Is it Worth Reading Chess Books?

Hi all:

So i just started to read chess books and I noticed that it takes me about 30 minutes just to read 2-3 pages. It takes way too long to read a chess book. Also, will you be able to improve when reading chess books?

Basically, I wanted to know if reading chess books is worth the time or is it better to mostly play and have somebody stronger analyze your games instead.

mariaevinne: "... I wanted to know if reading chess books is worth the time ..."

"... Just because a book contains lots of information that you don’t know, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be extremely helpful in making you better at this point in your chess development. ..." - Dan Heisman (2001)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626180930/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman06.pdf
"... The books that are most highly thought of are not necessarily the most useful. Go with those that you find to be readable. ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2010)
"... If it’s instruction, you look for an author that addresses players at your level (buying something that’s too advanced won’t help you at all). This means that a classic book that is revered by many people might not be useful for you. ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (2015)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-books-ever
Have you done much reading from books like these?

Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Simple-Attacking-Plans-77p3731.htm
Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev (1957)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf
The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev (1965)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/
Winning Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld (1949)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093415/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review919.pdf
Back to Basics: Tactics by Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708233537/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review585.pdf
Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014)
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/
https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf
Chess Endgames for Kids by Karsten Müller (2015)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/chess-endgames-for-kids/
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/Chess_Endgames_for_Kids.pdf
A Guide to Chess Improvement by Dan Heisman (2010)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708105628/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review781.pdf
Seirawan stuff:
http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/bo_beginner/ev_winning_chess.asp?KATID=BO&ID=BO-Beginner
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092617/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review560.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-winning-chess-endings
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf
http://www.nystar.com/tamarkin/review1.htm

Books are awesome. They do take longer to get through but I think the information and concepts you're reading sink in more. I'm no master but I've always thought the best way to learn chess on your own without a teacher is to take advantage of all the different ways there are to learn out there these days. Books? Yes absolutely, but also videos, software, puzzles, and reviewing games of your own and that of masters. Chess.com's videos, tactics trainer, drills, lessons and opening explorer are great tools as well. There's tons of places on the internet to learn, and a lot of it is free.
I do think books are great, especially when it comes to a certain area of play, where they go into great detail.

Absolutely not.

All knowledge that takes time to accumulate is worthless.

If you cannot become a GM in under a week you should probably stick to playing chess on weekends for fun.

It is not worth your time reading chess books. Read science books, literature, economics, business, history, biographies, etc. instead. 

Only if it's something you enjoy. 

Usually, when you are struggling with something (such as reading a book at a decent pace), your learning is the most effective. Nobody benefits much by doing easy, relaxing, fluid activities, signifying that the person already has mastered the area they are working on and there isn't much more to gain there at the moment.

 

The slower your chess book reading is, the more you learn from those books!

I'm gonna read "Playing Winning Chess". Somebody ask me in a month or two if it helped me.

Is it Worth Reading Chess Books?

Yes, of course.

"My system" from Aaron Nimzowitsch is often recommended.

A good book on an important topic will help a lot.

One of the millions of generic "play this opening" books will basically not help at all.

Why would you compare chess which is a hobby to science and other subjects that are professional studies???? Reading a book about something you love is great, if you can't become a GM in under a week, keep working on it and never stop trying.

     You can learn a lot from reading chess books, but it is important to chose one (or more) appropriate for your level of chess knowledge. Over very many years very many books have been written for beginners. Here in the chess.com Forums section, under "For Beginners" you can unearth many old threads answering the question "What is a good chess book for beginners?" Any suggestions from Russ Bell are good. Two classics that start with the simplest concepts and progress to more complex ideas are "A Primer of Chess" by Capablanca and "The Game of Chess" by Tarrasch.

Someone seriously mentioned Chernev and Reinfeld books at the top of this thread….ugh. That’s like reading pulp trash novels while leaving Victor Hugo on the shelf.

Hi

If I know anything about the game, chances are I learned it from a chess book. If I know anything about chess that is not true, the likely culprits are books by Irving Chernev or Raymond Keene, and one of Bill Wall’s websites.

You can learn a lot that helps you improve from chess books. But you also can have all the knowledge in the world and still play lousy chess.

Half an hour for three pages might be too fast.

It depends how well you can learn from reading books. Me myself I find it very difficult trying to learn from books. I learn more easily from video's & just by playing the game,  cause I'm backwards

They help more than reading the forums

I’ve never read any but to each their own

Books are helpful, but nothing beats playing and analysing.

There are many ways to read a chess book.

http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2021/02/what-is-reading.html