16 Dec '16 11:35>2 edits
When I was playing in ICCF tournaments back in the 80's, some of my opponents from eastern Europe and I would exchange chess literature. Being an American I was curious what chess literature from Russia, Poland, East Germany etc. was like, since most chess players from those countries were generally stronger players than Americans. I was surprised at how little chess information was in these magazines. They were normally about 15-30 pages, contained about 10 - 15 games from local and national tournaments, along with a few interviews. (I was shocked to find the Russian magazine Shahmati - CCCP was only 12 pages and had an entire page devoted to checkers!) Today we have access to massive amounts of information on You Tube, and online openings sites with millions of openings and sub variations. So, does all this information really make for stronger chess players, or is chess skill more a matter of hard work, and making maximum use of the information we have?