My Experiences Writing a Second Book – "Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Fundamentals"

This blog is about my sometimes-painful odyssey in writing a second chess book. A book that serves as the prequel to my first book. My first book was written in fire, passion, ofttimes arcane language, and a quirky or even sideways sense of humor. It was a book I had to write as it was demanding to be unleashed on an unsuspecting chess world. Unfortunately, it was not the book I should have written first. Live and learn. But live, first and foremost.

But it took a kick in the teeth to realize that it was not the first book I should have written. Chessable.com allows readers to publish reviews. And a self-reported 1600-rated player was up to the challenge. Lucky me! They said they liked the writing but that the book was too hard. In short, they felt the book did not provide enough visualization of the underlying configurations that would allow someone of their strength to realize when a trapping pattern had appeared. Although they had found some of that granular detail, they felt most of the book offered difficult to solve puzzles that did not provide the connecting tissue to guide them in their games.

Immediately the multiple stages of denial kicked in. First came annoyance – you have got to be kidding me! Followed immediately by attacking the messenger– “It’s you, not anyone else.” But that would be a superficial and rude response. Hmm, what to do, I thought. I know, let’s Kevinsplain it! (Those who have suffered through mansplaining will understand what I mean by that.) To that end, I wrote what can only be described as a lengthy rebuttal that explained how the book was more useful than they realized. This was certainly one of those idiotic “Work smarter, not harder” moments that can afflict any of us. Sigh. I can be a moron at times.
Next, in my continued search for validation, I shared the feedback I had received with my mentor and chess coach, seeking redemption and reassurance. Only to receive confirmation of the reader’s feedback. IM Attila Turzo essentially said, "Yes, your book is too hard for most players. But it could be useful for titled players!"

Ouch! And double ouch. Followed immediately by more denial through rationalization. To wit, self-congratulations on reaching the titled player level, if only in words and puzzles!! But it struck me as glaringly obvious that even if the titled players were to find my book useful, that is a very small audience. And why would they pay attention to the efforts of a non-titled player?

Having worked through my initial stages of denial I settled into reflection and mulled on the feedback for a while. And acknowledged that perhaps there was something to what they said. I sighed loudly and achieved acceptance of the truth in the reader’s review, as confirmed by my coach. 

Now that I’d worked through denial, what should I do?

My personal apocalypse had arrived. What to do now?

Well, there was always the approach we first learned as children when we just knew our parents had misjudged us and would never understand us. Run away! I could withdraw from all chess activities! Or as Richard Nixon said in his concession whine regarding his loss in California’s 1962 governor’s race, “But as I leave you, I want you to know—just think how much you're going to be missing. You don't have Nixon to kick around anymore. Because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.” Hmm…seems unlikely that my disappearance from chess social media circles would cause the tiniest ripple even in that circumscribed sphere.

Nope, sorry, flight was determined to be an unacceptable option. Besides, my wife might like me to focus on less glamorous activities. Such as yard work and housework since she still does paid work. That in and of itself was a reason to find a better approach than an unseemly departure from the chess universe! So, it was to be fight, not flight!

But how to respond? I’d already squandered some time in denial. Perhaps I could fix the first book? Yuck! That would be equivalent to fixing your pedigreed dog before it has had time to breed and produce litters. The pedigree is just empty paper after that fix. Besides, it would be a nuisance for the people who already have the first book. Suddenly their book resembles a highway under construction for six months…and that stretches out to a year. Then a decade.

Write a prequel? That seemed like the only solution. If the first book was, in my mind, now retitled as Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Masters Edition, then what I needed was an introduction to the topic of trapping pieces. "Make it so!", to quote Captain Picard.

But how should the book be structured?

Okay, prequel, got it! Just like the movies that ran out of ideas for sequels but realized there was still a bonanza (not the television show or the chain of restaurants) to be made by looking at pre-conception plots. So, the topic was still trapping pieces. But how should the new book be structured?

Well, I realized I could test-run various approaches in blogs. First and foremost, I decided to focus on a small set of underlying configurations for each blog. In other words, what are those most salient aspects that serve as indicators for a potential trap just waiting to snap closed on the unwary. Second, my coach suggested that instead of creating one “impossible” puzzle I should instead create a series of puzzles that deconstruct a single problem into multiple, chewable, bite-sized chunks. Okay, I thunk, I can do that.

Oof! In retrospect, that first effort was quite feeble as a blog (this example of my feebleness is a topic for another day). Truth be told, some of the puzzles were anything but easy. You can see if you agree with my assessment by peering at Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Knight Trapped by Bishop + Pawn. Still, that blog was a start. And I kept at it. Between May 4^th and May 21^st of 2023 I created and posted six blogs on various piece traps. And as of 9 May 2024, I had posted 32 blogs that described multiple piece and pawn configurations that form the outlines of a potential piece trap. And an ever-growing set of blogs examining mating configurations.

But the most important part of my blogging efforts involved seeking feedback from the reviewer who said the first book was too hard!! I contacted them on chessable.com and asked if they would please look at a few links and let me know if the blogs provided content that they had hoped and expected to find in my first book. They were willing to take a gander at my efforts and their response was a resounding “YES! That’s what I wanted!” Cool beans, dude.
 
Bottom line: I was on the right track. As far as the underlying structure of the prequel I decided to stick with my “best by test” approach of one chapter for each piece and then test chapters that did not offer clues as to which type of piece was to be trapped. After all, that worked in the first book. I also decided to add a chapter on zugzwang, a topic much reviled in my thoughts. And add a chapter on temporary traps that have no meaningful impact on a game versus traps that have a longer-lasting impact. Finally, I knew that I would increase the number of illustrative games. Those games would delve deeply into how the beginning conditions of a trap start to appear, evolve until a trap closes or is broken, and then how play continues. All these ideas evolved over the course of the next year.

The Scut Work

Well, my basic approach was in place, even if prone to revision. Excellent! But, sigh, now came the scut work of developing basic configuration diagrams. First, I had to decide if any material from the first book was relevant. Uhm, not much. Well, that was pretty much a given based on my sole reviewer’s complaints! However, the few items that were relevant at least offered a template for developing other frameworks.

From a starting point of a mere handful of configurations in the first book, this evolved into approximately forty diagrams in the second book. Several of the diagrams depict multiple instances of distinct configurations that are indicative of a potential trap. For instance, the diagram in the chapter for a fianchettoed rook depicted four distinct configurations. So, altogether there were well over a hundred distinct configurations described in detail. If curious, you can read a bit more about one set of configurations at Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Fianchettoed Rook.

Next, I had to find examples for each diagram. That required searching game databases, one configuration at a time, for positions that included those underlying alignments of pieces. At least that part is relatively fast and easy, if a bit repetitive at times. However, selecting meaningful examples is a form of torture. Self-inflicted torture in my case. At some level, I even began to enjoy the scut work. Does that make me a writing sadomasochist? Ugh. Nobody fears the Spanish Inquisition, but only because they don’t see it coming for them.

And it got worse. For each potentially useful example, I had to reject ten, twenty, or even thirty games that were not sufficiently interesting or informative. And often had to winnow the candidates even further as deeper analysis might lead me to reject a candidate for more subtle reasons. For example, too many near-equivalent solutions. The bottom line is that if every move on the board works, then no specific move matters.

On the plus side, finding good illustrative games simply fell out of the process of examining well over 10,000 games over six months. I would like to opine that at some point you develop a sense for the good games. But the truth is that great players tend to produce meaningful games! The real work was providing commentary that meaningfully tied to a specific topic, such as a queen eating poisoned pawns or poisoned rooks. Most analysts are focused on several issues in a game, so the analyses of others were not particularly useful. That’s because I was focusing on specific aspects involving trapped pieces. However, I was lucky enough to find two topically relevant analyses by strong GMs. Both GM Kramnik and GM Leitao were kind enough to permit me to use separate games they had analyzed that tied directly to one of the configurations I presented in the book. Thanks again!

So, how do you make it interesting? Or at least useful.

From tenterhooks to meat hooks. It is certainly a form of motivation when you receive an inventory of items to change, a laundry list of things they would like you to fix before going any further. First, my chapters were too long. So please break them up. Hmm, okay, that’s relatively easy. And quickly doubled the number of chapters. Advantageously, it makes it easier to manage future updates for arcane reasons I won’t bore you with. Second, artistic license only allows you to go so far when it comes to grammar. For instance, it is a “black” piece, but it is “Black” to play. Gotcha. And if you capitalize piece names, then you need to do so every time. Sigh. Why, oh why, did I write over 320,000 words? That is a lot of text to review. Thank goodness I minimized my use of Middle English and Chaucerian dialogue! Not to mention some Klingon in the first book. All whining aside, it was only a page and a half of feedback.

On the technical side, there was no issue this year with soft fails. That’s the mechanism that lets the reader know, “Yes, that move is pretty darned good! It isn’t the move we were looking for, but we are not here to punish you for finding good moves. So, please try again…a different move this time, if you will. Unless you like repeatedly seeing the little notice that states you tried an acceptable alternative.”

Flush with pleasure at how smoothly this had gone, even if slowly due to sheer volume, I was ready to move. And because Chessable.com publishes e-books, that means beta testing!

The beta test in all its glory

Selecting beta testers is like a cold call for actors—you are never sure who will show up or why. You start by placing a notice on one of Chessable’s forums that states what the book is supposed to teach people and gives interested folks 24 hours to indicate whether they would like to participate in the beta test. (On a side note, it is interesting how many people who don’t want to participate still feel compelled to post on the announcement.) You also request information, such as: how many consecutive days they have been on the site (that’s easily checkable); how long their account has been open; an approximate chess rating so testers of different strengths can be selected; if they are willing to offer suggestions on both form and content; and whether they have an hour a day available for a ten-day testing period. Generally, you request that people not be currently involved in another beta test. And it’s always interesting to know if they participated in other beta tests and on what topics.

I modified that process a bit. Before posting my beta test announcement for the world to see, I reached out to the beta testers from my first book to see if any were interested in testing this one. My obvious thinking was that they could readily compare the two books.

I received an unusually diverse group of candidates compared to the usual folks I have seen applying for beta tests. I say that because I had quite highly rated players express an interest. Having been a participant in one beta test and having volunteered for several others I can safely assert that players rated over 2000 FIDE rarely volunteer to beta test products written by untitled authors. I, however, had one candidate rated around 2250 FIDE who did fantastic work reviewing the material and testing trainable variations. Meanwhile, another player who has a FIDE rating of around 2350 also expressed tremendous interest…and never showed up! Even when the staff at Chessable prompted them. Sigh. Life sucks and then you have to pay taxes, even if you die.

Because of the amount of text, 670+ trainable variations, over 50 illustrative games, and almost 100 informational pages, I was allowed to select ten testers. The folks ranged from approximately 1000 FIDE equivalent (1400 under the new rating system) to 1850 FIDE. And, of course, the two outliers I discussed above. I assigned each tester about 150 items to review, with my two highest-rated testers (excluding the no-show 2300) assigned the most difficult material. And the lowest-rated players were assigned the easiest material. Are the chapters really that different? Yes! For example, there are five chapters at the end of the book to test the student’s knowledge. The first chapter is beginner-level material. The introduction to the fifth testing chapter warns that “Impossible Puzzles Follow”. They are certainly not impossible. But they are very challenging, in my opinion.

Other than the dropout, I had a great group of beta testers. They asked good questions and, despite all my prior efforts, still caught grammatical errors. The bottom line is that the quality of the book was enhanced.

What are the downsides of beta testing? Twofold. First, the pain of deleting all beta comments before final submission for publication. That can take hours. Second, finding a way to adequately reward them for their efforts beyond the fact they got to see all the material for free. The only rewards I could offer were praise and Chessable.com rubies. Well, you can only offer what you had available was the slim solace I took.

Finally, it was time to submit the updated book for another pass (or fail) by the editor!

Final editor feedback

Editor: Wow, this is good. But here's a few suggestions to make it better.

Me: Gee, golly! Only six pages! Thanks!!

Honestly, I was not expecting six pages of feedback. My initial reaction was that it would be at least another month before my second book saw the light of day. Fortunately, that was an emotional reaction unhitched from reality. Four days later I had removed and replaced fifteen specific training lines, added the place and year of a game to the title of over 600 trainable lines, and corrected twenty to thirty capitalization errors. Easy peasy, puddin’ and pie. D-O-N-E!!

Publication!

Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Foundations is currently scheduled for release on 15 August 2024.

I seem to have been bitten by the chess writing bug. I’ve started my third chess book. It is a different topic. The working title is KIMPLODES! Human Analysis, not that Silicon BS. You can get a hint of what that will involve at my series of blogs that temporarily concluded with KIMPLODES! Cogito ergo sum: An Explosive Analysis Approach. That blog includes links to the entire series. I'll be revisiting the concept in blogs intermittently while writing the book. It keeps me grounded to blog. The book will go much more broadly into the topic. I'm emphasizing the word "broadly" because I've realized that too much depth can be a negative. 🤯Shocking, eh? I too can learn. Slowly. 🤣