The Secret of Chess

Sorry, man. Sockpuppet or not, I won't bite. Still, I wonder why a nutter can't have a good sense of humour.

that's just a complete straw man, like I already told you. the book title is a very very minor criticism. The actual reason why Lyudmil is bashed is a completely  different one - because he claims ridiculous things (I am 3 500 strength, Kramnik is weak, etc etc etc) with no back up whatsoever. And because his book doesn't really help us improve, even GM Smerdon says that you shouldn't buy this book if you are club player and want to improve your chess.

I wouldn't go as far as to call Yenny a "sock-puppet", because I know it's likely that he's a real person. I've been called a sock puppet and a troll many times before simply for being on an opposing political party!

But still I'd say that Yenny isn't using his rational logic here. After all, how can one trust a man making such claims?

Sure, there are a few instances where outrageous claims were proven to be true. But then again, how many are there? What are the chances? And also:

Why doesn't Lyudmil back up his claims?

Why doesn't he take our advice to prove his skill in some games of chess?

Why doesn't he make a livestream against stockfish?

Why not? If his claims are true, he can easily do all of the above.

He should at least understand that we want proof after so many posts here asking for it, and yet he still ignores them/changes the topic. Why?

Being 3500 can certainly help in a tournament! I see no reason not to play some live chess on chess.com. He claims he can't play because:

1. He's too busy.

2. Chess.com has cheaters(using stockfish)

3. People watching would make it distracting.

4. The noise of cars and such make it impossible to concentrate.

Well!

1. Lyudmil spends hours searching up his name and talking in forums. He said so himself, not too long ago. He can easily take some of that time to play chess, no?

2. This was funny

(If you don't get it, highlight this section -->( He can win stockfish anyway, right?)

3. Focus mode is a great tool for that, if he's truly distracted. Also, block the chat if he really needs it.

4. Well, if he can find a place quiet enough to beat stockfish, then he can find a place quiet enough to beat anyone else!

That's all the time I have right now, but I'll be back.

Where did I ever say that I trust his claims about his playing strength?  I didn't, because that is irrelevant (as long as he's at least master-strength, which I don't think is in doubt).  As I already stated, I'm interested in the book, not LT's personality.  And the way to investigate the veracity and usefulness of a book is to actually study the book, and try to test its ideas in practice.

Note that, from what I've seen, none of his critics here has quoted a single word from the book (except the title).  Is it rational to reject a book one has never seen?  As a scientist, I try to avoid taking anything on faith.  Instead I try to investigate if possible.  And I try to keep an open mind until I can reach an informed conclusion.  And refrain from letting knee-jerk emotional reactions cause me to unfairly label people whose opinions differ from mine.

I'm finishing chapter 2, and hope to be able to discuss the book with others who read some of it.  Someone recently posted here about TSOC material relating to the French Defense pawn structure.  I'll try to respond when I get to that section.

wow, this forum got to 300 pages. Lyudmil, congratulations, you have held your ground for the last 9 months. It's not a good thing you held it, but congrats on holding it anyway lol

It was Lyudmil himself who perpetuated the myth that in order to be able to successfully convey conceptual chess ideas you need to be a master level player.  Its the same myth that one sees perpetuated almost on a daily basis on these very forums and it belies a very poor grasp of logic. 

We do not send Mathematicians into our primary schools to teach children how to multiply.  Primary school teachers are perfectly capable of doing that.  Why then do we insist that a player must be of master level strength or above on order to be able to teach certain concepts to amateurs?  Its complete and utter nonsense and logically unsustainable.  I suspect the idea is that the strength of the master will somehow magically transpose itself to the student.  Another premise that is not entirely sound.  Will a Beethoven be able to convey his creativity to some bourgeoisie numskull? probably not.  He may be able to teach the rudiments of music but so can anyone else with a grasp of harmony. 

Chess talent is one thing, the ability to convey that thought process quite another and yet Lyudmil and almost the entire chess community harbour and perpetuate the delusion that one must of necessity be a strong master to be able to effectively teach chess concepts to chess amateurs.  I reject the premise entirely.

Had Lyudmil simply came to the forum and stated, 'look I am an amateur with an engine, I have done extensive research, these are my findings, they are very interesting and well worth taking note of, I have put them down in a book you might like to read' he would have done much much better, but nooooooo, he had to perpetuate the myth and was forced to make some ludicrous claims on the basis of being a strong player and all his creditability soon evaporated.  The pathetic part (and I mean that in the original sense of the word) was that there was no necessity to do so.   Honesty would have served him much better.

You bring up a great point, that most of his critics have not quoted his book. Maybe you should read what Robbie wrote. The reason so few people read his books is because of his fraudulent claims. Had he been more honest to begin with, he would have sold more books. And he might very well have had fewer detractors. But his claims are so outrageous it makes no difference how good his book might be, very few are going to buy it now. Which means, as you said, his critics will not quote from his book. It's a self perpetuating cycle that Lyudmil himself intentionally created.

It's been said many times before, he is probably a very hard worker, he probably has done things with computer chess that maybe hasn't been done before. But he made sure very few would ever find out by making such ridiculous claims. Also, one of his followers was asked if the book helped. His response wasn't a yes or no, but rather he said he wasn't reading any particular book at the moment. I take that as a no.

Come on, Robbie, all are true:

1) I am GM strength

2) I know less and am weaker than the knowledge contained in the book, because I HAVE NOT assimilated fully all of the ideas, just statistically reproduced them

So, I am pretty strong and learned quite a bit in the process, but at the same time the book contains MORE knowledge than I could demonstrate on the board.

Is that bad?

It is the book that is more important, after all, not my personality.

People will not be reading me, they will read the book.

I wrote couple of other books, much more usual and easier to understand, extol me for them.

I am the same author, am I not?

Lyudmil is your health alright? You seem to be tired all the time

You are still perpetuating the myth Luydo and it caused you to make some outrageous and uncorroborated and unsubstantiated claims.  Saying that you are GM strength is meaningless without corroboration, its like claiming you flew with the Red Barron.  If you had come to me first I could have saved you but alas its was not to be.  Yes you are different from the material you presented in your book but there is a symbiotic relationship between the author and the material.  The tragedy is that there was no need to make these claims as some amateur players have published some excellent chess books, much better and much more accessible than their professional counter parts.

I have never said anything bad about your Tal tactics book apart from the fact that the solutions were given at first. So no idea what point you are trying to make. I'm discussing The Secret of Chess here (which is btw the title of this thread in case you forgot) and this book is totally useless to improve your chess. 

Lyudmil is your health alright? You seem to be tired all the time