THE DEAFENING SILENCE


That sound you hear is just the deafening silence which results when
a weakness is attacked, and a device known as "diversion" is used to
direct attention to something else -- anything else, but the sore spot.

We might hear frequent rustling of leaves in the form of muffled ad
hominem attacks on Taylor Kingston's 2300 rating. Or we could hear
sounds of moaning and groaning regarding one of Keene's better works,
to which our attention is happily directed. What we will *not* hear is
any sound whatever regarding the book on the Nimzo-Indian defense,
because it could be considered a Herculean task to defend it against
the hordes of criticism.

Heck, so far we have been treated to comments by Keene himself that
his notes to the games have stood up surprisingly well to scrutiny by
those not under time pressure, whereas he was literally forced (under
penalty of death, I suppose) to churn out certain books in two days or
less.
Similarly, we have been treated to comments as to how "objective"
Keene was to extract but a single word as fairly summing up Winter's
own assessment of one of Keene's books, and told we can easily verify
this "objectivity" by looking through our handy back issues of some
British magazine dating back to 1984. Naturally, we all have saved
these magazines from when we lived in Bristol on the strand (before
unwisely moving to America, when we had to make do with inferior stuff
put out by the USCF).


IMO, Taylor Kingston managed to reveal an anti-Keene bias in his
review of one of Keene's better works, but he nevertheless hit the mark
several times in his defense against Keene's attack on same.
When an author points to a specific game as showing that Nimzo did
not originate a certain idea, he gives readers the distinct impression
that the player in that game did -- whether this was his intention or
not. This is why great books are written with great care. In defense
of his book, Keene denies having attempted to root out the origins of
some "hypermodern" openings, at which I can only wonder why not?
Laziness?

It seems to me that both Larry Parr and Ray Keene are ready and
willing to "discuss" the insta-books, but not the one on the
Nimzo-Indian. The reason is obvious: the circumstances and deadline
for the insta-books is a handy "out", whereas in the case of a book on
some opening, there is really no handy excuse for doing a poor or even
mediocre job.
IMO, the all too frequent references to sales and multiple editions
tells the tale he the "standards" by which Keene operates have not
the letter "s" fore and aft, but dollar signs. Make that British
pounds sterling. He's not attempting to create a masterpiece, a
classic or a work of art, but something else -- and this is the sole
"standard" by which he judges his own success, and expects to be judged
by others.


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