Another Thinkers' Press book (at the usual high Thinker's Press price), another unknown author. Though I haven't been kind to all of the books in Thinkers' "rookie-writer" series, I must admit that those done by postal players have a certain charm. This effort by Jon Edwards (winner of the 10th U.S. Correspondence Chess Championship) might well be the best of the lot.

Basically a collection of twenty-five of the author's games (does EVERYONE have a book showcasing their games? What's next, The 500 Best Games of U.S. "C" Players?), Mr. Edwards pushes himself above the crowd in the following way:

He deeply annotates each and every game. His desire to explore just about every move is highly appreciated and deserves a lot of praise.

He gives numerous other games for reference.

He possesses an easy-going writing style that is filled with humor, energy and honesty.

He discusses many theoretical novelties, making this book worthwhile for even titled players.

He makes postal games look high class (and I've seen some really awful games played in postal!) and interesting, no doubt pleasing other postal aficionados.

The fact is, this book is both useful (from theory's standpoint), instructive and fun to read. I only have one qualm, and that has nothing to do with the author (who did a really excellent job): Thinkers' Press publications tend to advertise their merchandise at the end of each book. I don't like this unprofessional practice, but that's just my opinion (at least we can read the book in peace and ignore the ads if we wish to). Unfortunately, the "brain trust" at Thinkers' decided to see what they could get away with by taking all that advertising "junk" and sticking it at the end of almost every game. I find this insulting to the author and also insulting to the reader.

Imagine this: After playing through a particular game and immersing yourself in Mr. Edwards' comments, you suddenly come to an ugly box saying, "An Extensive Lineup From Overseas!" The next game takes us to "More From Overseas!" After that we get "The CJS Purdy Library!" Other irritating boxes include, "Our Catalog!", "Our Newsletter!" and...well, the Thinkers' self-promotion never seems to stop. All this is followed by book lists, prices and toll free numbers.

I can only wonder why Thinkers' Press, which was lucky enough to find Mr. Edwards, would want to repay him by cluttering up his work with unwanted garbage. Hopefully, in the future, this company (which deserves kudos for giving Mr. Edwards a chance to show his stuff) will show more respect to their writers and to their customers by ending this in-your-face salesman approach.

If Thinkers' Press wants some free sales advice, why not send a catalog with every order? If that's too boring, how about these ideas: 1) Pay players to tattoo "Thinkers'" on their arms and chests. 2) Put together the Thinkers' Cheerleaders. They will bring the company lots of attention at tournaments. 3) Come out with a line of Thinkers' Foods and Thinkers' Chess-wear. 4) Last but not least, why not pass out Thinkers' books, catalogs, pins and other Thinkers' products to the hungry and homeless?

Pushing aside this final bit of satire, I highly recommend that you buy a copy of The Chess Analyst. It will make a fine addition to any chess library.

YOU CAN FIND THIS BOOK AT