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Dictionaries should be comprehensive enough that they rarely disappoint, while being manageable enough to use easily. They should provide etymology and have extra tables of things in the back like Latin phrases and the Greek alphabet (this makes them interesting).
So, Chambers is best.
Longmans is OK, but a bit over-modern (especially for playing Dictionaries where the whole point is that you don't know the word already). Oxford dictionaries I find disappointing (although the complete OED is a good reference, it's difficult to use, and the smaller dictionaries throw the wrong words away IMHO). Walker's rhyming dictionary has quite a lot of bizarre words in, but the definitions are a bit thin.
Obviously, all American dictionaries are written in American, so they don't count.
If you don't already have a copy of Chambers, the next best thing is to go and buy one. If your dictionary is printed by Readers Digest this is particularly important (you know who you are).
Note that Chambers have brought out a new dictionary called the "21st Century Dictionary". This is a really interesting dictionary
concentrating on English as she is spoke, which I would recommend to anyone who already has Chambers "normal" dictionary.
It isn't any good for playing dictionaries (the game), however, as it has thrown away a lot of obscure words (e.g. "qat" which is vital for Scrabble)
in favour of new ones. So the true successor to the "20th Century Dictionary" is the standard "Chambers Dictionary".
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