Originally Posted by Ronaldinho

I think that when starting out, trying to learn by yourself, from unannotated games, is a mistake.

While you might be able to do it, I think it's not particularly productive. Once you have a solid foundation, you'll get more from studying unannotated games, but for most people starting out, it's a waste of time. Too many of the moves will be beyond your comprehension. You might be able to get away with a little bit of this with Anderssen and Morphy, but even with them, I think you'll find the process more frustrating and illuminating.

Once you have a solid foundation in tactics and strategy, taking the time to work everything out in a master game will be much more productive.