The Secret of Chess

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

............
me, a skilled programmer?

I learned C/C++ basics just over a year ago, so I guess I am the newbiest there is of newbies.

...........

If I'll be able to complete my (part time) hobby/work with something interesting I can send you the code. Or maybe, if I'll do a "chess e-book write program", I'll send it to you. I don't know when, though. It's not so easy.

Only Visual Basic! I understand nothing of C/C++...

yeah, it took me 4 months to write this, and another 4 years to collect all the necessary information.

and maybe also, some couple of billion positions that passed through my head.

I have also heard of basic, but no experience in it.

back in the old days, when they taught us programming at school, they were using those blackboards to write on, and, although there were some computers physically present, they would be switched on only twice per year or so.

every project is worthwhile, if one puts one's heart into it.

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

Hello everyone.

I wrote a new book, titled 'The Secret of Chess'.

It is available for a modest charge here: http://www.secretofchess.com

I would have offered the book free to everyone on this forum, but, unfortunately, I had to leave my job couple of years ago, to be able to fully concentrate on chess.

So, my only alternative to trying to sell a few copies would be to go taxi-driving. (In Bulgaria, most educated people drive taxis)

More about the book and some excerpts on the above site.

PS. If anyone buys, please advise if things work, I am doing this for the first time.

A hint for the pictures on the website:
All I have seen so far are not proportionally resized, this should be fixed, because it looks bad and unprofessional.

I know, Guenther, I know.

this is the first site I ever build, so I am actually very happy with it.

BTW you should also add information about how the book is delivered, if it is a real book and if there is extra charge for delivering.
Or is the 'book' a pdf download and a link will be sent? I really wish you luck with this enterprise.

I will still have to burn my skin and fingers at it.

[Rodolfo Leoni]

BTW, I'm building an e-book for schoolboys/girls here, for free. No secrets, only basics.
I'm trying to make it interactive with excercises. It could be interesting if it works like a GUI for helping with some practice.

I have developed a JavaScript program for implementing a GUI for Chess. (Actually for almost arbitrary chess variants.) It allows you to drag pieces over the board, highlighting their pseudo-legal moves, and can collect them in a game. (e.g. http://hgm.numati.net/variants/elven )

I would also want to use it for hosting solutions to (mate) problems, but I haven't thought of a good way to do that. The solution to a problem is really a tree, not a game. If there is no engine in there that punishes all mistakes that get you mated very quickly, it would be tedious to provide the entire solution tree. I was thinking of a system where, once you asked for the solution, the diagram shows you the key move, and then allows you to play a defensive move before showing the next one, etc. Basically it is like a tree in an opening book.

Sounds nice.

I first started writing a book few months ago, then I had the idea of a GUI-book which could launch a weakened engine to let boys do some practice on openings and FENs. At that point my problem was to have the GUI interacting with the engine. Daniel sent me a link to a code sample and I'll try it. But in these last days I started thinkinh I needed a tool for setting up FENs/EPDs, writing them to a sequential file together with comments, reading pgn files and adding comments to moves, and so on. A "Chess e-book writer". I almost completed graphics but I wrote few code lines so far.

[Rebel]

Hello everyone.

I wrote a new book, titled 'The Secret of Chess'.

The Table of Contents looks like a description of the evaluation function of a chess program

Nice.

[carldaman]

Good luck, Lyudmil - hope there are a lot of potential buyers here, maybe among the up-and-coming programmers. Of course, not everyone skilled at writing code has also the chess know-how.

cheers,
CL

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

Hello everyone.

I wrote a new book, titled 'The Secret of Chess'.

The Table of Contents looks like a description of the evaluation function of a chess program

Nice.

actually, it all started as the backbone for the evaluation function of a chess program.

however, at some point I decided it will take much more time to write a strong chess program, and even a weak chess program, so I decided to 'divulge' my eval secrets to the public.

anyhow, a chess program is much more appealing than a book, of course, you can do lots of wonderful things with an program, have some fun, etc., while an educated book basically serves no purpose, unless read by educated people.

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

Good luck, Lyudmil - hope there are a lot of potential buyers here, maybe among the up-and-coming programmers. Of course, not everyone skilled at writing code has also the chess know-how.

cheers,
CL

Hi Carl.

thanks for dropping by!

of course, you know you are due a free version.

unless you already attempted to buy it, please drop me a mail at the address specified at the site.

a couple of other people here, most notably Louis Zulli and Joerg Oster, are also due this service, but I am so busy with different things right now, that I barely have the time to think of what I should be doing right.

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

Hello everyone.

I wrote a new book, titled 'The Secret of Chess'.

It is available for a modest charge here: http://www.secretofchess.com

I would have offered the book free to everyone on this forum, but, unfortunately, I had to leave my job couple of years ago, to be able to fully concentrate on chess.

So, my only alternative to trying to sell a few copies would be to go taxi-driving. (In Bulgaria, most educated people drive taxis)

More about the book and some excerpts on the above site.

PS. If anyone buys, please advise if things work, I am doing this for the first time.

so far, from what I see, 8 hours after the start of the announcement here and on 2 other forums, not a single(!) person bought.

I thought at least Daniel would have bought it...

interesting, why much inferior books like Kmoch's 'Pawn power in chess' and Nimzovich's 'My system' would still sell, and this one would not.

any clues?

[JJJ]

Secret of chess could seem déjà vu and too generalist mon ami.

But keep faith and patience, you ll see then.

[MikeGL]

Congratulations to your new ebook Lyudmil.
Wishing you good luck.


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