All the Wrong Moves: A Memoir About Chess, Love, and Ruining Everything Hardcover – Big Book, August 13, 2019

Days passed, as always, with casual, periodic looks toward the list of trending chess books served up by my Kindle. This book was getting good reviews, but it appeared to be autobiographical rather than to be a chess book of the kind that I purchase compulsively and then largely ignore. So I passed on its purchase, day after day.But one day, when there was no other Kindle itch left to scratch, the purchase button somehow got pushed, and I became a catch to be pulled into the author's boat.If you have not yet become impatient with this self-involved review, or even if you have, but would like to see autobiography by a relative unknown done much more artfully and well, then by all means buy this interesting book.It is not a chess book of the ordinary sort. You could only search it in vain to find your next half-practiced opening. But it is very much a book that talks about chess, and it does so in a way that will invoke many moments of recognition, both painful and pleasureable, in those for whom chess has long ago become a guilty pleasure. Or for whom young romance was once an even more pleasureable and painful game. Which suggests the book deserves a wide audience.By reading it, will a chessplayer learn anything of value for playing the game? Well, I certainly can't speak for the brilliant Ben Finegolds of the world (meaning players of the sort most will never beat or surpass at teaching). But i have spent, arguably wasted, thousands of hours over the board, and yet I did capture some general insights from the book that I will jealously guard and share only with my closest friends.But even without those, I would recommend the book for its writing alone. The author is transparently intelligent and creative, and as the book progresses his writing seems to become more confident, less self-conscious, and he settles in to a style that earnest others may someday study and attempt unsuccessfully to emulate.As a chessplayer, I walk away from the book with the perhaps unintended reassurance that achieving something less than mastery at chess does not imply a more general weakness. The author might never be a grandmaster over the board, but he seems well on his way to international mastery of the written word.

I’m a chess master, and I’d seen a couple of favorable reviews of _All the Wrong Moves_ in the chess press, so I decided to give it a whirl.Chess readily lends itself to art. Its rich history, its intricate range of strategies, and its appeal to all sorts of people offer vast potential for fascinating portrayal in words and images.This book, however, offered only a fraction of the insight I’d expected and hoped for. The emphasis seemed to be less on conveying the essence of the game, and of one man’s grapple with it, than on arty wordsmithing. Chapin’s writing style is of the type where prose seems mainly chosen not to tell a compelling story, but to demonstrate the author’s cleverness. I could almost hear the thought process: “It’s been a couple of sentences since I used an MFA-level metaphor; I’d better toss in another one.” Thus, the book is rife with sentences of these sorts:“Time felt slow and squishy, and my few legible thoughts crawled slowly out from under the weight of a jewel-toned blur of sensation.”“Pelleted clouds thronged the sky, like Styrofoam peanuts seen from a compound eye.”I was willing to wade through all that to glean his thoughts about the game and his place in it. By the next-to-last chapter, though — an interminable narrative using a clumsy pseudo-interview technique, asking and then answering a litany of questions — I was eager for the book to end._All the Wrong Moves_ has enough interesting content to merit two-and-a-half stars from me. I’ll round up to three for the sake of encouraging chess journalism. But I wish the book were, like a Bobby Fischer chess game, less ostentatiously calculated and more naturally flowing.

Parts of this are excellent. When on form, he conveys a good sense of what it feels like to be a chess fanatic. He does so with a charming humility. He clearly has some chess talent, but the defeats he faced in many (perhaps most) of the games described are spelt out with some candour.I wish he had given more information about the various chess strategies. Towards the end, he starts to do this, and to do it well, but I wish he had done so from the outset.My reluctance over the fourth star is because there is simply too much irrelevant information. Whilst humble about his chess talent, he is much less so in respect of his love life. Equally, the reader does not need so much detail about the consequences of digestive distress whilst attempting to participate in a tournament in India, nor of his intake of psychedelics.I'm happy to recommend this, but saddened on reflection of how much better it could have been.

On Chapin's journey to pursue his obsessive passion, his mentor and chess grandmaster Ben Finegold often quips, "the truth hurts", and indeed as Chapin's overwhelming love for chess bumps up with the cold, ambivalent reality of both the game and his life, Chapin is forced to wrestle with some profound but painful truths.The writing is intelligent and often hilarious, and in it Chapin bares his naiveties, insecurities, and deepest desires in full, giving us an honest account of the mixture of hope, anxiety, elation, and disappointment he experiences in his quest for meaning and greatness.Throughout the narrative Chapin gives a gripping and personal exposition of the game, from its austere beauty to its singular significance as a human endeavor. In chess, Chapin sees a simple yet combinatorially infinite world of "perfect information" free from the ambiguities that plague life. This brutal honesty is a paradox for Chapin as it's what both attracts him to the game but also painfully exposes his familiar tendency to idealize life.Though Chapin never reaches the heights of chess glory he dreamed of at the outset of his journey, he triumphs in a more human and profound way as he comes to understand an enigmatic, koan-like secret of the game, and just maybe his life.

As a regular chess player of moderate status (a typical club player), I was looking forward to this account of the author's obsession with chess and how it affected his life. I was somewhat disappointed. Although the author accurately describes the tensions involved in the game, and provides helpful explanations for non-players throughout, his personality as described is rather unpleasant. His attitude to his girl friends is weird, and his travels around the world to get to chess events made me wonder where he got his money from. The descriptions of his games also did not ring true; most games end with an agreed draw or a resignation, not with a checkmate as the author implies. The author writes in an entertaining style, but makes him out to be an unlikeable individual.

The dvd was in mint condition and the service was good.

Had been looking forward to the book as the reviews have been great.I just didn't like it much at all. The author describes his addiction well but he doesn't go into enough detail on how it affected him and what he was doing to boost his addiction. He tells of long nights playing online chess and some coaching he had with GM Finegold but I think this area needed to be expanded.This traveling around the world do play is a bit offbeat as there is more than enough avenues to be in tournaments in the US.I just felt the book was a bit bland and dull.

Well written. Clever use of words . A memoir about chess which will make you smile ( somehow ) .

I loved the humorous descriptions of Sasha's chess adventures and being a lifelong chess player myself made this book even more enjoyable. Having said that, chess knowledge isn't a requirement to enjoy this book. The awkward struggles and thoughtful often poignant musings of the author make this book relatable for anyone.Sasha is a wonderful writer. I recommend this book wholeheartedly.