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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 48 OF 112 ·
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| Apr-10-06 | | pazzed paun: <Eric Schiller> "THEY" (chesscafe) boycotts Harding Simpole? One more example of USCF morons. I would like to be able to buy Soviet Absoulute 1941 Championship,but I guess the USCF does not want to sell me a copy. Let me guess this boycott is unofficial?
that is not in writing and hard to prove if you tried to sue them--cowards--!
Every chessplayer deserves better than this. |
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| Apr-10-06 | | azaris: <"THEY" (chesscafe) boycotts Harding Simpole? One more example of USCF morons.> It's patently unwise to accept the claims of one side in a bitter dispute as gospel. |
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Apr-10-06
 | | Gypsy: < As you have probably figured out by now, this is not a real interview, but a put-on by Howard Goldowsky. We decided to give our readers a belated April Fool’s joke. We hope you enjoyed it… > To be absolutely honest, I have not read something this imbecile and crass for a long time. |
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Apr-10-06
 | | Eric Schiller: There is nothing wrong with Arpil Fool's jokes, but they shouldn't be used to attack individuals. I posted my own offering at The Kibitzer's Café. The facts of the boycott are not in dispute, that the conclusion that the USCF officials behave like "morons" is not entirely without justification. Ray Keene can confirm the Hardinge-Simpole boycott, and the boycott against me can be confirmed simply by calling USCF sales and trying to order my books. It isn't "official" in the sense that it is written policy, and the USCF has claimed (lied) that they don't stock my books because no one wants to buy them, despite the fact that some of them have sold over 15,000 copies and that almost all of my recent books have sold more copies than dozens of titles they carry. I had to threaten legal action to get them to stop lying (if indeed they have). But it is official in that the USCF board extended the contract with Chess Cafe despite knowing of this problem. The wimps on the board caved in to blackmail, essentially, and have more or less admitted that in their own posting. |
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| Apr-10-06 | | apawnandafool: <USCF has claimed (lied) that they don't stock my books because no one wants to buy them> Out of 615 books, your top sellers at WholesaleChess.com http://www.wholesalechess.com (your online source for discounted chess supplies) are ranked: #30 First Openings
#75 Gambits for Black
#114 Champion Tactics
If USCF has a limited number of books that they can sell, and marketability is their concern, then certainly your book called "First Chess Openings" should be listed on their website. Perhaps the reason they've stopped selling your books, is that they only wish to carry books written by GMs. This would only make sense, if it were true, but I don't have the time to check if their books are all authored by GMs. |
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| Apr-10-06 | | apawnandafool: ...or maybe they just don't like you! ;) |
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| Apr-10-06 | | Jim Bartle: If the USCF were just another private business sellilng chess books, they would have very right to choose which books to offer. But it seems to me it's at least a semi-official organization, and therefore its policies should not be guided by personal tastes or distastes. |
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| Apr-10-06 | | BlueMooner: I read the chesscafe April Fool & thought perhaps it was a little malevolent and over the top. However, as regards the boycott on selling Eric Schiller books I would like to add this one minor point. Around 6 months ago with my passion for the Royal Game rekindled I bought a copy of 'Learn from Bobby Fischer's Greatest Games' by Eric Schiller from amazon.com. I was very disappointed to find the book littered with mistakes in the annotation & the game titles (stating that Fischer was Black when in fact he was White for example) (misplacing pieces in the annoation). In 23 games I counted over a dozen mistakes perhaps more. I have to say that I was sorely disappointed for my £10. Surely, a proof reader could have spotted these errors just by playing the games as I did?!? Maybe and just maybe, if Mr. Schiller was not so ubiquitous in the volume of writing and a little more circumspect in the quality of what he writes he may find that he is not the butt of cheap personal jokes in the future. |
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Apr-10-06
| | Gypsy: <BlueMooner: ... I have to say that I was sorely disappointed for my £10. Surely, a proof reader could have spotted these errors just by playing the games as I did?!?> I presume that you are absolutely sincere. Then you may be pleased to learn that you can volunteer to help proofread <Eric Shiller>'s upcomming works -- in return for advanced look of his work. Upon making an e-mail contact, he will send you a manuscript of your choice for proofreading. Thus you get an advanced look at the works that interest you and help it come out more error free. |
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| Apr-11-06 | | apawnandafool: USCF has minutes regarding the content of publications that are posted on its website. You know the approximate date they were witheld, peruse the site...www.uscf .org/org/govern/transcript<yymmdd>.html
...and you'll find the true reason why your publications were banned. If you do, then you'll find out that it has nothing to do with Tony Miles or Carsten Hansen. |
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Apr-12-06
| | Eric Schiller: I'm pleased to announce that my latest book Of Kings and Pawns, helpfully proofed by Chessgames members, is now available (ISBN 1581129092). It is reasonably priced at $17.95 list, but you can probably find discounts online. It covers King and Pawn endgames with a unique format that gives you the target position at the start of each study, to help you find the right plan. |
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Apr-12-06
 | | WannaBe: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/15... |
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| Apr-12-06 | | apawnandafool: It's time for Chessgames.com to publish. Why don't they start sponsoring books? And concerns my latest comments directed to Mr.Schiller, I thought they should be quite helpful, and should merit a response. Still no reply. I wonder if I've achieved a rank on his ignore list? ...well at least I'd of achieved something! :)
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| Apr-12-06 | | CapablancaFan: <apawnandafool>< It's time for Chessgames.com to publish. Why don't they start sponsoring books?> How about maybe starting a monthly chess magazine? Premium CG.com members can maybe get a 30% discount on subsciptions. |
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| Apr-12-06 | | mack: Eric, any word on the Kasparov Sicilian book? |
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| Apr-12-06 | | pazzed paun: wow! it is weds. so I went to Chesscafe for their new stuff. This was the first time I read the entire Goldowsky article--I did not believe they would publish something so trashy! It would not even be funny in sixth grade! this just sucks! All chessplayers deserve better than something only designed to insult people. |
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Apr-12-06
| | Eric Schiller: <apawnandafool> I don't take official statements from the USCF serioiusly whenever their internal politics are concerned. I've discussed the matter with some board members, and there was a bit more going on. But I'm not quarelling with process, but with the policy. Either the USCF should base their sales on what sells best, or they should have policies favorable to their members. The first is clearly the way to go, but when the official vendor simply refuses to carry books with known strong sales, that's bad. At the same time, I think the USCF should go out of their way to offer the broadest possible catalog, making available books that are not in most bookstores. Hardinge Simpole has a catalog full of classic out-of-print chess books. Yes, they are pricey but I think many are of such stature that they should be included. I've never requested that the USCF includes all of my available books. But to deny members the chance to buy those books with demonstrated sales (and I have all the numbers)is wrong. There is so much poltics in the mess. I used to be a popular writer for Chess Life and was made a contributing editor. But after a political change, I was simply dropped without notification. I don't think Chess Life has improved as a result. I don't expect improvement soon, since they extended the contract with Chess Cafe for more years. I'll just have to fend for myself until then, and encourage people to take their business elsewhere. I don't believe in tossing lawsuits around for such issues. Sometimes life gets rough and you just have to deal with it. But I can continue to make sure people know what is going on. Still, the vast majority of my posts here don't even mention the issue. I think most Chessgamers know what's going on by now. |
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| Apr-13-06 | | apawnandafool: Ok. It makes much more sense now. Just keep writing until the next cycle when Fortune smiles on you again! |
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| Apr-17-06 | | Skeptic1972: <To be absolutely honest, I have not read something this imbecile and crass for a long time.> You haven't read Tim Taylor's article about his adventures in Hungary in "Chess Life" last summer, then. At least this article was INTENDED as a joke. Tim was serious. |
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| Apr-18-06 | | Skeptic1972: < It is just another attack on me from the fiends at Chess Cafe, organizers of the boycotts against my books and software.> Are you sure about this? I checked and Chesscafe at least reviews quite a few of your books. Some of them are savaged, but others many were given at least moderately positive reviews. |
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| Apr-18-06 | | Skeptic1972: Argh, that should be "many others", not "others many", of course. |
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| Apr-19-06 | | midknightblue: FM Schiller. Am I too optimistic in hoping that the poor taste demonstrated in the recent chesscafe article could have a reverse effect of knocking some sense into the folks at chesscafe and USCF? Perhaps they will wake up and smell the coffee. < why do all Schiller topics eventually include discussions of coffee ;) > Anyway: I, for one, am hoping that FM Schiller gets a fair chance to sell his books in the future - and maybe this article will some how open everyone's eyes and put an end to the boycott.
My second hope is that his book critics will be limited to those people that have actually read the books and have ideas about how future books can be improved. Rather than people who havent read his books at all, but just find joy in flame throwing. I have one of his products - software product on "capture checks" and it is very well done. |
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| Apr-20-06 | | brankat: <Eric Schiller> Thank You for the "Chesscountry" link. I must admit I didn't even know of it's existence before. Will visit there regularly. Wish You all the best with Your duties as the Editor. As for the Chesscafe article, there was nothing funny about it. On the contrary, it is a disgrace to have such a piece of trash published. Not only for Your own sake, but also for the sake of Your many readers and friends, please don't let envy, dirty "politics" and backstabbing discourage You. I have no doubt things will take a turn in a positive/constructive direction again.
Cheers! |
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Apr-20-06
| | Eric Schiller: <brankat> I'm not optimistic about anything involving the USCF, but I hope to be able to get to a few tournaments like the National Open and take my case directly to the members. The problem is that traveling to tournaments costs money, and when sales are cut off by USCF I find it easier to go to Europe, where I am popular arbiter (though I am not allowed to direct USCF events), than to US tournaments where I have to pay all my expenses.
I'll be in London in August for the Staunton/NATO events, and then in Gibraltar in January. But I don't know if you are aware that overseas sales pay only half the regular royalty rate. So although foreign sales were very strong last year, especially in Australia, I don't benefit that much. So, I just have to go out and promote the books at tournaments and online, and hope for enough teaching to make ends meet. Fortunately, my teaching schedule is fairly full, with schools, private students and some online teaching. It is nice to have a forum like this to participate in and meet many chess fans. I choose to come here, and only visit the sites that attack me when they have some article of extraordinary merit to read. Here, at least, it is possible to respond to remarks. |
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| Apr-21-06 | | mack: Eric - Do you rate Edward Winter as an historian? I'm in the somewhat unfortunate position of both highly respecting Chess Notes and Winter and all his works, whilst at the same time finding a great deal of worth in Raymondo and your good self, as well as people like Bill Wall. It'd be nice if he occasionally popped his head out of Geneva and came onto forums such as this. |
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