English Chess Forum

Hi.
I saw it fit to open a thread for discussing specific chess books.

What do you think about 'mastering chess: a course in 25 lessons by IM Kopec'?

So, you saw fit to start (or open) "a thread for discussing specific chess books".

Then you thought it fitting to ask about Mastering Chess: a course in 25 lessons, by IM D. Kopec.

But, there also exists a shorter, older version of that purported road to chess mastery -

Mastering Chess: a course in 21 lessons, by IM D. Kopec, G Chandler, C. Morrison & 2 Ians - Harris & Mullen

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Chess-C ... 0486450619

I am a bit worried about the number of authors, and that one of them is a Geoff Chandler.

Edit: An even older version of the book has just been discovered buried in the Antonine Wall

Mastering Chess: in no lessons??

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Chess-G ... 139&sr=1-7

What hostility do you have towards Geof chandler??

By the way, what's the difference between the one in 21 lessons and the one in 25 lessons?

A Geoff Chandler used to be a regular poster here and he might want lots of royalties.
I fear that if he is one of the founding fathers of the book it will have similar traits and be very difficult to deal with and translate into foreign languages.

Mastering Chess in 25 lessons (2013) is, of course, a lot more expensive than in 21 lessons (2006).

The original book - Mastering Chess(: in a few lessons??) is older (1994) and probably even cheaper.

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Chess-G ... 139&sr=1-7

Actually Geoff donated the proceeds of a later book, Rampant Chess, to Chess Scotland. The book, co-authored by Keith Ruxton, is Geoff's usual comedic take on some serious games.
The 'Mastering Chess' book is somewhat of a diversion for Geoff in that it is a quite serious attempt at instruction.

John McKenna wrote:A Geoff Chandler used to be a regular poster here and he might want lots of royalties.
I fear that if he is one of the founding fathers of the book it will have similar traits and be very difficult to deal with and translate into foreign languages.

The copyright holder is IM Kopec and the royalty is not high, but I haven't seen the book itself.

Interesting. I have an unsigned copy of what may the 1988 Pergamon reprint of the original 1985 "Master Chess (sic) - A Course in 21 Lessons" by Geoff Chandler, Danny Kopec, Chris Morrison, Spike Mullen and...Nigel Davies.

I note you can get a version of this for $589.53 on t'interweb. My copy retailed at £8.95 from James Thin. It is orange, and awkwardly sized.

I have a vague recollection someone else was involved at one point (Alastair White?) but presumably they got bumped. I'm not sure what connection Nigel Davies has with the rest of the authors who were all Edinburgh based - perhaps he was a "big name" brought in to boost sales?

From what has been said, above, I think that although the book is probably a good chess course its long history and complicated authorship may lead to another difficult-to-negotiate deal if it is going to be translated and sold in Iran.

Alistair Campbell wrote:I have a vague recollection someone else was involved at one point (Alastair White?) but presumably they got bumped. I'm not sure what connection Nigel Davies has with the rest of the authors who were all Edinburgh based - perhaps he was a "big name" brought in to boost sales?

IM Kopec also lives in USA

Anyone who thinks they can master chess in 25 lessons should take up noughts and crosses instead. Authors will say anything to sell their books as they usually aren't good enough to make money from chess and need to con as many people as they can into buying their books otherwise they would have to go back on the dole again.You could try legal action if you fail to achieve 'chess mastery' whatever that is supposed to mean or alternatively ask for your money back and threaten legal action.

By the way, there's a book coming out later in the year called 'How to go from 1200 elo to 2850 in less than a week with five easy steps.' I'm told that its only seven pages thick so you might want to hold out for that one. I think the author is Rudi van der brain (elo1066 but was once as high as elo1073).

There's also a book coming out later in the year called 'Secrets of s**t chess books' but its got nearly 75 million pages and is rather expensive.

It's easy enough to do if you really want to and can persuade enough people to take part, but it'll take rather longer than a week.

I do believe on the Full English Breakfast there was once a chap who put a bet on that he would become a grandmaster. I think he was rated around 140 at the time so the bookies were more than happy to take his money. I think GM Gordon said if you plug away you will eventually get there but I have my doubts. I believe he went off to China to meet some girl and abandoned the project but in any event if you want a meteoric improvement in your game you need a tutor. Books are a poor substitute. They can help improve your theoretical knowledge, obviously, but they cannot show you exactly where you go wrong in your games and why. Even the few hours I had whilst training with a GM taught me more than I could have possibly imagined about my own game,

MJMcCready wrote:I do believe on the Full English Breakfast there was once a chap who put a bet on that he would become a grandmaster. I think he was rated around 140 at the time so the bookies were more than happy to take his money. I think GM Gordon said if you plug away you will eventually get there but I have my doubts. I believe he went off to China to meet some girl and abandoned the project but in any event if you want a meteoric improvement in your game you need a tutor. Books are a poor substitute. They can help improve your theoretical knowledge, obviously, but they cannot show you exactly where you go wrong in your games and why. Even the few hours I had whilst training with a GM taught me more than I could have possibly imagined about my own game,

I don't want this book for my own knowledge. I have lots of books. I an weighing this one to see if I translate it or not.

Can't help you there.