Today, the final day of November, is also the final day at work of our friend and colleague Colin McNab, who has decided to take early retirement to enjoy a well-deserved life of leisure. Colin has worked with us for 12 years and 1 day, mainly as an editor and proofreader. His contribution will be much missed at QC and we wish him well.
Colin is a FIDE Grandmaster, Scottish Champion on 5 occasions, 1992 Commonwealth Champion, and was part of the British team that won the World Championship of Problem Solving. These skills were not stretched on Colin’s very first day of proofreading files for QC, when he spotted an overlooked mate-in-one.
The photo above shows Colin receiving a small memento from QC. To save you zooming in, the plaque on the trophy says “Quality Chess – Employee of the Month – December 2022”.
For shops or customers, best not to email Colin in future.
Dear readers, we know many of you are collecting our books. Thank you! We have recently discovered 5 brand-new copies of “Tiger’s Modern”. In case someone wants a copy, please email us a salesgroup at qualitychess.co.uk and we will send a copy along with your next order.
I mention this now because it’s a frequent question I receive from readers in email: “Is Yusupov’s series available as some sort of e-book?” Well, yes it is, at Chesstempo. Of course there are various other titles also available there, so feel free to click through and have a look.
Congratulations to Jan Markos and David Navara for winning the FIDE Awardfor the best book published in 2021! The Secret Ingredient impressed the jury of three respected Grandmasters: Antoaneta Stefanova, Thomas Luther, and Boris Gelfand. You can read the full announcement on the FIDE website here, along with details of the runners-up and other special mentions.
To briefly quote the judges “The search for ‘The Secret Ingredient’ to success, both in life and chess, is what this great book tries to answer. Following the advice given in this book will make each player stronger and each coach more focused on the tasks and challenges we face in life.”
We are proud that one of our favourite instructive books has also been voted as FIDE’s favourite book. Jan Markos of course has a winning history – his previous book Under the Surface was the English Chess Federation’s Book of the Year. But enough of my boasting – for now.
Congratulations to Mickey Adams and Philip Hurtado, whose Think Like a Super-GM won top prize as the English Chess Federation’s 2022 Book of the Year. You can read the ECF judges’ full remarks at the previous link, but a few highlights are:
“The two authors, in conjunction with the publisher, have produced a book of great interest and originality… The production of the book is to a high standard, so the book is a pleasure to handle and read… A very worthy Book of the Year. The information required to think like a Super GM can be found in this book – all that remains is to become one!”
A brief mention also for Analyzing the Chess Mindby Boris Gulko and Joel Sneed, which won a place in the 4-book shortlist as a book that is “both instructive and very readable.” Two QC books in the final four was pleasing, especially as we are only allowed to nominate two books.
As Michael wrote on his website, “I am very much looking forward to an evening of chess at the excellent London Mind Sports Centre, home of the Hammersmith Chess Club. The event begins at 19.30 on Monday 26th September. More details are in this blog.”
Signed copies of ‘Think Like a Super-GM’ will be available for purchase.
The following afternoon, Tuesday 27th September, Michael will be at The Chess & Bridge Shop from 14.00 – 16.00, for Book Signing & Blitz Chess Challenge, completely free and open to all. Availability is subject to time permitting, so go early!
We are continuing our free-fourth-book offer – if you buy three books or more and live in the normal European Union zone (as defined by UPS – for example, they exclude some islands and remote areas) we will send you an extra book free.
Please note that if you buy a Special Offer and are in the EU zone, we will add one free book. For example, if a European buys the Special Offer on our award-winning Grandmaster Preparation series, then we would send the 6 hardcovers, plus one free extra book.
The previous default option on the free book was THE ALTERMAN GAMBIT GUIDE – BLACK GAMBITS VOLUME 2. For September and October, we will switch the default option to CHAMPIONS OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM by Ftacnik, Kopec and Browne. But if you already have that book, or would prefer a different free book, then send us an email to salesgroup@qualitychess.co.uk with your order, asking to have it replaced with one of the following titles:
ATTACKING THE SPANISH CARLSEN’S ASSAULT ON THE THRONE CUTTING EDGE 1: THE OPEN SICILIAN CUTTING EDGE 2: SICILIAN NAJDORF 6.Be3 GRANDMASTER BATTLE MANUAL GRANDMASTER VERSUS AMATEUR POSITIONAL CHESS SACRIFICES REGGIO EMILIA 2007/2008 THE ALTERMAN GAMBIT GUIDE – BLACK GAMBITS VOLUME 1 THE ALTERMAN GAMBIT GUIDE – BLACK GAMBITS VOLUME 2 SAN LUIS 2005 TACTICMANIA
Magnus Carlsen looks very happy receiving his copy of Ivan Sokolov’s book about his games: Magnus Carlsen’s Middlegame Evolution. The book was available in Hardcover only, but in a few days, it will also be available in Paperback. Order your copy here.
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