Where Are The Chess Books?

Are chess books going into extinction? Try to visit any leading bookstore today and it is getting more difficult to find a chess book. Maybe it is due to the "real versus e-book" battle. In this day and age where technology is changing everything, it is becoming more apparent that "real" chess books are slowly going extinct. 

I am not the only one to notice this fact. If we are to carry all the chess books we have, it would amount to a full suitcase. While chess appears to be simple enough, there are countless chess books on every aspect of the game. There are thousands of chess books about the opening, middle game, and endgame.  There are also thousands of books on strategy and tactics. 

Technology has changed everything. Why carry loads of chess books when you can all put them in a single gadget? With the Internet, chess games can now be accessed and studied anywhere. Chess games compiled in "real" books have become obsolete. There is no more practical use of "real" books that merely compiled the games of Capablanca or Fischer without the necessary annotations. If you like a complete file of the games of any famous chess player, you can download it in just a matter of seconds.

Given the convenience brought about by technology, should we ready ourselves in saying goodbye to our beloved chess books in paper form? Is it really about time to throw away those chess books piled up in our cabinets? Despite whatever convenience brought about by the e-book, real chess books still have that allure justifying their continued existence. 

A "real" chess book guarantees stability.  It is always there! It is readily accessible with or without the Internet. Just seeing a chess book on display in your cabinet is a constant reminder of the "happy days" playing chess. Throwing that book away is like throwing those happy memories where you would browse into the pages of your book to find the right antidote to the "Queen's Gambit".