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. 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. As promised a few weeks ago, this is the start of a new series of articles featuring books which are frequently bought for the wrong reasons.
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