Annotated games

Dear Members,

I am an amateur chess player who just started reading chess books. the book i am reading has lot of chess moves for one diagram. hence its very difficult to work the position in mind. Could you pls suggest how should i read the annotated games book ? Basically should the games be played step by step on chess board or is there an easier way ? Am i missing something ? Pls suggest the correct method of reading such books .

I suggest a real board. chess.com has an analysis board, but I guess its faster to set up the pieces for real.

Michael

Old School: Break out the chess pieces.  Still recommended by many coaches.  Maybe even more than one board so you don't get lost in the sidelines.

NewSchool: Find the game in a DB and follow along.

Thanks so much.

However whenever I am reading annotated games books, there are various alternative positions too given by the author . in that case it becomes too complicated to do on real board else it will spoil the actual game . In that case do you know of any website which also has variations as mentioned by the author that can be worked out while simultaneously being able to return to the actual game