A huge number of chess books and magazines are available to the enthusiast. It has been claimed that there are more books on chess than on all other books combined. And more are being written every day. The USCF has a large collection of chess books and magazines available through the Web site 1-800-388-KING (5464).

Subject Matter

These books cover a bewildering array of chess material. The subject matter of these works can range from spot the checkmate and find the combination themes to pamphlets and even large tomes devoted to a subvariation of one of the openings. It can include explanations of how to handle isolated pawn positions or collections of some of the great games. There are books devoted to endgame studies or historical changes in style. Somewhere along the way, every conceivable area of the game is covered.

The most popular chess books in the United States are those on the openings. Whether the multivolume reference works that cover all the main openings or the specialty books that cover the latest trends in certain variations or the how-to instructions on specific openings or variations, these opening books are in great demand.

Magazines

Besides the official national chess magazine, Chess Life, there are official state magazines for practically every state, correspondence chess magazines, problem magazines, even a blitz chess magazine! With resources like that, you will never run out of reading material. This doesn't include the various club bulletins and local publications that come and go. And we haven't even touched on the Internet yet.