 | The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess, Third Edition by Patrick Wolff
Buy new: $12.89 / Used from: $4.50 A book that deserves the rave reviews it gets. Use it to learn the rules of chess, to learn algebraic notation, to become familiar with the basics of play, and for some fun chess facts.
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 | Logical Chess: Move By Move: Every Move Explained New Algebraic Edition by Irving Chernev
Buy new: $14.93 / Used from: $8.24 This is one of the most frequently recommended and highly regarded books on chess, and once I began to get into it I understood why. I follow the moves in it by setting up and moving pieces on a chess board, and it's got to be the next best thing to having a master sitting beside me analyzing games. If you buy a used copy be sure you get one that has been updated to algebraic notation.
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 | Attacking Chess: Aggressive Strategies and Inside Moves from the U.S. Junior Chess Champion (Fireside Chess Library) by Josh Waitzkin
Buy used from: $12.95 Very user friendly for beginners, easy to follow. I also have Waitzkin's book The Art of Learning. I like him. He strikes me as a cool dude and unlike some chess masters/authors, he does not seem to be on an ego trip.
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 | Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games by Laszlo Polgar
Buy new: $14.93 / Used from: $10.09 I picked up a used copy of this book, and I'm glad I did. As a chess beginner (i.e., a 57 year old guy who learned chess as a child and who has played some very casual games over the years, but who is now taking a serious interest in chess for the first time), it is gratifying to successfully solve chess problems, however simple.
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 | Play Winning Chess by Yasser Seirawan
Buy new: $13.57 / Used from: $5.96 I own the first three of Yesser Seirawan's "Winning Chess" series, namely Play Winning Chess, Winning Chess Tactics, and Winning Chess Strategies. They come well recommended, are co-authored by chess master and author Jeremy Silman, and I find them to be clearly written and quite user friendly. Play Winning Chess is, like The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess, an ideal book for the chess beginner.
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 | Drueke Grandmaster Chess Board
Buy new: $129.99 This is not a chess book but a chess board, obviously, but for the chess beginner or anyone else who plays who wants a skillfully designed and crafted, large, handsome wood chess board, and who doesn't want to spend hundreds, the Drueke Grandmaster is a great choice.
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 | Chessmaster: The Art of Learning
Buy used from: $15.00 Chessmaster's cartridge for the Nintendo DS Lite is a great learning tool as well as an ideal means of playing portable chess against a computer. If I didn't already own a Nintendo DS Lite I might look instead into something like Excalibur's NY Times Hand Held Chess Computers. But the Nintendo DS is backlit and that's a real plus.
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 | House of Staunton 3.75" Plastic Marshall Chess Set
Buy new: $25.95 - $39.00 This chess piece set seems to have a good reputation, and as someone with large hands I very much appreciate the size and weight of the pieces. However, several of the pieces I received arrived with hairline cracks. Chess House immediately shipped replacements. I recommend this set to anyone who is confident that they are buying it from a dealer who will replace any defective pieces.
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 | Drueke 877.10 Magnetic Chess Set
Buy new: $18.60 Great magnetic portable chess set from Drueke, known for quality. Useful for analyzing games, following books like Chernev's Logical Chess, working on chess puzzles, and of course for playing chess. When the lid is put on the pieces stay in whatever position they are in.
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