Chess Books A Waste of Money?

I prefer books to videos. In the time that it takes to explain something in a video, I can read it eight times in a book.

There are few things in life more enjoyable than sitting down with a hot cup of coffee, a chess set, and a good chess book, and playing through and enjoying the games and annotations.

I do enjoy chess books but prefer the quicker pace and interactivity of software instruction like Chess Mentor. That said the depth of material on chess in print far exceeds chess learning software.

I wonder if perhaps one day for computers and tablets, a universal chess book reader application might come about. On one part of the screen you read the text from the book, while on another part there is a virtual chessboard which you can play through whole games from the book by playing the moves from the notation and set up positions for analysis.

While I enjoy books in general, I find the need to look from the book to the board to make the relevant move a little inconvenient. Having a clear view of both the text and board at the same time in relatively the same place would likely be a more convenient experience.

I also prefer books to videos. My biggest criticism of videos is that those presenting tend to go much too fast and having to constantly pause and rewind destroys the continuity. Playing through positions from books I use Chessbase and my DGT board as I find it easier to understand the position from board and pieces rather than a flat screen/diagram.

Amen.  Even when the coffee gets cold.

This is what I want. This is exactly why I prefer videos & software to books. I find it very difficult to understand the flow of the game when I am constantly having to "input" the moves from the book onto the board. I can't get a continuous sense of the actual game/example, and it just takes too long for me.

Whenever I have another chunk of time to dedicate to chess study, here's what I'm going to do. I have already searched (and found) all the chess games in Capablanca's "My Chess Career" and ordered them into its own Fritz database. They are exactly in the order they appear in the book. I am going to read the book, and whenever I need to make the moves, I will use the computer and click through the game. That way I can flow through the game, and also know that the moves are actually correct. Then I'll just read Capablanca's comments at the few crucial moments in the game where he made annotations. This book is also different (and more interesting to me) than most other chess books because it is simultaneously an autobiography -- not just a book loaded with dense chess variations and mere chess "examples."

I agree. Video lectures are too slow and makes me sleepy. Videos are great media for entertainment. Books are better for learning.

Whether one prefers books or electronic means I think is largely a generational thing. But I love books for their low tech non energy wasting format. But I'll use whatever format I can find where I am.

the smell of a new copy of a chess classic takes some beating and where will chess be when the power fails if all our books are gone i can recall the immortal bobby fisher kicked up a right stink about his books going missing / stolen/lost at the moment im curled up reading my system and am in hog heaven

Well, many games usually contain explanations (if they don't they it's true the book may have very little value). Also the organization of the information / games is worthwhile because it helps you structure your thinking/memory.

I wasted money buying opening books when I first started. I guess I may use them more later down the line. However I have several chess books that I don't regret buying.

This is my favourite book

It's great for intermediate players and most of the game featured are internet games. 

I have a few of Dan Heisman's books. They are all good.

+ 1.

At the airport while waiting for my sister's plane, I bought 3 chess books. 1. Bobby Fischer( Complete games of the American World Chess Champion).

2. Fischer- Spassky 1992

3. Billy Colias- Midwest master

DJAbacus wrote:

I wasted money buying opening books when I first started. I guess I may use them more later down the line. However I have several chess books that I don't regret buying.

This is my favourite book

It's great for intermediate players and most of the game featured are internet games. 

+1

It's also available in the Forward Chess app

Best Chess Book for Beginners is

LOGICAL CHESS MOVE BY MOVE

By IRVING CHERNEV

You sir know the secret of life !

I liked Ziryabs first response, but it doesn't really answer the broader question. 

It's actually a really good question whether chess books are better than other media for learning. 

I believe that books are still better than most other sources because

• Books let you go at your own pace
• Books contain more chess information than videos 
• Studies have shown that most people retain information they have read more easily than from videos

Discs do have the benefit of being able to add databases, but learning to use a database efficiently is a very advanced skill that few bother to master. 

Having said all that, quite a few young GMs don't use books the way previous generations did. They play gobs and gobs of games online and learn by analysing and testing their analysis against engines. Also, coaches are far more easily attainable than ever before. Coaches are relatively inexpensive now and offer individualized plans for student development. 

Yeah, almost every good coach is heavily steeped in book learning, but they are passing on their knowledge in a more direct manner. 

Books are truly becoming obsolete. 

I read an interview with Peter Svidler a few days ago in which he said that he hadn't read a book in years. I doubt that Svidler watches a lot of instructive chess videos, though. He does like television.

There are excellent books available, excellent DVDs, excellent online videos, and easy access online or through software to a substantial number of the chess games played since the nineteenth century with a handful of earlier games.

The days for choosing books or videos or databases are over. Invest in all of them. In the past week, I have read pieces of several chess books, made extensive use of ChessBase and Chess Informant databases, and watched videos on chess.com.