Studying books with a physical board vs studying using computers

For me,  I still prefer studying books over studying on the computer.  There's of course advantages using databases and programs in studying master games.  It makes it easier to review games with a click of a mouse.  I prefer to have a physical board and chess book in front of me when I review games.  I like it when I physically move the pieces on the board.  I like the ancient style of learning.  Which do you prefer?  By the way, I am an amateur chess player who has learned chess by self-study and with a good understanding of chess strategies and tactics gained from studying chess books the old way.

Books were around a long time before computers. Computers make it much easier to see a position.

There isn't a clear "right" method. The only thing as a suggestion to add. If you are doing analysis and have a physical board, consider putting the board on a revolving base. A kitchen "Lazy Susan" for example. Changing the perspective from Black side to White side IMHO helps.

Always board and book for me as well. Nothing like using an old board and pieces and an old tournament book to play through games. I like slow chess.

I’m trying to stay committed to the book and board method, it seems like I’d recall points easier. However, I get real tired of trying to recall where the board should be reset up to after playing through “other options”. So, I end up using too much time backtracking versus learning. I hope it gets better, I hope I get better with more effort.

I like books and physical board, however this is not the forum section where this topic should have been opened ;-)

Books and board as well! As some have already mentioned, setting up the position again, after going through alternative variations is a nuisance , especially when there are a lot of them. However, since opening study via chessable is working out better for me, I am using computers for that purpose. But I still like to go trough some of the lines afterwards on a physical board. I do study to play otb at the end of the day.

If you originally learned descriptive or Algebraic notation and then learned Chess notation, a computer would simplify the position display. But mentally associating the letters and numbers with a move seems a better method of learning to visualize.

I have trouble following a book using only a board. I can't remember the positions to return to after playing through one of the variations and books never have enough diagrams.

So I always use a computer with an eBoard. For example, in Fritz I would activate the board, start a new game and put Fritz into Infinite Analysis mode. Then I can play through the moves of the book on the board and when I finish a variation I can take back the moves to the earlier position. My driver leads you through the take backs using the LEDs on the board so you don't need to remember what the moves were or follow them in the book. Then I can play another variation or continue the main line. It also means I can look at the engine analysis of the moves and easily try out my own variations. That way you get the best of both worlds - a real board with pieces and computer analysis.

By the way, these are my two favorite books on tactics. Understanding Chess Tactics is a nice introduction to tactics while Chess Gems is a collection of chess positions from the past up to the 21st century containing lots of history from ninth - fifteenth century (according to the rules of Shatranj), from fifteenth century to seventeenth century (Lucena to Greco), and so on. Interesting collection of combinations. These two I treasure the most (aside from The Magic Tactics of Mikhail Tal).

I have always found it helpful to have a board and pieces when studying a chess book.

Because a full-size set can be clumsy to use and takes time to reset a position, I use a small magnetic set. The board is about 5 by 5 inches, with pieces that stand about 1/2 inch to 1 inch. Sine it is so small and magnetic, I can reset a position in just a few seconds.

i have used this as my analysis/study set for almost 55 years. It has seen me through many hundreds of chess books and, of course, many hundreds of my own games.

Hear ye, hear ye!

Many strong players and coaches recommend combining the two methods.