David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld, The Oxford Companion to Chess, 2nd ed. (1992), is an alphabetical dictionary of chess terms and biographical sketches of players and composers, with many illustrative games and compositions. Journals include Chess Informant (3/yr.), a compendium of the best recent games with annotations, considered indispensable by serious players; Chess Life (monthly), published by the U.S. Chess Federation; The British Chess Magazine (monthly); and New in Chess Magazine (8/yr.).

Harry Golombek, Chess: A History (also published as A History of Chess, 1976), provides a well-illustrated survey of the game’s progress from the war game chaturanga to medieval Europe to modern grandmaster tournaments. José R. Capablanca, A Primer of Chess (1935, reissued 1983), by a world champion, offers beginners an elegantly simple introduction to the game’s rules and general principles, covering all the basics from standard opening moves to endgames. Emanuel Lasker, Lasker’s Manual of Chess (1927, reissued 1991; originally published in German, 1925), by another world champion, covers the same material but with a philosophical approach and an explanation of the classical approach to theory as set down by a third world champion, Wilhelm Steinitz.

Richard Réti, Modern Ideas in Chess, trans. by John Hart (1923, reissued 1960; originally published in German, 1922), definitively describes the development of chess theory from the Romantics to the Hypermoderns, with many illustrated games. M. Euwe, The Development of Chess Style, trans. from Dutch (1968, reissued 1978), reviews middlegame thinking beginning with Greco and ending with the Soviet school. A candid autobiography by the first Soviet world champion, M.M. Botvinnik, Achieving the Aim (1981; originally published in Russian, 1978), helps explain the development of Soviet hegemony in chess and the author’s much-copied method of pregame preparation. Aron Nimzowitsch, My System: 21st Century Edition, ed. by Lou Hays (1991; originally published in German, 1925), is an often witty explanation of positional chess and the Hypermodern approach to the middlegame. A.J. Roycroft, The Chess Endgame Study: A Comprehensive Introduction, 2nd rev. ed. (1981), approaches studies from different points of view—from casual solver and enthusiast to composer and competition judge—and includes 433 studies and their solutions. Bobby Fischer, My Sixty Memorable Games (1969, reissued 1995), is considered by many the finest autobiographical game collection ever written. Garry Kasparov, Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors, 5 vol., trans. by Ken Neat (2003–06; also published in Russian, 2003–06), collects games and anecdotes about previous champions and some of their competitors. David Levy and Monty Newborn, How Computers Play Chess (1991), a nontechnical explanation of how computers evaluate and select moves, includes a historical review of computer chess and profiles of leading programmers. An appreciation of the founder of American problem composing is found in Alain C. White, Sam Loyd and His Chess Problems (1913, reissued 1969), with more than 700 examples and explanations of their themes and creation.