I’m very happy to announce that my new book, A Promoted Pawn: My Chess Journey, has been released today! This all started from a student’s message I received through the Remote Chess Academy website – that he would like to see my own chess development in a book.
Therefore, firstly I’d like to thank all those students who motivated me to write this book and provided their questions. Also, if you want to know what you can learn from this book, you may read my previous article here.
Now, let me reveal the special offers:
Special offer #1
The top 150 buyers will get huge benefits: only the first 50 buyers will have the opportunity to send in their questions to me about the book; the next 100 buyers (in addition to the first 50) will receive the answers to those questions.
Note: pre-registrants for the book have already been informed about its release. And that means, the countdown to the first 150 buyers has already started – therefore, hurry up and purchase the book now, so that you have more chance to be in the top 150.
Special offer #2
Additionally, I’m going to provide everyone with a 25% discount on my book. Use the code “pawn25” when making your purchase.
Note: the 25% discount will be valid from 28 Sep. to 2 Oct. (inclusive) only. If you don’t know how to use a discount code, please see here.
Additionally, I’d like to share a message from one of our students, Randy, who helped greatly by sending us a review of the book. This will help you understand whether this book is for you and you will have a fairly objective view from one our students, i.e. someone like you. Thanks Randy! 
It takes time to read the book carefully. Moreover, you will want to review some chapters periodically to keep your skills at the top level. However, we understand that you might want to know the opinion of other students now, so we have asked him to review the book quickly and present his feedback. You can read his review below:
Name: Dr Randall K. Julian, Jr.
Country: USA
About him: I am an adult learner who came back to the game after years of not playing, and I struggle with the same issues all adult learners face: how to use limited study time to get better at chess. I study seriously, play in big US tournaments like the World Open, and work with coaches at every level.
I own over 300 chess books, videos, and computer tutorials, including almost all of the RCA lessons. I have written many popular chess book reviews for Amazon and Goodreads.
Randy’s review:
After working through my first RCA lesson (“Self-taught GM”), I have been interested in how GM Smirnov came to his viewpoint on how chess should be studied and played. He has an unusually direct and honest approach in his lessons, something that is rare in a world where everyone wants to sell you a silver bullet or magic pill.
His message is simple:
- You can play at a higher level if you improve your chess understanding and turn it into a skill
- This is hard work.
In his first book, Champion Psychology, GM Smirnov described the mentality needed both to improve and perform well over the board. In that book, he focused on the psychology of attacking play.
In his new book, My Chess Journey, he describes, again in a rather direct way, how he came to the conclusion that this is the right way to play, and how he learned how to explain it to others and became a coach. This is not a biography (you cannot get better at anything just by reading someone’s life story) but a book with the real lessons learned by a strong player describing his own journey.
I know many players who reached Master level as a teenager, as did GM Smirnov (IM at age 13). Many of them are still stuck at that level, while GM Smirnov found a way to reach the next level. Like many of us class players, there is usually some plateau we reach, and something is blocking us from the next level. Many of us have considered giving up chess because of a lack of improvement.
In this book, you will learn that we are not alone. It happens to almost everyone at every level, including titled players. There are too many good lessons and stories in this book to summarize, but I can say that my favorite part was GM Smirnov’s description of his discovery of the “look for attacking moves first” method of thinking.
This thinking method is repeated in all of his lessons; and before you discount it as simplistic, consider this: Garry Kasparov crushed Nigel Short (still is in the top 100 active players in the world) 8.5-1.5 this year, a decade after Kasparov retired. InNew in Chess (#4/2015), Kasparov explained how he did this in the title of the article: “Attack, Always!” Kasparov wrote: “It was clear from practice that my game was much stronger in attack”.
In GM Smirnov’s new book, he will show you through his examples that this way of thinking and playing is something everyone can do. And if you do as Kasparov suggests and practice the approach, your games will be more fun and maybe you will have some surprisingly impressive results, too. I can recommend this book highly for both the chess content, the honest stories, and GM Smirnov’s irrepressible humor.
<<THE END>>
Once again, thanks a lot for your detailed and nice review Randy!
P.S. Don’t miss this chance – the first 50 buyers can send in their questions (about the book) to me after studying it, and the next 100 buyers (in addition to the first 50) will get the answers to those questions. If you enjoyed studying the book, don’t forget to share your feedback with us by contacting us. Good luck!
