Tree Variation vs Model Games books.

Which type of book do you prefer?

Personally I think Model Games books are the far superior structure and Tree Variation books should be banned.

This is especially the case for non-titled players or players who aren't already generally familiar with the themes of an opening. But even for GMs, model games are the way imo.

Too many books are written by people who feel the need to regurgitate everything they find in their database and because they put them into a variation like D21132 it somehow makes sense to them that this is valuable and this is work.

Even books made by good authors turn bad when put in tree variation form. It automatically starts people down the wrong path of simply memorizing the variations.

Model games don't mean you're not really learning an opening in the same depth - it's the exact opposite. You'll know the model games very well and gradually pick up all the offshoots the author has put in the details, while constantly comparing them to the model game. It also adjusts to your level - there can be GM-level detail in model games just as much as in tree variations. There is also a story and a spectacle aspect to model games that you don't really get in tree variations.

Model games also give a constant reminder that there are other phases to the game other than openings that need attention also. And if you study the model games well you are also doing ample work on your middlegame and endgame. You are also coming across the endings and structures you will actually see using that opening. This as opposed to tree variation books where even after memorizing it all suddenly the rug is pulled and you're on your own for the rest of the game.

I think tree variation books are a travesty, seductive to the reader because of how it feels like they're getting a lot of variations and to the author because it looks like they're covering a lot more.

Tree Variation books are not a travesty. Different formats account for different audiences.

The model game format is ideal for someone first learning an opening. It illustrates typical middlegame and endgame ideas in said opening.

The Tree Structure format allows for more in-depth coverage. By not including the last 60 moves of an 80 move game that let's say was won by Lucena's position, any endgame book will cover that. If the endgame book example is based on an f-pawn, and what you have it the same thing with a d-pawn instead, and you cannot figure it out, then you don't actually understand Lucena's pisition, you just memorized a move sequence based on what you read in the endgame book.

But cutting out all of that Jargon, instead of only covering the main lines, the ideas of what to do against the sidelines can be explained further in-depth.

For example, after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7, the main moves are 7.Be3 and 7.Bf4, but many amateurs play 7.Bd3. A book with complete games will give one sentence on 7.Bd3. A tree structure book can give full analysis on 7.Bd3.

Just because you can't understand a tree structure book doesn't make it a travesty.

I have my books and they protect me...All books are good, almost all. As for your interesting discussion - with the names of some authors and books it would be perfect .

If by names and authors, you are asking for specific cases, below is a prime example:

Petroff Move by Move and Opening Repertoire - Petroff Defense, both by Lakdawala, they are complete game - I would suggest reading them first.

Expert Guide to the Petroff Defense and Playing the Petroff are both tree structure - do not recall the authors.

It would be best to read all 4, reading the Lakdawala books first.

Either type of book can be done well or badly. The tree variation books were born at a time when print runs were small and every extra drop of ink came out of the publisher's meagre profits. As ThrillerFan says, they are denser in information content and the reason is not self-satisfaction of the reader and author but cost per page and the need to keep the page count down.

One could just as easily say the model games books are seductive, where the reader can fool themselves into believing they "understand" the opening based on some pretty words. No need to bother with learning "too many" difficult variations.

I can and do use either type of book. With the tree variations books I get out the database and look up the whole game(s) anyway. With the model games books I use the database as a supplement to find other games in the same line. No big deal either way.

I really like the move by move books, they are more on my level. The explanations help a lot, but I guess more advanced players don't need those so much.