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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) What is the worst chess book ever ? (Read 125020 times)
ReneDescartes
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Re: What is the worst chess book ever ?
Reply #190 - 05/12/14 at 12:07:37
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Mondo-Schiller Cup! lol
  
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Bibs
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Re: What is the worst chess book ever ?
Reply #189 - 05/12/14 at 00:24:54
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Smyslov_Fan wrote on 05/10/14 at 15:09:43:
Still, the worst book I've seen has been mentioned several times already, Magic by Moody. My only concern is that it may not be a chess book. It's hard to tell what it is.

The worst book by a world class player that I've seen is The Psychology of Chess by Fine.


Magic, yes. Despite the tough competition, of blisteringly inept proportions, it still wins hands down.
SF - can you perhaps instigate a poll, to win the all time-Mondo-Schiller Cup?

  
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Bogojump
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Re: What is the worst chess book ever ?
Reply #188 - 05/11/14 at 21:39:14
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From Gambit  by Eric Schiller.

Incredible that such a "book" can be published.
  

"You must lead your opponent into a deep, dark forest, where 2 + 2 = 5 and
  where the path back out is only broad enough for one of you." (((Mikhail Tal)))
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TalJechin
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Re: What is the worst chess book ever ?
Reply #187 - 05/11/14 at 09:34:30
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Trefor wrote on 05/10/14 at 21:03:45:
TalJechin wrote on 05/10/14 at 20:36:57:
Trefor wrote on 05/10/14 at 19:51:12:
Not the worst, but the most disappointing read, for me, in recent years was The Stress of Chess – Walter Browne – yes of course the games are exciting but I found the prose difficult and bewildering and eventually gave up.
I suppose I shouldn’t be too harsh on a non native speaker of English but I was expecting an entertaining and illuminating book and couldn’t find it!


Surely Walter Brown is a native speaker of English?!?


Are you sure? Wasn't he born in Australia and then moved to the US of A  Grin


Exactly, only problem would be if he was born in the US  Grin
see here Wink
http://weknowmemes.com/2013/03/average-number-of-languages-spoken-by-citizens-of...
  
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ReneDescartes
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Re: What is the worst chess book ever ?
Reply #186 - 05/11/14 at 04:15:26
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Smyslov_Fan wrote on 05/10/14 at 15:09:43:
The worst book by a world class player that I've seen is The Psychology of Chess by Fine.

I found that book very illuminating. But then, I don't regard Freudian theory as utter B.S.
« Last Edit: 05/11/14 at 11:40:04 by ReneDescartes »  
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Re: What is the worst chess book ever ?
Reply #185 - 05/11/14 at 00:27:35
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Trefor wrote on 05/10/14 at 21:03:45:
TalJechin wrote on 05/10/14 at 20:36:57:
Trefor wrote on 05/10/14 at 19:51:12:
Not the worst, but the most disappointing read, for me, in recent years was The Stress of Chess – Walter Browne – yes of course the games are exciting but I found the prose difficult and bewildering and eventually gave up.
I suppose I shouldn’t be too harsh on a non native speaker of English but I was expecting an entertaining and illuminating book and couldn’t find it!


Surely Walter Brown is a native speaker of English?!?


Are you sure? Wasn't he born in Australia and then moved to the US of A  Grin


They speak english in Australia.
  
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Trefor
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Re: What is the worst chess book ever ?
Reply #184 - 05/10/14 at 21:03:45
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TalJechin wrote on 05/10/14 at 20:36:57:
Trefor wrote on 05/10/14 at 19:51:12:
Not the worst, but the most disappointing read, for me, in recent years was The Stress of Chess – Walter Browne – yes of course the games are exciting but I found the prose difficult and bewildering and eventually gave up.
I suppose I shouldn’t be too harsh on a non native speaker of English but I was expecting an entertaining and illuminating book and couldn’t find it!


Surely Walter Brown is a native speaker of English?!?


Are you sure? Wasn't he born in Australia and then moved to the US of A  Grin
  
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TalJechin
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Re: What is the worst chess book ever ?
Reply #183 - 05/10/14 at 20:36:57
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Trefor wrote on 05/10/14 at 19:51:12:
Not the worst, but the most disappointing read, for me, in recent years was The Stress of Chess – Walter Browne – yes of course the games are exciting but I found the prose difficult and bewildering and eventually gave up.
I suppose I shouldn’t be too harsh on a non native speaker of English but I was expecting an entertaining and illuminating book and couldn’t find it!


Surely Walter Brown is a native speaker of English?!?
  
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Trefor
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Re: What is the worst chess book ever ?
Reply #182 - 05/10/14 at 19:51:12
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Not the worst, but the most disappointing read, for me, in recent years was The Stress of Chess – Walter Browne – yes of course the games are exciting but I found the prose difficult and bewildering and eventually gave up.
I suppose I shouldn’t be too harsh on a non native speaker of English but I was expecting an entertaining and illuminating book and couldn’t find it!
  
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Re: What is the worst chess book ever ?
Reply #181 - 05/10/14 at 18:29:09
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Smyslov_Fan wrote on 05/10/14 at 15:09:43:
Still, the worst book I've seen has been mentioned several times already, Magic by Moody. My only concern is that it may not be a chess book. It's hard to tell what it is.



Nothing wrong with picking the low hanging fruit, especially when it is so ripe.

Smiley

  
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Smyslov_Fan
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Re: What is the worst chess book ever ?
Reply #180 - 05/10/14 at 15:09:43
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Still, the worst book I've seen has been mentioned several times already, Magic by Moody. My only concern is that it may not be a chess book. It's hard to tell what it is.

The worst book by a world class player that I've seen is The Psychology of Chess by Fine.
  
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Re: What is the worst chess book ever ?
Reply #179 - 05/10/14 at 14:26:33
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Hadron wrote on 05/09/14 at 21:35:23:
The worst....anything written by Eric Schiller. No more, no less.

RoleyPoley wrote on 05/09/14 at 21:40:38:
Not quite, wasnt his stuff on the Tarrasch supposed to be relatively good?

His book on the Catalan isn't bad either. But I maintain and repeat: his 'thingy" on the Vienna Frankenstein-Dracula Variation is the worst chess book ever. Carsten Hansen explains why:

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen15.txt

I have seen it (not bought it). Trust me, Hansen is not negative enough (likely because no language contains the appropriate words to do justice to something like this).

Jonathan Tait wrote on 05/10/14 at 07:41:54:
I wouldn't put Schiller as absolutely the worst. Yes, most of his books are churned out rubbish, but they're not just dumps. He's usually done a little work.

Well, perhaps Schiller has done a little work on this Vienna thingy, but I suspect it would have been less bad if he actually hadn't.
  

The book had the effect good books usually have: it made the stupids more stupid, the intelligent more intelligent and the other thousands of readers remained unchanged.
GC Lichtenberg
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Re: What is the worst chess book ever ?
Reply #178 - 05/10/14 at 07:41:54
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I wouldn't put Schiller as absolutely the worst. Yes, most of his books are churned out rubbish, but they're not just dumps. He's usually done a little work. And the co-authored ones usually have some useful material.

Looking at my shelves, I still have:
The Big Book of Busts – nothing with John Watson's name on it is going to be trash.
Spanish: Schliemann (Jaenisch) (with Shamkovich) which I still quite like, though it has more typos than any other properly published chess book I've ever seen.
  

blog inspired by Bronstein's book, but using my own games: http://200opengames.blogspot.co.uk/
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ReneDescartes
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Re: What is the worst chess book ever ?
Reply #177 - 05/09/14 at 22:17:38
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Yeah, and Schiller co-wrote "The Big Book of Busts
" with Watson. That was a good book.
  
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Re: What is the worst chess book ever ?
Reply #176 - 05/09/14 at 21:40:38
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Hadron wrote on 05/09/14 at 21:35:23:
The worst....anything written by Eric Schiller. No more, no less.


Not quite, wasnt his stuff on the Tarrasch supposed to be relatively good?
  

"As Mikhail Tal would say ' Let's have a bit of hooliganism! '"

Victor Bologan.
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