Please don't leave.
Appreciation
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careyfan wrote:
I have almost 100 Chess books in my library that I've collected for almost two decades. Most of them sit on my book shelf looking pretty and collecting dust. But there is one author that I always go back to. ONE author I trust whenever I need to remember key ideas. And that is Jeremy Silman.
He's been by far, the biggest influence on my understanding of Chess. His How to Reassess Your Chess is the modern day My System, only far more readable.
When Mr. Silman started writing a column for Chess.com, I was really impressed. But I was even more impressed with how witty, clear and honest his responses were. Not everyone appreciated his style, but no one could deny the entertainment and instructive value. When I think of Mr. Silman's columns here, I'm reminded of the great ESPN columnist Bill Simmons; the stuff is just plain brilliant. But what makes Silman's writing transcend even Simmons, is the fact that Silman has walked the walk. Simmons is an excellent writer who's never seriously played a competitive sport in his life. Silman has gone to war, and taught countless others how to arm themselves with both the tools and psychological skills needed to become a confident, competent Chess player. It would be a great loss if Chess.com and its members lose him....
I think the Bill Simmons reference is PERFECT!!! Brilliant, one of a kind, in your face, and hysterical at the same time... Good comment :)
Bill Simmons was shafted. As a friend told me once, "Nobody's perfect. The Lord created one perfect man, and they crucified Him".
Sorry to see him go, he will be missed. Great author, I have both his reassess books.
Thats sad news, I love Silmans column and it will be much missed.
Jeremy Silman must have his reasons for leaving chess.com and his decision has to be respected.
I very much enjoyed the column and his chess-mentor contributions. I will miss his unambiguous and sometimes caustic remarks.
So it is true. I saw the other topic, in which people celebrate his departure. Well, since that one is among the hot discussion topics, I can infer that Silman is quite unpopular here. At least this is what it looks.
The reasons for his resignation are important. Maybe he wants more money or maybe he has some personal problems which prevent him from keeping a weekly column here. Without knowing the exact reasons it is quite rude to ask him to stay.
I only read one of his books, about endings. I think it's an amazing book! For the first time a chess teacher took into account the amount of time an amateur can allocate for the study. The whole book is built around this concept. It was a big surprise to see that among hundreds of opening books which discuss dozens of variations starting at move 20 in a particular opening.
I read few of his columns and it struck me the excellent quality of the writing. They are provocative and very nice to read, even if you don't care about the chess contents.
I will miss Silman. Even if you don't like him, he adds a lot of street cred to this site.
But I don't think chess.com markets its writers well at all. I wonder if this is one of the reasons Silman is leaving.
We've got some very good writers/journalists here, but you'd hardly notice that fact on the homepage. Their names are not even featured there. (Bylines are featured on the videos, but not the articles for some reason.)
If good writers are a big selling point for this site, as I think they should be, they should be given some emphasis and respect.
I will miss Silman, as I would miss Pogonina, Bryan Smith, Iryna Zenyuk, and many others. But I'm thinking there may be quite a few members that don't even know these writers are here.
I have enjoyed and appreciated Silman's work. I will never approach any type of Master level since I only started taken chess seriously a year ago (at the age of sixty-seven) but the pleasure Mr Silman has added to this great game of chess for me has made me a player for the rest of my days. I read his books through once and then go back and slowly work through them. They have undoubtably have made me a better player and his humor and personality bring additional pleasure.
I hope he continues some form of public communication, maybe an occasional guest column if nothing else.
I find Silman an entertaining and informative writer - by far my own personal favourite on Chess.com and one of the main reasons I became interested in this website. It would, in my view, be a real loss for the website if he no longer writes a column. I hope he stays.
His was always one of my favorite columns.
Mr. Silman, please stay!
When I was a kid, a big group of us were stuck, kind of plateau'd out, at around the 1200-1300 level. Our chess program offered an advanced class, taught straight out of an early version of Silman's Reassess Your Chess. I ended up getting kicked out of that class for misbehavior (I was a brat), but everyone in the class shot up to 1600-1700 range in about 8 months, leaving me in the dust. I struggled through the book on my own, and eventually caught up, as well.
Silman is a wonderful author, and I know first hand the quality, clearness, and soul of his work. He obviously puts a lot of effort into his writing, and it shows every time. I've never started one of his articles without reading through to the end. His writing never fails to entertain, to teach, and to inspire.
Silman, I hope that you decide to stay with us here on chess.com. I wish you the best of luck in whatever endeavors you undertake. Thank you for enriching chess for me, for my friends when I was young, and for countless thousands of others. You are greatly appreciated.
Jerry is DaMan. If you stay I'll be pleased if you go you'll be missed. Fare thee well, whatever you decision might be and ignore the haters and rabble.
Silman bumped me from 1299 uscf to 1584 uscf in half a year with his book The Amateurs Mind. This was after I'd plateaud around 1300 for about 2 years. I constantly use what he said of the imbalances even today.
Then I took a break from chess for about 3 years. When I came back from my break I briefly reviewed The Amateurs Mind, went over his endgame book, along with 2 tactic books and I'm now 1816 uscf and still rising. I'm surprised anyone can claim his books aren't effective. They probably never tried them before.
I hope he stays, he's easily my favorite chess author.
dannyhume wrote:
It's all about the money. That's why he is leaving, isn't it? Now that he has beefed up and modernized his endgame and positional play books for posterity, he needs more moolah.
How do you know "it's all about the money. That's why he is leaving...?"
that's bad news. I've been following Silman since the days of PCN in the 80's. I have all his books and look forward to his wacky articles. Can't chess.com make him 'an offer he can't refuse'? I have a couple of thugs for hire in need......:)
NimzoRoy wrote:
dannyhume wrote:
It's all about the money. That's why he is leaving, isn't it? Now that he has beefed up and modernized his endgame and positional play books for posterity, he needs more moolah.
How do you know "it's all about the money. That's why he is leaving...?"
C'mon, man. You think he is leaving because he is upset at a few people who rabidly disagree with him and couch it in not-so-nice terms?...that's the price of stardom. Silman is a best-seller in the chess public-spotlight. I have a hard time believing that a man who has endured the rigors of tournament chess, became a self-made millionaire, and having no doubt read through the various comments good and bad about his lifetime of literary work over the last several decades (amazon.com, many forums, literary reviews, etc.) would be upset that a few people called shenanigans on some of his specific views that may or may not be correct. This is all a brilliant modern-Fischer-esque publicity stunt. Look at all these forums flooded with pro- and anti-Silman comments. He is like the chess-literary Bobby Fischer in this publicity/popularity regard. He is doing more to enhance the livelihoods of chess authors/columnists just the way Rob-champ-Fischer did for elite GM chess competitors. I don't agree with everything Silman says but he is a chess-literary and publicity genius. (So is Michael de la Maza; not mutually exclusive, stop hating on man de la Maza).
It's all about the money. That's why he is leaving, isn't it? Now that he has beefed up and modernized his endgame and positional play books for posterity, he needs more moolah.