C.J.S. Purdy, 197pp. (Thinkers' Press, 2010)

As modern day Chess Handbooks go, this must be up there with the best ever. Borrowed from Purdy’s Guide to Good Chess and three sections of the Search for Chess Perfection II (included are: "How to advance in Chess," "A System to Reduce Errors," and "A Method of Thinking in Chess") it contains the best tools to start and to advance.

Many students and teachers of the game consider CJS Purdy to be the greatest explainer of what’s important in chess, to the non-grandmaster, whoever lived. Here’s some of his wisdom:

• You can imagine how a player would improve if he had a champion always at his shoulder.
• It stands to reason that if you continue playing rabbits you remain a rabbit.
• If a person retains an agile brain by constantly exercising it, his capacity to learn new things need not be wrecked by age.
• The main desideratum in chess is avoidance of oversight.
• Many players think they could play a good game “if only they knew the openings.” This idea is really crazy … improve your intrinsic skill, which has very little to do with special openings.
• Some people retract moves in “friendly” play without even asking—they are no better than professional thugs.
• In good chess, ruthlessness is accepted as a matter of course, just as in any other game.
• Chess differs so completely from war (players must move alternately and only one thing at a time).
• The key to success in chess is the Double Threat.