Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

A book review may be a primary source, opinion piece, summary review or scholarly review.
User avatar
John Upham
Posts: 7162
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2007 10:29 am
Location: Cove, Hampshire, England.
Contact:

Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

Post by John Upham » Mon Jul 12, 2021 11:28 am

FM Richard Webb has reviewed

Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

by GM Davorin Kuljasevic

from New in Chess



71BavplL5RL.jpg
Beyond Material: Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces and Discover the Importance of Time, Space and Psychology in Chess, Davorin Kuljasevic, New in Chess, 2021, 978-9056918606
71BavplL5RL.jpg (209.71 KiB) Viewed 1236 times
British Chess News : britishchessnews.com
Twitter: @BritishChess
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/britishchess :D

User avatar
MJMcCready
Posts: 3140
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:30 pm

Re: Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

Post by MJMcCready » Wed Jul 14, 2021 2:50 am

Doesn't seem worth buying.

Nick Burrows
Posts: 1704
Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2010 12:15 pm

Re: Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

Post by Nick Burrows » Wed Jul 14, 2021 8:30 am

MJMcCready wrote:
Wed Jul 14, 2021 2:50 am
Doesn't seem worth buying.
..based on?

User avatar
MJMcCready
Posts: 3140
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:30 pm

Re: Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

Post by MJMcCready » Wed Jul 14, 2021 5:58 pm

The concept behind the book being far too narrow. It would serve better as a single chapter with a broader concept in mind I think.

Nick Burrows
Posts: 1704
Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2010 12:15 pm

Re: Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

Post by Nick Burrows » Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:29 pm

MJMcCready wrote:
Wed Jul 14, 2021 5:58 pm
The concept behind the book being far too narrow. It would serve better as a single chapter with a broader concept in mind I think.
The concept behind the book is fundamental to the whole of chess. How to correctly evaluate and weigh up competing factors in a position. In general, players are way too materialistic, so a book full of examples of when material is not the salient factor is a very interesting and useful topic.

This book is also being touted as being very original and one of the best books of the year.

User avatar
MJMcCready
Posts: 3140
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:30 pm

Re: Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

Post by MJMcCready » Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:34 pm

Being touted for book of the year has never counted for much. Grandmasters should stick to playing chess and leave literature to those who can actually write well and treat that as a profession. In chess they are very few and far between. I prefer to read content written by established writers and not chess players who can barely speak English and are probably poorly educated. Been down that road too many times where some Eastern European GM has got something put into print and its full of errors, does not adhere to literary practice or standards, and is full of content higher rated players would question. If a GM can't make money from chess, they turn to literature as a source of revenue. The title GM is completely worthless outside chess, unfortunately many GMs are conscious of this but exploit it nonetheless. It's shame so many end of buying it anyway. Anyway, that's just my opinion. I am not a fan of chess literature as a genre at all as most of what is published is poor.

Nick Burrows
Posts: 1704
Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2010 12:15 pm

Re: Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

Post by Nick Burrows » Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:57 pm

MJMcCready wrote:
Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:34 pm
Being touted for book of the year has never counted for much.
It means people found it very interesting
MJMcCready wrote:
Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:34 pm
Grandmasters should stick to playing chess and leave literature to those who can actually write well and are well-educated also. In chess they are very few and far between.
Wot? GM's shouldnt teach chess? You have again manage to deduce that a book you have not read is badly written - quite a skill.

MJMcCready wrote:
Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:34 pm
I prefer to read content written by established writers and not chess players who can barely speak English and are probably poorly educated.
Again. A spectacular judgement about someone I'm sure you know nothing about

User avatar
MJMcCready
Posts: 3140
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:30 pm

Re: Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

Post by MJMcCready » Wed Jul 14, 2021 7:03 pm

I don't know anything about him and don't want to, it's the trend as a whole that's more important. Why aren't the motives for writing being mentioned? Why do we have yet another non-English speaking GM turning to literature because they can't make a living over the board? It doesn't bode well, as a genre chess literature is in a bad enough state as it is.

Nick Burrows
Posts: 1704
Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2010 12:15 pm

Re: Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

Post by Nick Burrows » Wed Jul 14, 2021 7:14 pm

MJMcCready wrote:
Wed Jul 14, 2021 7:03 pm
I don't know anything about him and don't want to, it's the trend as a whole that's more important. Why aren't the motives for writing being mentioned? Why do we have yet another non-English speaking GM turning to literature because they can't make a living over the board? It doesn't bode well, as a genre chess literature is in a bad enough state as it is.
He speaks English.

You are right. Only Gm's who can make a living playing chess are qualified to write books :roll: :roll: :roll:

This is the golden age of chess literature.

User avatar
IM Jack Rudd
Posts: 4815
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 1:13 am
Location: Bideford
Contact:

Re: Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Wed Jul 14, 2021 7:18 pm

MJMcCready wrote:
Wed Jul 14, 2021 7:03 pm
Why aren't the motives for writing being mentioned?
Because "people who care about the motives for writing" is not the target market for the review; it's aimed squarely at people who want to know what the book has to say and how well it says it.

User avatar
MJMcCready
Posts: 3140
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:30 pm

Re: Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

Post by MJMcCready » Wed Jul 14, 2021 7:21 pm

If that's true then it needs to be reviewed because reviews ought to be critical. There are far too many publications coming onto the market that are not reviewed critically, and are sold on the basis of being somehow beneficial. I've come across far too many publications that should have never made it into print and had I gained access to a critical review rather than an uncritical appraisal, I would never have bought them in the first place.

NickFaulks
Posts: 8452
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 1:28 pm

Re: Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

Post by NickFaulks » Wed Jul 14, 2021 7:25 pm

Nick Burrows wrote:
Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:29 pm
This book is also being touted as being very original and one of the best books of the year.
This sounds like a really interesting book, and the only reason that I am unlikely to buy it is that I already have too many on my bookshelf to which I have not given anything near to proper attention.

One of those is "Rethinking the Chess Pieces" by GM Andy Soltis, which I imagine addresses similar questions. It would certainly meet MJM's high literary demends, since Andy has devoted even more time to his career as a journalist than to being an experienced GM. Also, his first of his languages is English, which is evidently important.

If anyone does have the pair, I would be interested to hear whether there is indeed a comparison to be made.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a QR code stamped on a human face — forever.

User avatar
MJMcCready
Posts: 3140
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:30 pm

Re: Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

Post by MJMcCready » Wed Jul 14, 2021 7:32 pm

Soltis is not an academic but tries to pass himself off as one. If you've read the introduction to 'Soviet Chess', you'll find that he makes a number of claims that are thoroughly unjustified and full of prejudice. I think I got about half-way into that publication before I could take no more. I think the biggest problem is that GMs rely on their title without really thinking it through. The skill set required for writing effectively is completely different to playing chess but many seem oblivious to that. Perhaps I'm a bit cynical but I've come across so many books that really shouldn't have found their way into print but then my background is academia, where there are measure in place to stop that from happening.

User avatar
JustinHorton
Posts: 10364
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:06 am
Location: Somewhere you're not

Re: Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

Post by JustinHorton » Wed Jul 14, 2021 8:20 pm

MJMcCready wrote:
Wed Jul 14, 2021 7:32 pm
Soltis is not an academic but tries to pass himself off as one.
In what way
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

User avatar
MJMcCready
Posts: 3140
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:30 pm

Re: Beyond Material - Ignore the Face Value of Your Pieces

Post by MJMcCready » Wed Jul 14, 2021 8:43 pm

If you look at the format and layout of 'Soviet Chess' it has the pretensions of an academic text and the bibliography is extensive and suggestive. But the lack of methodology and lack of research suggests otherwise, furthermore it isn't discursive or written critically. He makes a greater stab at the subject but if you contrast what is written with that written by Soviet historians, it's over-simplified and pretty shocking. For those Mark. D. Steinberg, professor at the University of Chicago, is a good start. As mentioned, GMs are very good to chess but should stick to that. History is best left to historians. If they have interest in chess, such is Tim Harding or Richard Eales, that's great but GMs should really just stick to playing chess. Apologies if I wound cynical but most books on chess I find to be poorly written and poorly researched, and it's been that way for a long time, and seem to be getting worse.

Post Reply