Using Nunn's Chess Openings And. . .

Is it cheating to use Nunn's Chess Openings and other openings books like "Starting Out: Sicilian Dragon," to play chess on Redhotpawn.com?

@zzzzz9200 said
Is it cheating to use Nunn's Chess Openings and other openings books like "Starting Out: Sicilian Dragon," to play chess on Redhotpawn.com?

(b) While a game is in progress you may not refer to chess engines, chess computers or be assisted by a third party. Endgame tablebases may not be consulted during play but you may reference books, databases consisting of previously played games between human players, and other pre-existing research materials.

Hi zzzzz9200

It is not cheating to consult printed material. The rule is when out of the book do not
start using a computer. As you can see from my blog the vast majority here do not use computer assistance.

The bad news about following opening theory here is that many fear opening
knowledge and to avoid walking into a trap or a poor position they play anti book
moves so very often you will be closing your opening book after four or five moves
and in some cases even sooner. If you look at Games Explorer after 1.e4 e5 you will
see no fewer that 29 different replies by White on move two.

At the bottom of the page you will find a link to Games Explorer.

I think it is better to study with a book and board but when you play you should make your own moves instead of copying from a book.