which is better for learning: chess books or chess electronics

i do read many stuff but i have to say no to chess books....they are awfully hard to go through....

Hmmm... It depends probably on the book you have.

(and besides, are non-chess books "awfully hard to go through" too ?)

Personally, I am all for the books vs. the computer material, but my reasons might not apply to you :

1- I started with books

2- When travelling, you can take book+chessboard (the magnetic travel set) with you, not the case for the computers (usually).

why not buy tactics book and use your head when using train???

Different authors have different knowledges and they train their students differently. Some author publishes only books. They do not use software tools to analyze the games. In some case, It is hard to tell whether book explanation is better or software explanation is better. Depending on the author, the explanation will vary. However, software is better in reviewing. For example, if a person is reading a book that does not show a diagram and only lists some move, that person might have to buy chess set and set up a position to see the game. Also, that position can't be kept for a long time when a person has to keep chess set and piece. With software tools, a person can reach to position quickly and he can move forward and backward by simply clicking forward and backward button without looking back to book and replacing all pieces.

I never study chess using books or laptop when I am travelling although I did discuss with my friends and play some game.

One of my friends learns from both software and books, but he uses a software to record each move for some analyst from the books to review.     

You can too. But not all chess books are blindfold-friendly, and I do not want to pick (when I already have the travel chess set, which takes approximatively 1/5th of a book in volume).

I agree, I have bought a lot of chess books with good intentions only to let them sit around gathering dust, but the chess programs I bought have always seen a lot of use and were great entertainment. 

Getting a chess program and playing all the time is when I began to improve rapidly, and there's good opening/tactic/end game study guides included in many of them.

 One book I did get that saw a lot of use was Modern Chess Openings, I used to leaf through it for hours and enjoyed having it as a reference.

Definately books

I think that both are good just find which medium you like better

I understand human descriptive move by move explanations more than straight engine analysis.  Engines give lines, and it's up to the player's proficiency to understand its reasons, and if you're new, it becomes less useful as a result.  I'm not a mechanical engineer, and so can't explain the reasons for their designs even if they gave me their notes, but a proficient mechanical engineer will have no trouble reproducing their results.  Engine analysis falls under that same type of problem for me.

Books on the other hand require that you follow through the games by setting up pieces with an actual board or through your imagination and memory, which to me is just unnecessarily added time that could've been better spent following concepts.

It's more efficient to use a combination of both, books and digital interactive tools, instead of putting all your eggs in one basket and hoping you can somehow compensate for the lackings of either medium. 

Videos, to me just don't have enough interactivity, and so like all other presentations I get from work, I'll probably retain 30% of what was said.  Not very efficient at all.

Books that come with annotated move by move pgn's are the ones I lean towards as a result.  Not saying I'm good or anything (I actually suck), just that I'm retaining more for this approach. 

Lastly, to practice tactics, there's chesstempo, the tactics trainer, numerous apps in mobile platforms, etc.

For openings I prefer the printed hard copy than an e-book version. But for tactical training I prefer the electronic versions. I have many PGN files of find the winning continuation and mate in 2-3 with typical real life board situations rather than those composed problems when one side is clearly winning but the key move is obscure.

probaly a good way to answer my question is to see what top players use 

I  disagree. They (almost) all used chess electronics. At your level, it's best to read books to accumulate chess knowledge. What books have you read so far?

I use a combination of book and computer. Currently I,m working through Chess Strategy Move by Move. Using the computer I'm able to play through the main lines, variations, and input the notes. I then place this game in relevant file such as 'Weak color complex' or ' Playing with an isolated d-pawn. This is extremely useful as I can easily refer back to a game and make sure that I have thoroughly absorbed the pertinent information. I do the same for endgames and my openings. It works for me. I use Chess Assistant 13.

I like video

Use everything.., books, chess computer, chess software, (e.g., fritz 13, Chessmaster, etc..), DVD's from GM's in chess, videos' online, play a lot of chess and a mentor would help..  One catch though, if you are a beginner, don't get burnt out to quickly..  One step at a time in the learning process and take mini vacation's away from chess, clear your mind, and thoughts.  Return and decide what works best for you.  Which probably will be a combination of above.  Study, think things out and why that move or tactic works best.  A strong, well thought out (game plan) on learning chess, will serve you well for years'..  Most of ALL, have 'fun' and enjoy the great game of chess.   Mike in Montana  Please be relevant, helpful & nice!

I can tell you from having learned via many different devices, if you are looking to improve your ability to play "Genuine Chess" (i.e. Not the 5-minute cr*p you play on the internet) and want to truly improve your skills at tactics, strategy, endgames, candidate moves, winning the won game, etc, you need to study on an actual chess board, 3-D.

I have done it all, studying chess software, studying a book by making the moves on Houdini or Fritz with the computer running showing the assessment after each move, and studying a book at a chess board.  While all 3 may to some extent help improve, the last does the greatest job of the three by a landslide!

ThrillerFan wrote:

I can tell you from having learned via many different devices, if you are looking to improve your ability to play "Genuine Chess" (i.e. Not the 5-minute cr*p you play on the internet) and want to truly improve your skills at tactics, strategy, endgames, candidate moves, winning the won game, etc, you need to study on an actual chess board, 3-D.

I have done it all, studying chess software, studying a book by making the moves on Houdini or Fritz with the computer running showing the assessment after each move, and studying a book at a chess board.  While all 3 may to some extent help improve, the last does the greatest job of the three by a landslide!

I agree, +1.

Different strokes for different folks. I find no issues going from a 2D format (computer) to a 3D format. I play in weekly otb events and like everyone else I'm working on improving my game. The computer can save you a good deal of time not to mention the organization it provides. When I first started out I had trouble with translating what I was studying via the computer and then trying to apply it to otb chess. Fortunately with time I got used to it and I have had no problem with it.