I feel impeccably qualified to write this article because:
a) I have never written a chess book, and
b) I am not a particularly strong chess-player.
The would-be author should bear in mind the following
points:
(1) The most important parts of any book are the front and
back covers. Choose a title that is positive, aggressive, and crucially, that is
completely biased. Poor choices would be:
Tal’s Drawing Chess Combinations
A Partial Defence to 1 d4
How to almost Gain Equality with the Grunfeld
Opening Repertoire for the Passive, Defensive Player
Play the Wimpish Grob
Let us suppose you decide to write an openings book (a
sensible decision given the number of people who change their opening whenever
they lose a game). On the back cover emphasize the dynamic, attacking nature of
the opening (even if it’s a boring one like the French). And just in case a
few potential buyers are frightened off by tactics, mention the existence of
more positional lines. It is useful to claim (honestly or otherwise) that you
are:
World Champion
a Grandmaster
an International
Master.
(2) If you have picked an opening which you actually play
yourself and may know something about, then return to Step 1 and try again.
(3) Always start your book with a section on Nimzowitsch.
Find, or make up, a few games he played with your opening. This is quite safe
because it will be difficult for anyone to disprove that a dead player played a
particular (preferably obscure) game. This is useful because it: a) uses up a
whole chapter; and b) suggests your opening has a pedigree – most players will
be unaware that Nimzowisch played the dodgiest openings available.
(4) The next stage is to collect the last couple of
Informators and look for games played and annotated by strong well-known GMs.
This will form the basis of the book. Each of the remaining chapters will
contain two or three of the above games. This format has many advantages:
a) almost all notes can be plagiarized from (sorry,
attributed to) eminent players;
b) any theoretically dubious lines in your chosen opening
can be simply ignored and omitted; and
c) by stressing the importance of middlegame and endgame
ideas you can minimize the analysis which actually focuses on the opening.
(5) Evaluating Positions
This should be avoided at all costs. Aim instead to give
gamelets where the opposite colour makes a series of horrendous moves and loses
very quickly. If you feel you really must give an evaluation, then quote someone
else. A fine example is used by Suetin in his epic book on the French: ‘and
according to Keres, Black’s position is definitely not worse’. Keres had
risked an evaluation, but notice how skilfully he kept it suitably vague.
The following phrases may come in handy:
‘with roughly/approximately even chances’, and
(6) Analysis
Quote freely other people’s analysis, but it is
imperative not to risk any of your own lines. Useful cop-outs are:
‘with double-edged play’,
‘needs further tests’,
‘with an unclear position’, and
‘with compensation’ (no need to mention whether this
is adequate or not).
(7) The best answer to the problem of analytical rigour is
to indulge in suitably basic and irrelevant strategic explanation. Include
plenty of waffle about development, the centre, mobility, etc. Avoid mentioning
any specific plans as these may be shown to be dubious.
(8) Diagrams
Use them to pad out the book a bit. However, a word of
warning: if you include too many diagrams some players will be able to read your
book at the bookstall or bookshop, without needing to buy it.
(9) The experienced bluffer may also resort to a few
incongruous quotes, or venture some superfluous historical description. Use such
devices near possible analytical flaws, in order to distract the more discerning
reader.
(10) Studying books by certain contemporary writers may help
you to grasp the above points. However, the following authors should probably be
avoided:
John Watson – too much of own analysis, too many
original ideas;
John Nunn – annotations are in general far too
analytical, useful, impartial;
Jon Speelman – clearly puts too much time and
attention into writing a book.
Once you have mastered these techniques a little practice should enable you to write a book in few days, or perhaps in just an afternoon.
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