PURDY CHESS CHRONICLES #3

Now that #2 of Purdy's Chess Chronicles has been released to subscribers, I admit, I can't wait to begin starting on #3! Here's how it works:

When reproofing the contents and looking up pages invariably one stumbles across other articles, photos, concepts... and I did this last night. Wow, the Bled 1931 tournament, a playoff match with Goldstein of 6 games, 4 reported on, and lots of little anecdotes, stories on Alekhine, Lasker and such. In fact, one or two stories will end up in Lasker & His Contemporaries #7 such as an interview with Lasker.

Is this how it's done with other publishers? I doubt it. I think the $$$ laden sit down with an organization chart, partition stuff out to the "right" people, set up the calendars, haul their laptops around, have meetings, get advertising, and somewhere down the road, put something together. I don't know what their lead time is... but that is for ONE project.

At Thinkers' Press it is one person, and one library, but having internet services where I can connect with others. Then I look at which wheels need the most greasing. Lastly I begin looking through documents which have been saved or are piled in a certain area and go through them.

When I have some idea, maybe from previous work, how much time will be needed to flesh out the next one... I get to work. Sometimes from a sketchy clipboard outline. During all that flossing I pack orders, make up new flyers and catalogs.

All this keeps me pretty busy and keeps vacations from happening.

I should be working more on the web site and a new catalog. The catalog can wait a little bit because very few people order from them. The main object of getting a catalog is to GET a new catalog, look through it and query, "I wonder when they will release their next one... I didn't find much of interest here." In general that is because that person is not committed to anything except being a dilettante. Your hear these conversations at Borders and elsewhere when people talk about cars, science fiction, women, their job, and so on. Lots of talk. The one I used to HEAR most, in person, to me, was: "I want to write a children's book!" One person actually told me that they did!

C.J.S. Purdy was committed. He read, he played, he wrote, he published. Seems like a good model to follow to me.

For any further info, contact: bob@thinkerspressinc.com

MUSTAFFAH PURDY!!

In 1998 I had arranged, along with Prof. Ralph Tykodi, to have John Purdy (son of Cecil, or CJS) Purdy, and Frank Hutchings, son-in-law of CJS, to come to the United States for the First Chess Festival. It was a blast.

That evening, or the next day, we went to Harold's on the Rock, a steakhouse of known exotic tastes. They listed ostrich on the menu and one of those fellows ordered it! They had never tasted ostrich before!

There were more surprises for myself and them. When they landed the first thing they wanted to do was get a close-up look at the Mississippi River (which they flew over) and the Rock Island Lines railroad. So I took them to the "station" which has since been converted to a Visitor's Center and restaurant (I think).

Then I took them to my offices. During that visit I said I wanted to show them something. I was a tad nervous about this since I didn't know their idiosyncrasies, but I chanced it and showed them a picture of Dad and Father-in-Law, according to the Mod Squad-Times newspaper. John and Frank howled with glee! Then they started telling me stories of "Dad" and his attempts at finding a wig to cover his lack of hair. According to them, NONE of his choices were good and the rendition that Rob Long (my son) chose, might've been the most appropriate! We had some great laughs.

In the meantime, Purdy's Chess Chronicles #2 is completed. I am proofing it now and it should be available later this afternoon.

If you are interested in reading the comments of Purdy, his henchmen (Steiner, Goldstein, etc.) you really should subscribe to all four issues for 2011. Each runs about 45-50 pages. With the first issue you will also get the Bonus Index, and the Bonus Interview with Alekhine, which has some hilarious moments in it.

In issue #2 you will see that the Koshnitsky-Purdy match has been unearthed, the one played in 1937, not an earlier training match: 14 annotated games. Also Part II of his opening article on the soundness of the French, how the Queen is over-rated, a story by the roving chess reporter Chielamangus, and the various "disguises" of Cecil Purdy (along with other bits).

Easily worth the $69.95 I am asking for approximately 180 letter sized pages of material you most likely haven't seen anywhere else because they are taken from the pages of Purdy's earliest publication, the Australasian Chess Review.

I am so sure that you will love it that I offer a money back guarantee. I need your email address to download the PDF directly to you. I take PayPal, credit cards except American Express), cash, checks, money orders. If you need to know how to pay, call me at 563-271-6657.

Once again, you can contact me (Bob Long) at:

bob@thinkerspressinc.com

LASKER & HIS CONTEMPORARIES #6 IS HERE!

Right on time (Friday at 5 p.m.)

I think it looks excellent. A few fotos from early turn of the century could be better and they might be the next time. Often they are unpredictable when looking at a computer monitor.

But it is clean, clear, sharp, and readable.

It will still be $25.00 + $3.50 for shipping by tomorrow night. After that, the price increases $10.

My printer wastes ZERO time in sending me the bill!

I will have what are called STAY FLAT envelopes for shipping these out on Tuesday (I won't get them until 5 p.m. on Monday, almost last on the UPS route). Bulk copies will probably go out tomorrow morning those who want 5-10 copies.

I now need to finish up Purdy #2.

Special offer on that ends tomorrow too. Save $10.

Think you will have fun with Lasker #6? Yes.

Contact: bob@thinkerspressinc.com

RED WING ROOM BOOKINGS

Already 3 of the 4 who have paid for the Red Wing event have told me they have booked or soon will be booking rooms to sleep in.

I just got a notice from the Inn this afternoon that only 28 rooms are left. We have blocked out 20 and 3-4 are already taken. So if we have more than 20, people run the risk of no rooms at the Inn... and I would hate that. I urge contacting them now. If something comes up, you can cancel later, but, they can't make NEW rooms available.

I have run a bunch of events in 30 years BESIDES chess. I used to have Magic events too and they were very successful. I have booked tournaments and they tended to do well too. A friend and I are talking about creating an event planner web site and book--all the stuff needed for a successful one. And, having stayed in a kabillion (as she describes big numbers) motels and hotels, I know how good of an idea it is to get a reservation in EARLY plus, ONE MORE THING: contact them a month later to make sure there has been NO flub.

It happens. I remember having a hotel deal in Chicago (at the Essex?). Normally $98, or something like that, and we had a $68 weekend special. When we got there they said, "I'm sorry, I can find no reservation for you Mr. Long." I looked this lying s.o.s. in the eye and said, "I am not leaving this counter window until you you do find it." For some reason, known only to God and him, he was "looking in the wrong file." He found it, and everything was FINE. Course I wouldn't dream of staying there again. My guess is that some Bigger event had come along and they could make $30 more by throwing me out on my butt.

I am not thinking or saying that Country Inn & Suites would do that, they aren't in Chicago. But... it's business AND why take a chance? No good reason. The $100 a nite rooms? I would snap them up. I got their new rates and they start at $128.95. Also, you can catch AMTRAK to Red Wing. For some that would be perfect.

And if you register early you can save money and if you have a Gold Card you can save more money.

NOTE: I am an idiot sometimes about certain things. I have been known to register for hotels and motels at the last minute simply because I have TOO much on my plate. I once had to sleep in my car--every hotel, inn, motel, for 30 miles was booked to the gills. Even a wedding couple had to sleep in a pasture (I hope not!). No joke. Cars are really uncomfortable. Don't be like me about this. I hope to call them this weekend, and I expect to stay an extra nite. I have heard some others say they may get there early too.

Contact me at: bob@thinkerspressinc.com

PS: I am expecting Lasker #6 this Monday. I have also ordered special mailing containers for them too!

ON THE CALENDAR FOR TODAY

1. The Chess Reports #126 will go out this afternoon--once the laborious proofing is done. It looks to be 23 pages with an extensive 2 page ad for chess history books--lots of details. One of my favorite books was Soltis' Soviet Chess. Extraordinary. Botvinnik's paranoia was off the charts.

2. Four have already paid for the trip to Red Wing, MN this July 29-30. I am encouraged this will be a great event. I hope you blog readers will consider it. The past couple weeks have had information on it and I will have a more detailed listing soon.

3. When things go wrong! I just checked my contact list and one of my favorite customers has gone missing! Don't know if it is the software or me. I may have deleted the wrong card, and in that case, it deletes everything connected with that gentleman. HENCE, if you suspect you aren't getting the catalogs or lists you used to get from me, let me know. I will fix this right away. It would be valuable if such contact lists kept track of the times you have received or sent emails from someone, and query with: "Hey Jack, are you sure you want to erase this dude?"

4. I've gotten positive comments from my use of Stevette in my recent ads including one from a good friend, STEVE Lamansky. Gee, what a coincidence!

5. Lasker & His Contemporaries #6 should be here soon. Make sure you have let me know you want one. $25 + $3.50 for mailing. Special rate is up this weekend. Then it's $34.95 + $3.50.

JUST a THOUGHT: Have you noticed in chess books these days, even Gambit, the "word" OK? Of course we know the word is "okay," but even the Russians are doing it. Two capital letters together, what kind of word is that (excluding, perhaps, a proper name)?

Okay now, back to work.

I am getting some more pictures up on Facebook of book and project covers. It's under Thinkers' Press, inc. maybe you will want to link into it.

Contact: bob@thinkerspressinc.com

MEET STEVETTE MY ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT!

Working for free, and mostly vacuuming, I asked "Stevette" (yes, I am sure, somewhere in the world, someone DOES have this name--which, believe me, is amazing!) to prepare some special offers and recap the ones already in place, because, during the month of APRIL, cash flow sucks. That means using credit cards, which is already bad enough.

I am trying to figure out WHERE this economy is improving! Does anyone know?

In the meantime, a few days ago I sent out a hefty 10 page PDF to those on my email lists and it contained, in essence, the Thinkers' Press, inc. catalog--full of pictures, and words. We call this, "attempting to jump start the orders."

DID ANYTHING HAPPEN?

Nothing much happened, so Stevette added a front page today and took away another page. So, it is still 10 pages, but hopefully the front page will get your heart palpitating and your hand reaching for your wallet. When I was in the "magic" business (mostly closeup) in the 80s, we demoed and we sold. We hated having people waste their time coming in to see, NOTHING! So we were always buying and selling. We had regulars and irregulars.

Well, it is like that to some degree in the chess business too, but demoing a book isn't so easy. Maybe a position from a book, but that's about it!

So Stevette, who is clammoring for a job at Thinkers' Press, inc., put together some highlights and sweetened the pot to get the Blog Readers anxious enough to READ further and find out that I have been working on a Sales List of Previously Owned Merchandise, or collectibles, used stuff... or as they called it in the old days, "Second Hand." That doesn't mean it is shoddy though, does it?

A new list, new shelving arrangements, completer descriptions, and little extras. Someone asked me about the value of some non-chess stuff the other day. The books were bound in leather, first editions, in a series, and OLD... like in the 1880s. $10 a volume!!! Crap value wise--old does not mean valuable. Chess books are pretty much like that too for used copies.

Someone tried to sell me some of his collection the other day and while there were a couple "nice" items in it, most of it was junk which could be bought off the 'net' for two bits (if you know the right people). Stuff like Informants, ECOs, and things like that are $5 or LESS! If you need some to fill holes, keep searching because anything more than that is fraud. There are thousands of these items out there--and they aren't moving. Hence, what I am purveying on these lists is the kind of jazz you seldom see on eBay, Amazon, Abe, etc. Foreign stuff which to order from Germany is a big pain in the rear in many cases. (Exchange rate, shipping, customs, language).

SO WHAT IS STEVETTE DOING NOW?

She tied this new list to purchasing items from the TPi catalog which is going out right now. That is, if you buy from this new catalog, anything amounting to $35 or more (that's not hard to do these days), you will get the LIST first. Then a week later, after the "vultures," (er... collectors) have gone through it, the lists will be released to others.

To get you all kinds of interested, and wondering where your matches are, I am putting up a picture of Stevette, the babette, on the post for today. She is vacuuming. When business picks up, she can put that "Hoover" away, come over and sit on my lap, and sort the mail.

Contact: bob@thinkerspressinc.com

Lasker & HIS CONTEMPORARIES #6 FRIDAY??

When my printer releases a title such as Lasker #6 that doesn't mean it will be on the truck that afternoon.

However, I have "hope" (which is a poor substitute for strategy) that they will be here this Friday or next Monday or Tuesday. I got the word of their "release" today.

Lots of articles, photos, explanatory essays, and some scarce stuff such as a complete listing and explanation of Lasker's "mathematical papers" by master Nathan Divinsky, himself a mathematician in Canada. In fact, Divinsky will be featured in Chess EXTRAS #6, which will probably be out later this year. I am working on that issue as I go along; it's the fastest way.

My publishing schedule has ramped up, but as some can tell, the event in Minnesota is quite a bit on my mind at the moment. Today someone in Spokane WA evinced interest. It's one of those things where iy is important to get people to get out of the woodwork, look around, and then say, "Yeah, that sounds like fun!" I wanted to call it a Quiet Riot, but that name was taken in the music world.

Also, my first negative review of a ChessBase DVD appeared today in what I am putting together for The Chess Reports #126, due out this Friday. Andrew Martin's articles is also here and if you have ever been bugged by weird openings, or play them yourself, there is "stuff" on the SNIPER, also known years ago as the Pterodactyl. In this case it is only the name which is weird, not the moves. However, there is a game between Ian Rogers and Gruenfeld which Bill Lombardy called the Saragossa Opening (1.c3)

Once again, something for everyone including a dissected BEST move or "What are those Double Exclams for?" A subscription can be had for Semester 10, one week only, for $45 instead of the usual $69.95. 10 fat issues, in color, PDF and emailed to you. Deadline, this Saturday (April 16th).

That's all for now, you can contact me at: bob@thinkerspressinc.com