Latest Updates:
Page Index Toggle Pages: [1] 2 
Topic Tools
Hot Topic (More than 10 Replies) C30-C39: Taylor on King´s Gambit (Read 15867 times)
Jonathan Tait
God Member
*****
Offline



Posts: 614
Location: Nottingham
Joined: 07/11/06
Re: Taylor on King´s Gambit
Reply #19 - 07/16/11 at 16:13:58
Post Tools
STEFANOS wrote on 07/16/11 at 07:09:22:
Possibly I haven't got a clue, I respect your view. I agree that by  telling that it is the modern Schiller it is not polite and possibly incorrect, Schiller is beyond competition. The truth is that , Taylor nowadays writes books with the speed of light, even he received decent reviews, his books have lots of gaps in many areas and when we come to the naked truth, if they give added value in the money you spend, the answer is no. In may opinion - and it is only my opinion- his books are between middle average quality and sometimes tends to low. For example "Slay the Spanish" has 288 pages, but it could be the half. My main worry is King's Gambit is a very difficlut topic to write a book.  For example, Hansen completely burried the Dave Taylor book on Ponziani, but for me it wasn't worse than Timothy Taylor's books. When I give my money I want respect from the writer to give me something good, when you buy a chess book, you want to be a chess book not a novel, but not also a alegbra book having only analysis and variations.  For this reason, we have writers like Palliser, Cox, Emms, Avruk, Bauer, Marin who deliver books of high quality. Sorry, if I wrote something offencing it was not on purpose.


I'd say Tim Taylor puts a lot of work into his books. He doesn't churn them out. He investigates openings seriously, tests them out in his own games over the board and online, does his own analysis, gives his own ideas, comes to his own conclusions. The last three points there are key for me; they're really the only reason (apart from research) I'd even look at an opening book nowadays. Okay, if people don't like his style, fair enough.

Regarding Hansen: generally I like his reviews too. (The Ponziani one I'd discount as an aberration; opinions are fine, that's a reviewer's job, but in that case his criticisms just didn't reflect the content.) On Tim Taylor's books I think his opinions are fair. Take the conclusion to the last one:

Quote:
As with other Taylor books, this one is fun, entertaining, and flits a bit on the wild side. However, you are often entertained and frequently inspired. If you are in search of an interesting answer to the Spanish Opening, and you are not afraid of complications and sharp tactical battles, along with occasional strategic battles with unbalanced pawn structures, then this opening and this book could well be for you. I, for one, certainly enjoyed reading it, even if I didn't believe everything he wrote.


"even if I didn't believe everything he wrote" — yes, my thoughts exactly.

On the King's Gambit: yes, I agree; it's a difficult topic, especially having failed to complete a book on this myself. I guess we'll have to wait and see what TT comes up with. Anyway, wait and see seems a better plan than slagging off the book before he's probably even started writing it.

Thanks for the gracious reply by the way. And sorry for taking offence. Of course you're perfectly entitled to your opinion too.
  

blog inspired by Bronstein's book, but using my own games: http://200opengames.blogspot.co.uk/
Back to top
WWW  
IP Logged
 
Jesse Gersenson
Full Member
***
Offline


Piece value = Mobility
+ targets

Posts: 162
Joined: 09/12/09
Re: Taylor on King´s Gambit
Reply #18 - 07/16/11 at 07:14:28
Post Tools
I will buy the Taylor book, and any other books written on the King's Gambit (which include prose).

Where else can you read, "White can also sacrifice his other knight..." (Estrin)?
« Last Edit: 07/16/11 at 18:53:12 by Jesse Gersenson »  
Back to top
WWW  
IP Logged
 
STEFANOS
Junior Member
**
Offline


I Love ChessPublishing!

Posts: 71
Joined: 03/27/08
Re: Taylor on King´s Gambit
Reply #17 - 07/16/11 at 07:09:22
Post Tools
Possibly I haven't got a clue, I respect your view. I agree that by  telling that it is the modern Schiller it is not polite and possibly incorrect, Schiller is beyond competition. The truth is that , Taylor nowadays writes books with the speed of light, even he received decent reviews, his books have lots of gaps in many areas and when we come to the naked truth, if they give added value in the money you spend, the answer is no. In may opinion - and it is only my opinion- his books are between middle average quality and sometimes tends to low. For example "Slay the Spanish" has 288 pages, but it could be the half. My main worry is King's Gambit is a very difficlut topic to write a book.  For example, Hansen completely burried the Dave Taylor book on Ponziani, but for me it wasn't worse than Timothy Taylor's books. When I give my money I want respect from the writer to give me something good, when you buy a chess book, you want to be a chess book not a novel, but not also a alegbra book having only analysis and variations.  For this reason, we have writers like Palliser,Cox, Emms, Avruk, Bauer,Marin who deliver books of high quality. Sorry, if I wrote something offencing it was not on purpose.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
SWJediknight
God Member
*****
Offline


Alert... opponent out
of book!

Posts: 915
Joined: 03/14/08
Re: Taylor on King´s Gambit
Reply #16 - 07/15/11 at 22:20:50
Post Tools
His latest book "Slay the Spanish", while suffering from the usual problems (too much prose, concentrating on irrelevant detail, missing some key lines etc) has got pretty decent reviews from what I've seen (including a 4 out of 6 star review at C.Hansen's Checkpoint).  I get the impression that his books are still of better quality than most of Schiller's.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Jonathan Tait
God Member
*****
Offline



Posts: 614
Location: Nottingham
Joined: 07/11/06
Re: Taylor on King´s Gambit
Reply #15 - 07/15/11 at 20:01:08
Post Tools
STEFANOS wrote on 07/13/11 at 17:42:15:
Especially for Taylor - and trully apologise for that, but the blame is all to his editor/publishing company- I can say he tends to be the morern Schiller or even better the American Kalinichenko - possibly written wrongly


you haven't got a clue what you're talking about
  

blog inspired by Bronstein's book, but using my own games: http://200opengames.blogspot.co.uk/
Back to top
WWW  
IP Logged
 
STEFANOS
Junior Member
**
Offline


I Love ChessPublishing!

Posts: 71
Joined: 03/27/08
Re: Taylor on King´s Gambit
Reply #14 - 07/13/11 at 17:42:15
Post Tools
Especially for Taylor - and trully apologise for that, but the blame is all to his editor/publishing company- I can say he tends to be the morern Schiller or even better the American Kalinichenko - possibly written wrongly-. I bought 3 books with him as a writer, Bird, Alekhine and the most recent "Slay the Spanish". His books are like novels, nice to read but not real chess books. A huge luck of analysis in crucial positions,objectivity.Even , the opinion saying that it is written for low rated players, is outrageous since I do not see how he explains the idea of the opening , plus the basic themes. Especially a book on the King's Gambit , which must be full of analysis, variations, I do not think that this guy can write such a book, so be in "Taylor Alert " and buy something else. Give value to your money.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Dragonslayer
Full Member
***
Offline


I love ChessPublishing
.com!

Posts: 248
Location: Odense
Joined: 06/13/04
Re: Taylor on King´s Gambit
Reply #13 - 06/14/11 at 14:03:53
Post Tools
Actually, there are no KG books with explanations in them so look forward to seeing one...
I have some of Taylor's previous efforts and I was a bit disappointed with the Bird book. Bent Larsen wrote something along the lines of "as a theory reference it is useless, but very inspring." Who am I to disagre with the great man...
Well I have no need for a very inspiring book on the KG. I need a way to get a position where I can play for the advantage after 2...exf4 3.Nf3 g5 or 3...d5. If anyone has a serious/genuine answer to that they will have my money, if not, well I guess everyman survives without it.
But let's give Taylor some credit, I'm sure there are plenty of chessplayers who do need an inspring book and it should be easy to improve on the last few KG books (Johansson's excluded).
I do wonder how many KG games Taylor played. In my experience there is a difference between sitting at the table solving real problems in games with something at stake and sitting in your comfy chair with your favourite engine running, interrupted only by the occasional tap on the spacebar. I would be pleasantly surprised if they have it out by january.
The 192 pages is probably just because they have to write something. If it is indeed 192 then it is likelly to be superficial. The problem with the KG is that for the book to be useful you have to include all the old stuff you will see in the lower ranks as well as all the new top-GM stuff. There is simply no way this will all fit on 192 pages with explanations as well.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
MNb
God Member
*****
Offline


Rudolf Spielmann forever

Posts: 10756
Location: Moengo
Joined: 01/05/04
Gender: Male
Re: Taylor on King´s Gambit
Reply #12 - 06/12/11 at 15:05:27
Post Tools
Fromper wrote on 06/12/11 at 04:33:57:
I guess us lower rateds appreciate the extra explanation, while you master types just want him to show the book theory of the opening and move on.

I am not a master type, but a lower rated player. I hate it when an author dwells on relatively unimportant stuff but doesn't try too hard to find the best lines for the virtual opponent.
Moreover you present a false dilemma. I own several opening books that both give clear explanations, while staying to the point, ánd contain good analysis of important lines. And not all of them are written by GM's.
  

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
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
glut
YaBB Newbies
*
Offline


I Love ChessPublishing!

Posts: 43
Joined: 11/12/08
Re: Taylor on King´s Gambit
Reply #11 - 06/12/11 at 09:51:53
Post Tools
I'm with fromper on this and daresay I will get much more out of this than the John Shaw book when it ultimately appears
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Jonathan Tait
God Member
*****
Offline



Posts: 614
Location: Nottingham
Joined: 07/11/06
Re: Taylor on King´s Gambit
Reply #10 - 06/12/11 at 07:09:53
Post Tools
Markovich wrote on 06/11/11 at 03:20:07:
Quite well written, tsk!  From what I can tell, Taylor was asleep when his high school English teacher talked about "cogent" and "concise." Apparently his publishers have  large supplies of surplus ink and paper, and a severe shortage of red pencils. If I had to edit one of his books, the finished product would run about 48 pages. But then you'd have to charge less for it, wouldn't you?


how about you delete some of your own posts for a change?
  

blog inspired by Bronstein's book, but using my own games: http://200opengames.blogspot.co.uk/
Back to top
WWW  
IP Logged
 
Fromper
Senior Member
****
Offline


GrandPatzer

Posts: 378
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Joined: 03/12/10
Gender: Male
Re: Taylor on King´s Gambit
Reply #9 - 06/12/11 at 04:33:57
Post Tools
I think I'm seeing a ratings gap on this one. I guess us lower rateds appreciate the extra explanation, while you master types just want him to show the book theory of the opening and move on. Now that I think of it, perhaps we should start a new thread on the writing styles of opening book writers to ask what styles everyone prefers, and also which writers we all think conform to which styles.

  

GrandPatzer!!!

1777 peak USCF rating - currently 1620 from coming back rusty
Back to top
WWW  
IP Logged
 
Arcticmonkey
Full Member
***
Offline


Russell Peters ftw

Posts: 118
Joined: 02/21/11
Re: Taylor on King´s Gambit
Reply #8 - 06/11/11 at 14:58:47
Post Tools
Markovich wrote on 06/11/11 at 03:20:07:
Fromper wrote on 06/10/11 at 15:01:26:
Taylor seems quite prolific lately. The two books of his that I already have are quite well written, so I just hope he can keep up that quality and not turn into a "quantity over quality" writer.


Quite well written, tsk!  From what I can tell, Taylor was asleep when his high school English teacher talked about "cogent" and "concise." Apparently his publishers have  large supplies of surplus ink and paper, and a severe shortage of red pencils. If I had to edit one of his books, the finished product would run about 48 pages. But then you'd have to charge less for it, wouldn't you?


I also agree with this. I own two of his books, and wow they have a lot of 'detail' in them. A lot is quite unecessary in my opinion and could be filled with much better things. But to be honest, i suppose the argument could be made that lower rated players will benefit from it, idk.

However, if the publishers really did set a page limit on his books, then i think that a better use of his extra space would be puzzles (both positional and tactical) rather than long game scores and moves which are incorrect (he explains why they are incorrect, but i honestly think this just wastes space).

Anyway, maybe thats just me!
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Markovich
God Member
*****
Offline



Posts: 6099
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Joined: 09/17/04
Re: Taylor on King´s Gambit
Reply #7 - 06/11/11 at 03:20:07
Post Tools
Fromper wrote on 06/10/11 at 15:01:26:
Taylor seems quite prolific lately. The two books of his that I already have are quite well written, so I just hope he can keep up that quality and not turn into a "quantity over quality" writer.


Quite well written, tsk!  From what I can tell, Taylor was asleep when his high school English teacher talked about "cogent" and "concise." Apparently his publishers have  large supplies of surplus ink and paper, and a severe shortage of red pencils. If I had to edit one of his books, the finished product would run about 48 pages. But then you'd have to charge less for it, wouldn't you?
  

The Great Oz has spoken!
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Fromper
Senior Member
****
Offline


GrandPatzer

Posts: 378
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Joined: 03/12/10
Gender: Male
Re: Taylor on King´s Gambit
Reply #6 - 06/10/11 at 20:39:22
Post Tools
MNb wrote on 06/10/11 at 20:06:15:
Because I was not impressed by the excerpts of his other books available on Internet. Especially that word "deeply" was not the first I thought of.

Well, as mentioned in my earlier post, I like his writing style. I can't comment on how good his analysis is, even for the books I own, as I'm just not that good a player. I haven't noticed anything wrong with it, but others on this site who analyze openings more intensely than myself may have something to say.

  

GrandPatzer!!!

1777 peak USCF rating - currently 1620 from coming back rusty
Back to top
WWW  
IP Logged
 
MNb
God Member
*****
Offline


Rudolf Spielmann forever

Posts: 10756
Location: Moengo
Joined: 01/05/04
Gender: Male
Re: Taylor on King´s Gambit
Reply #5 - 06/10/11 at 20:06:15
Post Tools
Because I was not impressed by the excerpts of his other books available on Internet. Especially that word "deeply" was not the first I thought of.
  

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
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Page Index Toggle Pages: [1] 2 
Topic Tools
Bookmarks: del.icio.us Digg Facebook Google Google+ Linked in reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Yahoo