I started out studying chess this way, but I have evolved with the times. I would not do it the old fashioned way again if I had a choice. Information travels to fast in this new age we live in. I am not saying that you can't learn by studying obsolete material, and there is something to be said of studying using a real chessboard.
"Good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions."
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Ted Summers
An interesting question. I agree with you that there is something to be said for using a real chess board. For me, the board not being on the computer gets me to think more carefully. It's just so easy when the board is displayed on my computer to turn on an engine and get an opinion on what move/moves are viable in a given position.
Doing so trains my mind less (it may help my memory of patterns grow a bit) than sitting for 10 minutes and trying to think it out myself. If I force myself to be disciplined and not just turn on an engine, then the computer becomes a very useful tool with databases of games to assist in my analysis, not to mention having the web being available to also see what others have/are playing in a particular line.
In the end, I could not give up using computers 100% for my chess development. What I really need to improve is a mind that is as sharp as it was in my teens and twenties. But that's just not going to happen obviously!
