I forgot about Polugaevsky as Smyslov_Fan rightly included, will have to revise my top ten 

I don't rate Avrukh the way others seem to do, but obviously its a decent work, but for me too many others are just more profound or better in other ways.

I won't claim these are the ten best opening books of all time, just some of my favorites. 

Several of these have already been mentioned, but bear repeating. 

Alexander Morozevich, The Chigorin Defense According to Alexander Morozevich
This is a true labor of love for an under-appreciated opening. Morozevich never claims the Chigorin is the world's greatest opening. He never makes any ridiculous claims about how great a player you will become by reading his book. He just shows incredible idea after incredible idea. Every variation seems to be fertile ground for a weird Q sac or quiet pawn gambit that leads to deep positional problems for white. Moro's imagination and analytical skills are on full display in this brilliant work. This is probably my all-time favorite book on any opening. 

The Sicilian Labyrinth (2 volumes) by Lev Polugaevsky. This, like Moro's' book is a clear labor of love. In this case, Polugaevsky tried to give some general guidelines, but the real joy of the book is in his detailed analyses. Some of it turned out to be flawed, but that doesn't detract from his amazing work. 

Winning with the Sicilian by Mark Taimanov is almost the polar opposite of Polugaevsky's work. In about 150 pages, Taimanov successfully explains how to play the Sicilian. His work is still readable and useful even today!

A book that hasn't been mentioned at all is Mikhail Gurevich's Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov System Gurevich, who wrote the ECO section on the 4.a3 QID, also wrote an excellent little book on the system. He is completely objective and states that White probably does not get anything more than a symbolic edge with best play, but he teaches the reader how to play the opening like a master. He gives variations, but what makes the book special is that he also gives diagrams for the tabiyas of the opening and puzzles that test the reader's tactical awareness and strategic understanding of the lines being recommended. This is absolutely first rate! The "Move by Move" series borrows heavily from the style that I first saw in Gurevich's little book. This book, written in 1992, is still extremely useful for anyone interested in the line. It blows Gellers' book completely out of the water.

Bellin and Ponzetto, Mastering the King’s Indian with the Read and Play Method I too loved this series. I learned how to play against the Benko by using their book. 

Khalifman's Opening for White According to Kramnik is absolutely groundbreaking. It is still, years after being written, one of my main reference books in the opening. Khalifman's choice of variations, depth of analysis and clarity of writing makes this a must-own book for anyone playing 1.d4 or facing an opponent who plays 1.Nf3 with the aim of transposing into 1.d4 lines. 

Boris Avrukh has revolutionized opening books with his Grandmaster Repertoire: 1.d4 (vol,. 1). He has set the standard for all opening books since. His repertoire isn't for everyone. It's a bit on the dry side. But he is really the first to popularize and explain the modern interpretation of the Catalan for thousands  who read his book. (Well, maybe only hundreds who actually waded through all those variations.) He showed that depth of analysis can be breathtaking and interesting. He really has revolutionized the way opening repertoire books are written. 

I also like Sadler's book on the Queen's Gambit, but I don't return to it the way I do other books in this list. 

Well, that's eight books or sets of books. I could add others, but those are the ones I really wanted to highlight. If you haven't read these books, definitely take some time to peruse them. 

I still want to add another book that I do consider to be an opening book, but I understand few will agree with me:

Shereshevsky's Mastering the Endgame (2 volumes). These two books explain the sorts of endgames that are likely to arise from a given opening. They focus on pawn structures and material imbalances. It's absolutely brilliant, and a classic. The only question is whether they are really opening books at all. They definitely should be owned. 

Anyway, that is either nine, or fifteen books if you break them into their respective volumes.

MNb wrote on 04/17/14 at 16:12:19:


Absolutely. One of the best books I've ever worked on.

Gene, isn't that basically what Marin did with his Open Games books?

- Aagard etc. Beating the Sicilian
Great effort, and it definitely improved my white score.
- Golubev, Understanding the Kings Indian
Very good explanations, a reasonable repertoire choice. After studying this book my confidence in the opening grew.
- Tiger Hillarp Persson, Tigers Modern
I enjoyed his writing style, and the chuzpe to present a repertoire based on such an objectively risky setup.
- Johansson, The fascinating Kings Gambit
Great effort by our TalJechin, especially as he wasn´t backed up by one of the big book companies. At the time I played the KG I always liked to work with the book.
- Yakovich, The complete Sveshnikov Sicilian
I know this book could have been outclassed by Rogocenko, but I was pleased to have it. With its help I learned the first major sicilian opening on the black side.
- Gligoric, Mar del Plata Variation
Not for the value of the book or its variations, but for the explanations given to the development of the variation in the ancient 50s.
- Psakhis, French Defence 3.Nd2
Great book for studying the white side of the French.

A couple of these can't possibly be among the "ten greatest," but I think all of these books are a lot of fun, each for a different reason. I love books with good explanations and books which delighted me with a new concept or format.

Fine, The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings. The original and ultimate overview, recommended by Fischer.
MacDonald-Ross, The Leningrad Nimzo-Indian. A little gem that addresses lots of little issues not handled elsewhere.
Geller, The Complete Queen’s Indian. Typical Batsford tree format, but with clear positional comments from a Soviet legend on almost every move. I don't know why no one else seems to know about this book. I have two copies.
Watson, Play the French. Raised the standard forever for repertoire books, and spawned legions of "dangerous zombies"  (Buecker).
Bellin and Ponzetto, Mastering the King’s Indian with the Read and Play Method. Did its job so well it started a whole new genre.
Sadler, The Queen’s Gambit Declined.  I guess it must be the subtleties explained in an informal tone that charmed me! Lots of exclamation points!
Vigus, play the Slav. Just a really fine repertoire with a wonderful introductory chapter and a nice choice of variations, like Botvinnik's method of attack against the Exchange. 
Marin, Beating the Open Games. Again a new format, the ECO tree with verbal footnotes, and a combination of great moves and great explanations from a great thinker and player. 
Avrukh, 1.d4. Let this stand for the Grandmaster Preparation series; it's my personal favorite, anyway.
Burgess, A Cunning Opening Repertoire for White. A new concept in the spirit of the Carlsen era, namely a repertoire aimed at obtaining not exactly the opposite of what the opponent wants, but simply "normal" positions that obviate handling the special thematic knowledge of the opponent. Only place to get coverage of the Anti-Benoni.

Uhlmann's Winning with the French is absolutely a must be in that list...

RoleyPoley wrote on 04/18/14 at 13:02:28:


good shout also, very enthusiastically written book by a Dragon expert full of typical ideas and nice sacrifices.