide a game, such as winning a piece or delivering checkmate. If you keep losing material or getting mated, this is where the study time goes furthest.
- Choose a checkmate-heavy book if you can win material but not finish. Quick checkmates rely on escape squares: you check which squares the enemy king can use, cover them, then deliver mate. A book such as Romain Edouard’s CCT for Kids and Club Players Level 1 drills exactly that.
- Pick the largest exercise book if you want volume. A collection with over 1,000 exercises will not run out, which suits anyone who solves puzzles daily.
- Delay openings and endgames until tactics feel natural. They help most when you are no longer dropping pieces, because a good opening plan does not survive a one-move blunder.
Tactics books: the first purchase
Tactics is the best-covered area for beginners. The books below suit different starting points, and all of them reinforce the same core patterns.
The patterns a beginner book must cover
Forward Chess lists the essential beginner tactics as pins, forks, skewers, discovered attacks and double checks, plus basic mate-in-one and mate-in-two problems. Check any tactics book’s contents against that list before buying. A volume that skips several of these is a supplement, not a foundation.
Everyone’s First Chess Workbook
Peter Giannatos’s workbook offers a comprehensive introduction to the foundational themes. It works through guided exercises first and then moves to test positions, so you learn a theme before being examined on it. It is the safest first tactics purchase for a player who knows the rules.
Winning Chess Tactics
Yasser Seirawan’s book covers all basic and intermediate tactics, and takes the material a step further with a final chapter of test positions. It suits a player who wants one tactics book to last beyond the first few months, or who has finished a workbook and wants to continue.
1001 Chess Exercises for Beginners
Franco Masetti and Roberto Messa’s collection has over 1,000 tactical exercises, and each chapter opens with example positions. Because of that structure, it works as a daily puzzle source more than as a first read-through. Forward Chess recommends solving tactical puzzles covering all themes on a regular basis, and a book this size gives you the material to do it.
Checkmates and simple attacks
CCT for Kids and Club Players Level 1 centres on checkmates and learning to trap your opponent’s king. Fred Wilson’s Simple Attacking Plans goes a different way: through game examples, it shows how a solid understanding of tactics supports straightforward attacks. Choose Edouard when you need finishing practice, and Wilson when you want to see tactics inside whole games.
Dan Heisman’s Back to Basics: Tactics also appears among beginner recommendations in the Chess.com forum list. It is a reasonable alternative to the workbook if you prefer a compact title.
Foundations and older classics
Some beginners need the rules and basic ideas before tactics. A listing on ThriftBooks for Franco Masetti’s Chess Books for Beginners (ISBN-13 9798321955956) describes a book that does not bypass the basics: over 15 pages of setup and piece introduction, followed by a quiz. That kind of opening suits an absolute beginner, while a player who already knows the moves can skip straight to tactics.
Two long-standing titles recur in recommendation threads. A Chess.com forum discussion lists Irving Chernev’s Logical Chess: Move by Move (1957) and Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld’s Winning Chess (1948) as classics. The same discussion cautions that most of these classics deserve new editions revised using computer analysis. If you buy a title this old, look for a revised edition and treat the original’s lines as less reliable than its explanations.
Openings and endgames
Openings and endgames are the second purchase, not the first. Add them when you can play several moves without losing material.
Opening primers
The Chess.com forum list names Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms (2006) and Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014) for openings. The more recent of the two may suit you if you prefer a newer edition. Pick one and use it to settle on a small set of first moves rather than comparing both.
Endgame study
For endgames, the same list names Karsten Müller’s Chess Endgames for Kids (2015). The title’s audience is young players, but it is listed among beginner recommendations. Read it after your tactical work has stopped producing constant blunders, because an endgame lesson only helps if you reach one.
A plan for working through the books
The plan below sequences the books by priority and keeps tactics running throughout. Each block is a stretch of consecutive weeks, and you can lengthen any block if its material is not yet automatic.
- Foundation block. If you are new, work through the basic setup and piece chapters of an introductory book and complete its quiz. If you already play, begin the Giannatos workbook straight away and set up each guided exercise on a real board.
- Tactics block. Move on to the exercise book or Winning Chess Tactics. Solve puzzles regularly across all themes, as Forward Chess advises, and for every mate problem check the king’s escape squares before moving. Replay missed patterns on a board until you can see them without the diagram.
- Openings and endings block. Add one opening primer and one endgame book. Use the opening book to settle a small repertoire, then use the endgame book to practise the positions it teaches. Keep a short daily tactics session so the earlier habit does not fade.
- Review block. Return to the test positions at the end of the workbook and the tactics book and check how many you now solve unaided. Revisit weak chapters, then pick the next area to expand.
Between blocks, a rest from the board helps. Fiction is a good palate cleanser: try The Best Cozy Mystery Series: A Reader’s Guide To Charming Whodunits In 2026 for light puzzles in another form, or The Best Historical Fiction Books To Transport You Through Time (Top Picks For 2026) for something longer.
Frequently asked questions
Which chess book covers tactics best for a beginner?
Everyone’s First Chess Workbook by Peter Giannatos is the broadest foundational introduction. Winning Chess Tactics by Yasser Seirawan goes on to intermediate tactics.
Do I need to know the rules before opening these books?
Not necessarily. A listing for Franco Masetti’s Chess Books for Beginners describes over 15 pages of setup and piece introduction followed by a quiz, which suits a complete newcomer.
Are older classics such as Winning Chess still worth reading?
They can be, but a Chess.com forum discussion suggests most deserve new editions revised using computer analysis. Look for a revised edition of titles from 1948 or 1957.
Should I buy an opening book before a tactics book?
No. Tactics decide games quickly, so a tactics book gives you more return at first. Add an opening primer such as Discovering Chess Openings later.
