Others have been conned into buying the Sam Sloan reprint of MCO6 (not a good choice for any number of reasons) and discover it’s in descriptive notation, which they don’t understand. Some of the punters know nothing about chess notation. All you get is rows or columns of moves with no more than a brief introduction at the start of each chapter. Most obviously, it’s a reference book, not an instructional book. Of course there are many reasons why any novice who opens the book will be very disappointed. And there I was thinking this would be the last edition as the format is well beyond its best before date. A cynical marketing ploy? Perhaps, but publishers, like the rest of us, have bills to pay. The latest (15th) edition, from 2009, has recently been reprinted with a sticker on the front: ‘As seen in Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit‘. Various editions of MCO have been near the top of the chess best-sellers for a few months now, along with a number of lookalikes. Beth is seen reading Modern Chess Openings, so viewers who think chess looks cool decide that if they buy MCO they’ll be able to play chess as well as Beth. The reason for the recent mini chess boom is, of course, Beth Harmon. Self-improvement seems to be the current fashion, but you might buy books, for example, to inspire, to inform, to entertain, to refer to. There are many reasons why you might by a chess book. We also know a lot more than we did a few decades ago about how learners process information and acquire skills. Most of the answers are also hopelessly inappropriate: people trying to be helpful by suggesting books which they enjoyed 40 or 50 years ago when chess was very different. Currently these groups are being flooded with requests for book recommendations, most of which are hopelessly vague. I’m a member of various Facebook groups for chess book collectors and chess teachers.
#MODERN CHESS OPENINGS LATEST EDITION SERIES#
The series will include one or two of my books! Some have never been excellent at all, despite their popularity. Others were excellent in their day, but are now dated. Some of the books are excellent, but are bought by the wrong customers for the wrong reasons.
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