Quote:

Semkov -

If 7...a6 8.Nd4.  What's the problem with that?

- Lost Highway

Michael, you're right.  When using the verb "to be" it's difficult to form a passive sentence because the two sides of the equation are supposed to be equal. 

Thus,
translator=Ken Neat. 

I would have preferrred Ken Neat = Translator, but that's a matter of style more than grammar.

You are also right in your use of passive voice.  I usually explain passive voice as a sentence in which the actor isn't present or is mentioned as an afterthought.  The classic example of this was Ronald Reagan's

"Mistakes were made."

or,

"I was bitten."

Yoda-speak, such as "Bitten, I was" is an even more clear example of passive voice.

In Russian, it's perfectly acceptable.  In English, we like to know who's doing the acting!

So, while "I was bitten by your dog" is acceptable, the more active (and less wordy) "Your dog bit me" is preferrable.

Do you agree?

@Michael: thanks for some more help on the active/passive voice subject!

@lost_highway: I didn't really think that 6.Ndb5 Qb8 7.Be3 was a problem for Black, so long as he's willing to accept a Scheveningen structure with d7-d6 (7...Nf6 8. f4 d6).  I'm curious about whether Black can play 7...Nf6 followed by 8...b6!? agsainst other White eighth moves;  I played this once and won an easy game against a weaker player who played 8. Bd3, and I've analysed it a little.  I really don't see any way for White to get anything more than a normal, slight edge.

In all my years’ work as a professional editor I’ve never come across THIS particular misunderstanding, ErictheRed!

Your claim that Smyslov_Fan’s original sentence does not represent the passive voice is indeed correct, but the same is also true of both the sentences you give at the bottom of your post! In the first of these, the verb “is … reading” (the adverb, “quietly”, is an irrelevance) is active, and the tense is present continuous (as opposed to the simple present, “reads”). In the second, the verb, “sits”, is also active, and its tense is simple present (as opposed to the continuous present, “is sitting”). (The adverb is, again, an irrelevance, as is the participle “reading”.)

Your misunderstanding appears to arise from a confusion between, on the one hand, voice and, on the other, aspects of tense. They are two separate things!

Here is an example of the active/passive distinction:

Your dog bit me. [active]

I was bitten by your dog. [passive]

@Smyslov_Fan: I registered about half an year ago, but I seldom log in as I prefer to write as "Guest".
Anyone is welcome to contact me at semkov@chess-stars.com.

Semkov and Willempie,

It's true, The Americans and Brits are separated by a common language.  I often spell according to the British Standard (Queen's English) which gets me in trouble here in America.  I make numerous mistakes in my own writing, as some of you may have noticed.  However, I do pride myself on correct grammar and know full well that many "professional" documents don't reflect any respect for English.

I haven't seen the Anand series yet, so I can't comment on Ermenkov's translations.  Probably the most prolific translator from Russian to American is Ken Neat.  (See, passive voice!  In English, passive voice is weak.  In Russian, it's fully acceptable!)

I'm sorry to hear that there are so many difficulties with finding translators.  It's even worse news that shipping costs are so high for you.  Chess Stars has made a name for itself over here for its high quality books. 

Many strong chess players aren't particularly bothered by poor translations as long the analysis holds up.  These players do not make up much of the market for chess books here.   

I've watched as people at tournaments go about choosing books from the vendors.  I'm always surprised by how few actually open the book and read before buying.  Many people really do judge a book by its cover.  Chess Stars has nice covers, but Gambit, Everyman, and Cadogan generally have flashier covers. 

The readers who do read parts of books before they buy are often put off by the depth of analysis in Chess Stars books. They are hard to digest while standing in a hotel lobby between rounds. I buy them because they are so challenging!  You wouldn't be Chess Stars without that level of analysis!  You really have done a great job of getting high-class players to devote considerable energy to their books. 

So, thank you for remaining committed to publishing excellent chess books!

There is little to be done with the English, sorry.
1. Russian/Eastern Europe people have very different thinking, compared to the US chess amateurs.

2. There is practically no good chess translator from Russian to English that I know of. If there is one, he probably costs twice the author's fee which is unacceptable. If we pay much to a translator, we should pay less to authors. Even now US customers think that our books are too expensive (although end prices are determined by the dealers and we cannot influence them).
Notice that compared to an English publisher we are in very inferior position - we have to pay for translation, we have no friendly connections with magazines, coaches and native GMs. In fact we are concurents. Finally our authors are just better players so their time is more expensive (on top of all they spend more than 6 months, sometimes a year on one book, which is evidently not the case with most other authors). Additionally transport costs are much higher for us.

3. It remains a native editor and we used such a help for our last games collections assuming that in this type of books bad English is more annoying. However editing consumes time and an opening book is aging by hours, so we would not like to waste addtional time.

What do you think about the translation of GM Ermenkov?(Anand 2-4 and other books) Before him we changed 6-7 "professional" translators, but he seems our best find so far.