In Chess, we don’t
wait for Black Friday.
We make our own Black
and White Friday!
Quality Chess is celebrating the Black and White Friday Sale by offering free shipping to all EU countries and the UK for all orders placed between 9:30 am Friday the 19th and 9:30 am Monday the 22nd and invites you to visit BlackAndWhiteFridaySale.com to explore more offers from independent chess professionals.
Killer Chess Training, London Chess Centre, Chess4Less, Forward Chess, Chess Tempo, and Sunrise Chess and Games are also participating and we hope you will enjoy this initiative.
How is this sale supposed to work?
After receiving your email about the sale, I tried twice to order one of your books today but the shopping section of your site says nothing about the sale.
Both times postage was added at checkout so I cancelled the order.
I have to answer my own post since nobody else did… Eventually I tried signing in to my Quality Chess account first and then selected the book. The order page still applied the shipping charge and said nothing about the sale. Only when I tried to check out (ready to cancel again if necessary) there was a Black and White Friday discount option.
So I did eventually order one book, but unless most players are less stupid than me (quite possible!) you have probably lost quite a lot of sales to people who gave up when they saw the shipping applied initially.
The whole thing should have been flagged on your main page with an explanation, I think.
@Tim Harding
Dear Tim, your experience is one of the reasons we are developing a new website 🙂
Further to the above re: website usage.
I have purchased several courses. How do I view purchased courses away from the site? (Why ask? Money much tighter now, it is very expensive, so will not renew again).
Anything bought outright should plainly not be tied to ongoing membership. How to keep?
Much obliged,
SB
For clarity, the vids I mean. PGNs are easily downloaded, obv.
@SimonB
Hoping for brighter days ahead.
Your login still works. You should still have access to everything purchased on the site.
Before things get too busy for Xmas can I wish all the QC staff and blog readers a very happy but safe Christmas and an excellent Hogmanay ☺️
Bought a few less books this year as many were hardbacks but my reviews for the year are
schandorff Caro 8/10
Coffeehouse both 9
Berlin by Roiz 6
but looking forward to the others when they appear in paperback.
new Year wishlist
1. negi Spanish ( as in previous years)
2. How to have to set up and have an efficient study program (including comp use)
3. Fun blunders and brilliancies type book
Thanks ?
@JB
Interested to know why you rate Roiz’s book on the Berlin so low. I have it and use it for correspondence and I’m clearly not seeing the same issues with it that you are?
Cheers
@Michael
Och it’s probably a bit too low but it’s an opening that’s crying out for some strategic input. I’m sure the analysis is great…it certainly is good enough so far in the anti Endgame d3 4 knights Spanish and Re1 line (though it misses you can play the Bd3 exchange sac line after 9 d4 Bf6 10 Bd3 and Bd3 on move in that same line which I think Fabi and others have played ) but I haven’t gone through
…the first three chapters properly. I’m sure there are numerous options and move orders for white in those three chapters where there is still an edge for white according to an engine but with no strategic overview to help guide you through the maze. I certainly gave up the Berlin because it was all too confusing and I was expecting a little more help and clarity. If it’s just a book of variations that is your thing I’d rate it higher.
Sorry meant Bd3 on move 12… See p 109….only mentions Nd2 and Rxe8 ?
Innate it when I get pushed back even if Glad had no fear….I’m not sure what to do… Hold tight, break out etc. For instance on p40 after 9 Rd1 Ke8 10 Bg5 Be6 as recommended 11 g4 pushes the knight back to h6.and say white solidifies g4 with h3…do I try to redeploy Nh6 via g8 leave it there for now or what?
Sorry writing this on a train…. Meant to say ” I hate it when I get pushed back though Vlad had no fear …ie Kramnik ?
@JB
Thanks, no you have obviously thought your rating mark through and that is fine. It has been sometime since I’ve looked at it but Cox wrote a very good book for Quality on the Berlin some years ago. If my memory serves me correctly that was more a strategic approach to the opening all be it like everything in chess as the engines have become more powerful ideas change but I’m sure a lot of what he said is still very valid.
On the line you mention from page 40 I guess it’s the last note on the left hand side of the page where Roiz gives 11 Nc3 that you are referring too. 11 g4 is not so good as the knight goes to e7 (an important square to keep in mind for the knight in the Berlin Endgame variations) and if white consolidates with 12 h3 the idea is to play 12…h5 which is sought of a thematic break for black. I would prefer to be playing black in this position.
All the best ….
@Michael
Thanks Michael, plugged that position into an engine and yes it prefers g4 Ne7 rather than to h6. I guess this is the point as I intuitively didn’t want to block in Bf8 so I want some guidance from Roiz so I can make decisions like these when out of book- almost an ‘ideal set up to aim for’.
The king sits on c8 in Ch 1 but e8 Ch 2 and 3 so what difference does that make?, we generally but not always develop Bc8 on e6 in Ch 2 and 3 but it is Bd7 in Ch 1, how do we get the rooks in the game as they are still on their starting squares for much of the book , sometimes Nf5 goes to e7, sometimes h6 and also h4, why do we play a quick Be7 in Ch 2 and 3 but not Ch 1….in other openings are all questions I would ask if i had a GM sat next to me.
I get the general gist of the set ups I’m trying to achieve in most openings but not in the berlin endgame and I guess I’m disappointed that I’m still none the wiser after reading the book and I thought as it has been 13 years since the Cox book (and the mainlines have moved away from being biased towards the Kasparov Kramnik WC lines) I’d get a more modern strategic update .
guess in cc where you just play move by move with the engine to help I wouldn’t worry but in OTB my head is swimming…maybe white is in a similar situation too though!
For a long time the engines misunderstood the Berlin endgame entirely, as they believed the lack of castling rights were more important than they were. Then they underestimated the same! Now they are getting there, I think…
Hi, any chance of updated version of Schandorff’s excellent two-volume d4 repertoire? He wrote a new book on the Caro-Kann so one can hope!
I believe multiple people are hoping for an update of Schandorff’s Semi-Slav repertoire as well. There have been quite a number of books from the White side, so Black could use the help. There have also been a number of 1.c4 repertoires for White, and 1…c6 is a good way to annoy White in that opening. After all, the prime directive for playing the Black pieces is to annoy White as much as possible.
I think it’d me nicer if QC ventured into openings that they haven’t done yet, such as
Classical Sicilian
Sicilian Kan
Sicilian Kalashnikov
Semi-Tarrasch
King’s Indian Attack
Nimzo-Larsen
GM Rep Open Games
Symmetrical English/Reti as Black
1 Nf3 Kramnik Style
QGD Cambridge Springs
Phildor
And probably many, many more!
I think it would be nice if somebody could finish the 6 book GM Rep for White that he started over 7 years ago.
@Benjamin Fitch
As far as I can see the semi Slav book is still holding up pretty well but my main problem with it is in the Meran and Botvinnik where it is ‘straight down the main line to a worse but drawable with perfect play endgame’ . I’d rather have an unexplored but slightly dodgy line as an alternative if wanting to use your brain rather than regurgitate theory or playing weaker players if they ever do a second edition.
On a related note the QC Chessable adventure has died a death it seems but I think they could take a few leaves from their book in having eg electronic or video version of the books for an extra fee (added content Vs forward chess version, updates) beta testers, short and simple editions as tasters, more engagement with their readers via this blog etc) The books are still excellent and I know you have a much smaller staff but Chessable have definitely got a pizazz that’s lacking in the QC world
@JB
I think there is a much simpler step, similar to Sokolov on Magnus’ book. Hold an online “book launch” event where people can ask questions. Will drive sales and customer engagement up, at little to no cost.
@The Doctor
I agree, especially regarding the Classical Sicilian. There is still not a decent up to date repertoire book on the Classical Sicilian on the market. A book about the Sicilian Kan is also on the wishlist.
@Bebbe
I believe that a new book on the Kan is/has been published. There is, however, no new book on the Classical Sicilian. That would be a useful addition.
@KevHun
Yes you are right that a new book on the Kan has been published.
To QC: How is the progress for Nikos book on the English? Looking forward to see an excerpt eventually.
Kotronias is doing a book titled The Modernized Richter-Rauzer by Thinkers Publishing.
It’d have been nice if QC could have secured his services to do it for QC and add some stuff on other 6th move options to make it a complete repertoire.
Some publishers are choosing to put out a lot of books that have not been properly edited and can thus make almost endless amount of titles available. This often leads to a disappointing result for the authors, who have been promised high percentages, but witness low sales, because over time the readers distrust the quality of the books published. We have seen some public arguments based in this setup in the last year. I don’t have any inside information, but I have seen the books.
At Quality Chess, we work seriously on all books we publish. Not to get them to perfection, but to get them to an acceptable level. Something we are happy with. We are never satisfied with everything, but the amount of small changes that happen on every page and the amount of man hours going into producing the books is far more than people realise. Take the book we will upload to the printer next: Grandmaster Repertoire – King’s Indian 1 by Gawain Jones. The book is close to 700 pages. Andrew Greet spent two months editing it. Asking Jones for lots of improvements and reactions to the repertoire he had already published with Chessable. Fixing lots of small issues. I spent over two days typesetting it. John is spending over a week carefully reading it, after which Colin will spend a few days putting in the corrections. Then 2-3 people will check it again and again, before it is sent to print.
The cover is not terribly original. So only 3-4 hours has been spent on it. Lots of group discussions on minor details on Skype.
In total the book will have received more than 500 man hours from us.
In the case of the Kotronias book on the Richter-Rauser. We were not offered the project. We previously worked with Vassilios and might do so again in the future. You never know. I hope the book will be good and that the people who have asked us to do a book on this topic for years will like it. We have a backlog of books coming. We are not sad that we missed out on this project and we have not desperately been seeking for an author to it in the past. We cannot do all books and a number of books and ebooks were done on it the last decade.
@JB
Chessable and us is not working out indeed. But we are on ChessTempo now and will soon have a lot of books there.
@Jacob Aagaard
Jacob, what’s the story with QC and chesstempo? I’m already a member as much more affordable as killer chess training is just too much for me for a year as an amateur. Is it just books on sale or some extra content? And what does the new website Kallia has mentioned provide?
Thanks
@JB
KillerChessTraining.com is obviously not for everyone. At less than €1.5 per hour of available instruction throughout a year, it is a good deal, for those who want to immerse yourself into the game. We have members from 1200 to 2650. I would definitely recommend it for players rated 1600 or more, if it matches what they want in chess.
ChessTempo.com is owned by Richard Jones in Australia. We do not have a share in the website. But some of our books are already on sale there and more will come. I think it is especially a great website for opening books and for solving exercises, but we also have the Nigel Short book for sale in their system. More books will be available there over time.
@Jacob Aagaard Why is it not working out with Chessable? And are there advantages of ChessTempo over Chessable?
@Jacob Aagaard
Appreciate your selling skills using cost per hour rather than the usual yearly cost to mask the real figure but over 700 euros a year is always going to be too much for me however good the content. You need a lite version too that compares to say a chess magazine subscription or chessbase premium at 50euros. I could buy 40+ of your excellent books for the same price yearly but I’d never get through them all in a year (or justify the spending to my wife) so I buy some of them…a lite version of buying books
@JB
Our expenses running the company don’t stop for lessons that students do not attend, so it is the only way to talk about it that makes sense. Reality is of course that we have about 20-30 students attending each class and a similar number watching them on repeat. And not the same students for the same classes, obviously. Some make a lot of use of their membership. Others less. Like all subscription based services.
Our books cost about €25-28 generally, so the real number is closer to 29 books. But sure, this is a possibility. It does not include personal feedback on homework each week, interacting with the instructors and a the general live setting. But it has other advantages that I always enjoyed about books. As said, it is not for everyone. But for what we give, it is cheap.
I know you probably don’t want to answer this, but will there be a 2022 catalog soon or and update to the coming soon section. Really keen to hear more bout this English book.
Thank you in advance
@The Doctor
Planning to look at it in 2 weeks time. Will be quick thereafter.
I have hundreds of openings books, but my favorites of all are the two volumes of Coffeehouse Repertoire. I was on the verge of switching to 1.d4 before they came out, after decades as a 1.e4 player, but I love this repertoire so much that I am sticking with 1.e4.
I also have Gawain’s LTR King’s Indian course on Chessable, which is also superb, and the videos are among the most insightful and entertaining chess videos I’ve ever seen. So naturally that brings me to the question of whether there is any chance of Coffeehouse coming to Chessable, or some other way that accompanying videos could be created (as a paid add-on, of course).
@Jacob Aagaard
Thanks for you reply Jacob. I don’t have any complaints about QC pricing for either your books or if you insist per hour of material on Killer Chess training but with a bit of crafty shopping I doubt I’ve paid the full price for your books (eg Chess and Bridge will sell you 3 Judit hardback books and both new Marin Dutch books for well under £100) and I would be similarly unwilling to pay the full price for KCT…..the point I’m making is that like everyone there are different price points for most people…and Killer Chess training only has one and that’s too high for me.