The Kings of New York: A Year Among the Geeks, Oddballs, and Genuises Who Make Up America's Top HighSchool Chess Team
by Michael Weinreb
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Book Summary Information
Author: Michael WeinrebEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2007-03-01
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Gotham
Book Reviews of The Kings of New York: A Year Among the Geeks, Oddballs, and Genuises Who Make Up America's Top HighSchool Chess Team
Book Review: "Their lives have already been made much better"
Summary: 3 Stars
It is not often that I come across a book that has some great characteristics that make it excellent and others that seriously affect my enjoyment of the experience. This is one of those odd cases, because the portrayal of the kids and the gusto with which the author tells their personal stories is commendable. I can even risk going as far as saying that he comes close to the level of the best chess journalist I know, Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam. But then when Weinreb starts talking about the games and chess concepts, everything comes tumbling down in a never ending spiral of mistakes and confusion. This gave me an odd feeling, because I started reading and thinking that it was a pretty good read and that it probably deserved between 4 and 5 stars. Then the chess parts started and I downgraded it to 2 to 3. Next I came across another good part, involving the description of coaches and masters, and I thought that it was on the right track again, only to be beaten down once more. Finally, I had to settle for 3.5 stars.
Lets start with the good part. The story focuses on the chess team of Edward R. Murrow High School, which is an institution in Brooklyn that implemented an experimental program giving the students considerably freedom to choose how to approach their education. In this setting, Eliot Weiss decided to start a chess team. This team attracted kids with different personalities, all of which have characteristics that give the author enough material to display his narrative skills. We are presented with the personal stories of the kids, which includes two master level players and a bunch of good club players, as well as some rookies. It is enlightening to see how chess affects their lives, and how their personalities differ from the stereotype most people have about how a chess player behaves and lives. We also get a tour through some of the most important factors that affected chess in the US and its introduction in schools. Finally, the book delivers great information on some of the most relevant coaches and masters in the game, such as Bruce Pandolfini and Bobby Fischer.
If the author, who clearly is not a chess player, had decided to stop there the result would have been excellent. He could have even asked a master for help in presenting the games and some of the chess concepts used in the book. Sadly, this was not the case, and starting with a convoluted explanation of what a pin is, the missteps accumulate and detract from the overall quality of the book. The problem is that the explanations do not help those that are already familiar with the concepts and are not clear enough for a newcomer to understand them. On top of that, we have the mistakes: positions that are wrong, illegal opening moves (on several occasions) and butchering the name of an opening, to name a few. And finally, to make it even worse, there is the narration of some of the games, which is so poor that it is impossible to follow. There are so many references to queen sacrifices that it is hard to believe these are accurate.
Those that are interested in the story of these oddballs and do not care about the chess portions will have a most pleasant experience with this book. However, if you are looking forward to following the development of the games through the narration, you will find yourself extremely disappointed.
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