The searches on the two services aren't completely equivalent, but the results show clearly that there are more books for chess than for the other three games combined. The difference in counts for 'checkers' is because the BarnesAndNoble.com results include titles like The Fact Checker's Bible: A Guide to Getting It Right by Sarah Harrison Smith.

This also explains why, for all games except chess, the numbers from Amazon.com are less than BarnesAndNoble.com. Chess has its own category in the BarnesAndNoble.com catalog ('Entertainment > Games > Chess') and the counts for chess are the number of titles assigned to that category. The counts for the other games are derived from the number of titles containing that keyword.

How do chess titles compare with other games in the BarnesAndNoble.com 'Entertainment > Games' category?

If we look at the 'Entertainment > Games > Board Games - General & Miscellaneous' category (314 titles), we find another level of category with more exact counts for the number of titles.

• Backgammon : 31 titles
• Checkers : 12 titles

Adding the equivalent count from 'Entertainment > Games > Card Games > Poker'

• Poker : 383 titles

• Bridge : 694 titles

Having so many titles available on our favorite game is a mixed blessing. How do we know which books give the most value for our hard-earned bucks (or pounds, or euros, or rupees)? The more books we buy online, with no opportunity to hold them and browse them like we do in a bricks-and-mortar store, the more the question becomes compelling.

Fortunately, we have Book Reviews (see the link box again) to guide us to the right titles. Some of the best chess sites on the web specialize in reviewing chess books : good and bad, modern and classic, by the best known authors and the least known.

British Chess Magazine (BCM) lists in their catalog around 900 titles, of which something like 800 have been reviewed on the same site. Most of the BCM reviews are short and only give a general idea about the content and suitability of the book.

ChessCafe.com and JeremySilman.com each have online reviews of close to 400 chess titles. Their reviews are often written by titled players, by authors of other chess books, or by specialists in the subject covered by the book. This means that the reviews are knowledgeable, deep, and thorough. The Silman site has reviews by more than one reviewer for many of the titles listed.

If you're interested in a particular chess book, but aren't sure whether it will suit you, check those two sites for a review of your book. The other review sites we list may have fewer reviews, but they are still worth checking if you have a specific book in mind.

Don't overlook the services offered by general online booksellers like Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. Both sellers offer reviews and ratings by amateur readers. Amazon.com goes one step further by offering sample pages like the table of contents, the index, and excerpts. It's as close as you can get to flipping through the book online. After you've made your choice, bought a book, and digested it, help others to make their choice by adding your own review and rating.

Our next article on external links will finish with Products & Shopping. See you then! [All articles in this series can be found under Resource Reviews (link box again).]