It's Kingpin time again: the new issue is, at last, on sale. Available from the usual outlets and conceivably directly from the magazine itself, if you can work out how. You can always email the editor on kingpinchess@yahoo.com.
All sorts of promising-looking stuff in it, but of course you'll be most interested in the two pieces the present writer has contributed, including the single most hostile book review I have ever written. Well, if it wasn't the worst chess book I'd ever seen, I'd have written a different review.
Anyway, do read it. Come to that, do buy it. Buy and enjoy.
9 comments:
Actually, we learn from the editor that it may not yet be in "the usual outlets" - or put another way, apparently it'll be at Chess and Bridge 'next week'. Well, I suppose you can place an order...
How come Kingpin comes out so irregularly? Who publishes it and how do they expect to make money only publishing once a year (or so)?
I'm guessing the object of Kingpin is not primarily financial Niall.
I'd guess not but you have to at least break even.
Why? I don't break even playing chess - recent cost of trip to Gatwick for a weekend tournament: somewhere in the region of £200.
Whether Kingpin breaks even or not I've no idea, but clearly Jon's motive for publishing it is not to make himself a huge profit.
When I used to be involved in football fanzines we didn't necessarily make a profit. When we did, it was accidental.
Who's Jon? Jon Speelman? As for breaking even, I've only ever once not lost money going to a tournament. From a financial point of view, my recent trip to Brighton was a disaster, but it was my most enjoyable tournament yet.
Jon: Jon Manley.
Kingpin's website is here just in case you didn't already know.
The latest issue of Kingpin has now appeeared and readers can identify the book in question. It's been out for some time and therefore possible to browse for content at Congress bookstalls. It reminded me of management theory books namely that you or your business would conquer the world (or even the equivalent of an FM title) purely by adopting the jargon and the theories presented in the book. In terms of chess content though, the advocacy seemed to be of the Closed Sicilian with White and the Benko with Black, alongside other choices which I forget. Whilst excellent choices for getting from 1700 to 2000, to get from 2000 to 2300, you either need to drop them or only introduce them through devious move orders and transpositions from elsewhere.
As ejh notes in the review, the Elo system gives a verdict on the success of the hypothesis, which has to be fail. You cannot even excuse it by saying it was against high rated opposition. The author's international rating has tumbled by approaching 300 points, mostly playing in "get me a rating" type tournaments.
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