Wednesday, December 1, 2010

HERE'S WHAT I AM GONNA DO IN A FEW MINUTES

When I finish writing what is mostly a daily blog, I will be packaging up another BLASTOFF package of TPi jewels at an incredible price, for a customer in South Dakota. I've gotten them from other states such as California and Washington too.

All of these fine folks are looking for Christmas bargains! This time it is for Thinkers' Press products, the only ones I can actually discount without coming out on the wrong side like I would with the products of other publishers. Here is what they will get. (I sent out a revised flyer yesterday and I don't think all of my readers of thechessmuseum are on that list (I would require an email address)):

• Chess Reports Semester 10 (worth $69.95).
• A Chess Reports Semester from (1-8) your choice, worth $50.
• A mint copy of Purdy's Chess Gospel According to John* ($24.95).
• Hoffman's King's Gambit, a $24.95 value.
• A mint copy of Lasker and His Contemporaries #5 ($20 value).
• A mint copy of NM Alex Angos' You Move... I Win! ($20 value).
• Mint, 8 issues, of SQUARES, #1-8 including the rare 8th one. ($79.15 value).
• Brand new copy of Bob Long's Lasker the Ultimate Streetfighter (a $12.95 value).
• Printed disks and jacket of Andrew Martin of Chess Clinic #2 DVDs. A $29.95 value.
• A mint copy of Purdy's Action Chess listed on Amazon at $66.99 (actually, higher).

$400 worth of TPi product for less than a hundred. Specifically, $99.95 + $3 for insurance. Shipped FREE! in the U.S.A.

That's a 75% discount on great stuff in great condition. I have enough for about 29 more packages. Now this may mean nothing to Carsten Hansen, who "reviews" for ChessCafe and who hardly ever has anything nice to say about anyone's products, but he isn't my customer--especially those who doesn't care what he says.

This is MY ultimate Christmas present for those who know who Santa Claus (Santa Chess) really is.

For one thing, this is a method to subscribe to Semester 10 of The Chess Reports for about $17.50! Ten issues, 18-20 pages in each. The first one comes out Dec. 10th and most of it is already completed. There will be a special section on how to play chess differently even if you are over 50. See how one well-known grandmaster did it before his untimely death. Ten games, annotated. For another, you can pick a semester from 1 to 8 as a "sidekick." The first one chosen was Semester 8, and that is a good one to start with.

COMING TO GRIPS WITH CHESS
I have included two Purdy books, Action Chess (an opening repertoire which included the Colle) and The Chess Gospel According to John*. The John* part was Cecil Purdy's middle name. Just these two are almost 400 pages. The second book is a reintroduction to Purdy's Guide to Good Chess with 3 additional chapters added from his book My Search for Chess Perfection (temporarily out of stock).

KING'S GAMBIT? why me?
You might say, "But I don't play the King's Gambit, or, even want to. This is not an opening book. It is a story of chess, non-fiction, by Paul Hoffmann who grew up in NY surrounded by chess. It is subtitled The World's Most Dangerous Game. It's a good read and shows you lots of of behind-the-scenes goodies about chess, publicity and problems. Over 400 pages.

ANY ENDGAME HELP?
Why not? In the 50s Alex Angos was the chess champion of Greece. He moved to the U.S., and in fact, to the Milwaukee area. He was an endgame expert and Master. I recall standing with him one day at a tournament where a master had a Queen against his non-master opponent's Rook. He couldn't win. Angos whispered to me, "He doesn't know how to win this!" All that emphasis on opening theory! In "You Move... I Win! Angos imparts some great wisdom on endgames where Zugzwang is the point of focus. The subjects include pure pawn endings, minor piece endings (a biggie), Rook endings and Queen Endings (two more biggies). Lastly, Zugzwang IN the Middlegame! Almost 200 pages. Oh yes, if you've never heard of Bahr's Rule, you need this. It shows how pawns (only) on the last two files can be determined as to whether there is only a win or a draw! I'm just saying...

One of my Proudest Accomplishments
Some years back I embarked on publishing a Chess magazine called Squares. A huge job yet, with almost NO help from any outside sources (envy and provincialism) and borrowing thousands of dollars, I had over 500 subscribers. I paid for articles such as by GMs Jonathan Rowson, Karsten Mueller... I actually received advertisements from companies I had never or seldom ever seen advertise anywhere else. Sarah was also responsible for this (credit where it is due). Each issue was 64 pages and there were eight of them. Stuff in there no one else dared print such as Alekhine's questioning of Capablanca's supposed endgame mastery. Some sterling articles by NM Ron Wieck. And so much more I can't list them all. By the way, this INCLUDES the rare issue #8 (the print quantity was cut way back since I knew I would be folding the magazine.)

An Interruption...
There will be a few (there always are) who will say, "But I already have book X, can you substitute a mint copy of Bobby Fischer's My 60 Memorable Games?" Answer: No. You are contemplating throwing out the whole offer because you already own something?? Use your imagination and give it to someone else. Or, you already have issues 1-8 of The Chess Reports? They represent $12.50 of this whole package! Don't be lame (tight fisted). I'm giving away the farm here and you are worried about removing the "cow pies" in the pasture?

Back to Lasker
The Ultimate Streetfighter. My recent book given away to those who came to the Chess Clinic in October. 51 pages, lots of cool, virtually unknown games (especially the real early ones). Part of a series you will want to get in on. Also included is issue #5 of Lasker and His Contemporaries. One of these days I may publish #6, right now, just no time, even at $25 per copy. In #5 we must have had some decent material as John Hilbert and I won the Fred Cramer award from the USCF for best new something... (Eeek, I can't remember). It wasn't a joke, we got a nice marble green obelisk and cash (more than I got for a sci-fi movie I was in as an FBI agent--no kidding).

DVDs... Tada
A few years back I filmed some Chess Clinic sequences and put them on two DVDs. One of them shows me annotating a game at the Chess Clinic (I was slightly nervous never having done this before). There are 3 hours of content AND, I counted, Andrew Martin gave away (if you listen closely) about 40+ tips on improving your game as he annotated 7 others.

All this for $99.95! The Shipping and Handling is FREE! All I ask is $3 to cover insurance at the Post Office. This deal lasts through December 13th. No substitutions, I am not a restaurant.

Personally, I recommend "Santa Chess" ordering this right away as I will be busy working on Andrew Martin's newest DVD on the Scandinavian. Hopefully details on that tomorrow.

Yes, you CAN pay via PayPal too (my email address is below).

Contact me at: bob@thinkerspressinc.com

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