Ebooks or the real thing?

What do you think is the best way for learning from chess books? With an ebook (not a PDF) on your ipad etc. or with the real book right in front of you with a chess board? 

I've been trying chess ebooks lately. There are some real advantages for me, but whether those apply to you depends on your learning style. With a book there have been many times where I skip some examples because the lines go too long for me to properly visualize - so yes I need to set up a board. Many variations introduced to an example mean I have to constantly re-set the position and play through.

Now that can be an advantage - perhaps the lessons sink in more because of the time being taken, but with limited time to spend on chess - and a certain amount of laziness - I looked into ebooks.

There are a couple great apps now for iPad, eplus books and also gambit. What I like about these is you tap on an example and the board is immediately set up. Move forward through the moves and they are replicated on the board. You can easily re-set the positions by tapping at the start again - or try your own variations by entering your own moves. Flip the board, change board size etc etc.

This results in me getting through more examples and understanding them better because I can easily repeat sequences many times.

I've run out of shelf space in my library so ebooks are another advantage there, and if I've got my iPad with me on the train there are several books I can use, without the space and weight of carry chess tomes everywhere.

Some ebooks (e.g. Silman's Endgame Course) have audio snippets included. I don't think they're completely necessary but it does increase my enjoyment of the ebook. I believe in the future there may also be videos embedded in some ebooks.

Then there's the "I want it now factor". The books download pretty quick. Unfortunately there isn't a huge range to choose from yet but that will change over time.

The (free) eplus books app comes with Capablanca's Chess Fundamentals, so you will be able to see whether you like using an ebook or not, before spending money.

So far I think I prefer the ebooks, but I still enjoy my "real" books. In the end it comes down to whether you remember things better by setting up and handling real chess pieces, or if a 2d board image is enough to get the message through.

OK thanks for reply 

i do not know about the eye-pad, but on android platforms it is cheap and easy to set up a complete chess play/study system. if you get the right software you can read a chess book, follow the moves on a board and analyse the positions very simply.

the only downside is that chess problems often have answers at the back of the book. scroll scroll scroll. but - you don't need them. because you can run an analysis from your bookreader!

and more importantly - what have you got against the pdf?

I haven't read a real book in years.  I listen to all my books on Audible.com.  Unfortunately that doesn't work for books on chess very well. 

I believe that David Shenk's The Immoral Game: A History of Chess (oops, I mean Immortal) was published in audiobook form. However, it contains only one game (guess which one) so for people who have memorized that game, like me, it would not be a problem. I agree it probably wouldn't work too well for 'pure' chess books! 

Ideally, LuftWaffles, yes. Maybe someone will come up with a suitably engaging sparring partner AI one day. Not for a while yet though!

I do not have anything against the PDF, its just that having a PDF on your ipad etc. would essentially be the same thing as having a book

I haven't seen a PDF reader yet that allows you to move the pieces around weepingking. With PDFs or kindle books I get the board out. If your nook can run Android apps, google forward chess. They make an app for droid, ipad etc that runs ebooks. They've got some good books too.

Regarding using a book with a board and pieces, there's nothing stopping you from doing that with any of the ebook readers either. We all learn in different ways, the trick is to find the one that works best for you. Plenty of people got very proficient at chess without reading a single book - just lots of play and coaching.

asim pereira does some fantastic apps for android.

chess book study - allows you to read a pdf and play along on a board. the screen is divided 50-50.

analyse this - a stand alone analysis app. it also integrates with chess book study. this makes the app even more powerful.

chess puzzles - puzzles. it also integrates with analyse this. very useful.

if you add shredder and chessocr (and some pdf/djvu chess tomes) you have a complete chess system.

very awesome!