Chess Books and DVDs board?

[Paul Cooksey]

Would other people post on books they have read and DVDs they have watched, if Carl added a section for it?

[Paul McKeown]

Yes. Need to take care with reviews though. Sometimes the authors or publishers might not like what is written.

[Jonathan Bryant]

Yes from me too.

As for reviews - frankly, they're often a drag to write. That's why the chess world mostly get advertising that presents itself as a review.

Still, I'm not sure that being prepared, if necessary, to upset an author/presenter is that bad a thing.

[Niall Doran]

Would other people post on books they have read and DVDs they have watched, if Carl added a section for it?

Yes I guess I would.

I think it can be very difficult for amateur reviewers to review a book sometimes though. Case in point, I'm currently working my way (slowly) through the 1st book of Yusupov's nine-book series. The book consists of 24 chapters with test questions at the end of each, and also a final test at the end of the book. Each chapter takes about two hours to read, the end of chapter tests take a shade under two hours, so four hours per chapter. Even if I manage to do a chapter a week, it's going to take six months.
A professional reviewer could have a quick look through the material and see if it's suitable to the level of an amateur, see if the same old examples aren't being rehashed etc.
What about the book itself then? Well I initially thought about skipping the ‘Fundamentals’ series, especially after seeing that the German title ‘Tigersprung auf DWZ 1500’ meant that the 1st series is meant to bring the player up to 1500. I was also put off by the chapter titles in the first book. Here are the titles of the first seven chapters.
1. Mating motifs
2. Mating motifs 2
3. Basic Opening Principles
4. Simple pawn endings
5. Double check
6. The value of the pieces
7. The discovered attack
As a 1700 player, I thought to myself, “that’s going to be easy and boring repetition of stuff I already know”. However, afraid of having gaps in my knowledge, I decided to start at the start.
Ok I knew most of the stuff in these chapters, but not all, so yes gaps are being filled. There’s also a difference between knowing something, for example and king and pawn v king endgame, and being able to spot when it’s possible to head for that endgame and how to get there. Whether the book will help in that respect I don’t know.
Also the examples aren’t that straight forward, so I’m getting a good mental workout.
I’m enjoying it so far, but for me, it’s not a book to just get out and run through a few positions as a bit of light relief, it’s more like studying for an exam (in a good way).

Hard work always pays!