Reddit mentions of 1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations (Fred Reinfeld Chess Classics Book 3)

I play chess. My USCF rating is currently 2123... And I thought the sphere chess looked absolutely retarded at first too.

>Nah, I feel you should start from openings.

You shouldn't. Opening theory is quite dense and heavily influenced by computer analysis. You benefit more from trying to understand what you are trying to achieve, rather than trying to simply memorize some openings.

Logical Chess: Move by Move is a great book for anyone that has mastered the basics but is looking to learn more. You will pick up some opening knowledge along the way, learn how openings give rise to specific kinds of middle-games. And you will come across some endgames (although endgame basics are absent).

If you wish to seriously improve there are 3 parts:

• Understanding the reasons behind moves in the opening of a game - decisions regarding pawn structure are especially significant as these will determine the nature of the battle to come in the middle-game. For this - annotates games (like those in Logical Chess) are beneficial. Specific opening books are also useful but only after you've got a feel for what kind of middle-games you like (because then you know what kinds of openings to pick!). Other game collections (there are tons of great ones): Botvinnik: One Hundred Selected Games and for the more advanced Zurich 1953
  
• Tactics. Chess, like other things, has a large component of pattern recognition. Solving tactical problems from workbooks (there are hundreds of these, so I will recommend 2: Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games and 1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations
  
• Endgames. Endgames are the most math-like in terms of study. You learn basic endgames (K+P vs lone K, K+R+P vs K+R, etc...). Once you have the basics, you can 'solve' more complicated positions by trading down (reducing them) to basic endings. Know nothing about endings? Here is one place to start: Pandolfini's Endgame Course. Dvoretsky's endgame books are also excellent.
  
  
  There is quite a lot of chess literature. If you enjoy chess and wish to study and improve there are plenty of ways to do that. If competing in tournaments interests you check out the United States Chess Federation if you are in the states. If you are abroad, check out FIDE. And of course there are online options such as chess.com, the Internet Chess Club, etc...
  
  Sorry... bit of an enthusiast :)
  

Three years was from first learning to 2000. I picked up chess when I was 14 on a whim. Went through the usual beginner phase of just playing a lot, sucking, and not improving. Decided to use my allowance to buy chess books and studied from there. I hit 2000 blitz on ICC/WCN (World Chess Network for all the old schoolers out there that remember that site) when I was 16.

Biggest things that helped my improvement would be:

1. Chessmaster 8000 video series by Josh Waitzkin (first introduction to chess learning. I still think his annotated games are some of the best ever put to video. I also think his beginner endgame course is amazing. Some of the videos are on YouTube, but not organized very well at all.)
   
2. Logical Chess Move by Move by Chernev (2nd book I bought)
   
3. How to Reassess Your Chess by Silman (Best strategy book I've read)
   
4. 1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations - This was my first introduction to tactics and I still think tactics training based on tactical themes is a better introduction for beginners than some of the tactics trainers out there that throw a variety of positions at you.
   
   I read (fully or partly) dozens of books back when I was studying seriously. Now I have 3 boxes of books in my basement collecting dust that I haven't glanced at in over a decade. I used to keep them on a bookshelf, but I've moved twice in that time and decided to just keep them in boxes. Such a sad fate!