|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Chessville
Advertise to Single insert:
|
Every Move Must Have A Purpose Strategies from Chess for Business and Life Reviewed by Phil Innes
I have no idea why he thought of me since we are on quite good terms, but I received a message from the Sainted Publisher asking if I would like to review this CD set. “No!” I said immediately, however, since the invitation was by e-mail I had time to reconsider. Practically every claim for benefits of chess to various areas of life that I have ever read have seemed to me to be risible. The usual crime is to enthusiastically over-state the case, rather than making essentially untrue claims. Many things claimed for chess could equally well be said for shooting pool! I therefore warn the reader that after receiving the 2-CD package I began listening in a curmudgeonly humor, very willing to dislike whatever I heard. After 20 minutes or so I stopped the CD, and walked the dog. Returning to the house I restarted from the beginning in an entirely different mood, much reassured by the approach taken by Mr. Pandolfini. In the very first segment the author urges us to play the board and not the player, since, he says, all truth is there on the 64 squares. In developing his ideas Mr. Pandolfini does not stray from his own obiter dicta, and successfully negotiates lessons learned from the chessboard to those appropriate to the boardroom. There are 15 segments overall, and each follows the pattern of an introductory idea, an example drawn from famous Grandmasters in chess, Mr. Pandolfini’s own experiences as patzer, then player and finally teacher, ending with an application to the business world. Since the specific intent of the CDs is the relevance of chessic experience to the business world, I truly surprised myself by concluding that the author made a sober and convincing case of it. The segments titles are unnamed on the CD and the cover, so these are my own segment titles:
Listening time is 2 hours and the cost of the CDs is $19.95. I would recommend these CDs not only to business people, but also to any level of chess player. Listening again to the familiar basics of chess playing was oddly reassuring. The basics remain basic principles, even after 40 years of playing chess. Having been so good to the product let me also speak of a few flaws. The publisher might note that there is no index to segments on the CDs themselves or on the slip-jacket, so if you wanted to find a particular segment you would have to experiment by listening to the start of each one. I would also advise the publisher that some chess players might think the statement “Chess Life, the bible of the chess world” sufficient reason not to buy the product. Probably the best customer profile for these CDs would be any level of chess player in any level of business management. I think non-chess players would also find the material stimulating and even fascinating, but to a chess player Bruce Pandolfini’s metaphor would be a highly natural one to the intuitive ear. - Phil Innes
|
Advertisement
The Chessville
The
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
