@AlexiHarvey said in #20:
> It's just my advice to split your time between learning and entertainment. This is hard to do on the same platform and the idea of an old dedicated computer is merely to provide a distinct alternative - otherwise there is a danger that all you actually do is entertainment with the illusion/delusion that you are learning/improving - play to improve doesn't really work imo. Stockfish is extremely strong and it is actually very hard to weaken for beginner's as a result players can become disillusioned, give up and just play people. The old computers start off at a much lower level and can be weaken further - you really want something you can individually tune to beat with difficulty and subsequently step up when needed. At your level pretty much any old dedicated computer would do and there are plenty going for peanuts on sites like eBay etc - go for the cheapest WITH instructions.
>
> Don't however consider a chess computer a must-have, it's just a (novel) suggestion which might appeal to you or not. I just think people have overlooked this possibly and I have seen a lot of people get nowhere by sticking on-line - including myself!
>
> Regards books the best thing to do is get yourself into a public library or bookshop and pick the beginner's book you most like the look of - the one you would be excited to own. That way you're more likely to invest the time and effort needed.
Thanks, but I really can't afford a chess computer unless it costs 20 usd. What are the alternatives? Preferably online since im flat broke and can barley afford to live haha even my 10 usd chess set was a big deal to me. But I've been gifted a wooden chess set so i consider myself very lucky.
> It's just my advice to split your time between learning and entertainment. This is hard to do on the same platform and the idea of an old dedicated computer is merely to provide a distinct alternative - otherwise there is a danger that all you actually do is entertainment with the illusion/delusion that you are learning/improving - play to improve doesn't really work imo. Stockfish is extremely strong and it is actually very hard to weaken for beginner's as a result players can become disillusioned, give up and just play people. The old computers start off at a much lower level and can be weaken further - you really want something you can individually tune to beat with difficulty and subsequently step up when needed. At your level pretty much any old dedicated computer would do and there are plenty going for peanuts on sites like eBay etc - go for the cheapest WITH instructions.
>
> Don't however consider a chess computer a must-have, it's just a (novel) suggestion which might appeal to you or not. I just think people have overlooked this possibly and I have seen a lot of people get nowhere by sticking on-line - including myself!
>
> Regards books the best thing to do is get yourself into a public library or bookshop and pick the beginner's book you most like the look of - the one you would be excited to own. That way you're more likely to invest the time and effort needed.
Thanks, but I really can't afford a chess computer unless it costs 20 usd. What are the alternatives? Preferably online since im flat broke and can barley afford to live haha even my 10 usd chess set was a big deal to me. But I've been gifted a wooden chess set so i consider myself very lucky.