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Date: 22 Mar 2008 10:17:20
From: samsloan
Subject: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent to
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Late last night I sent "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson to the printers for reprinting. It should be out and available for sale in ten days to two weeks. When it comes out it will be available on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/092389182X Does anybody have the dust cover for this book and for the other Watson Book "Watson on the Play of the Hand"? I have several copies of these books but only the hard cover book, not the dust cover. I really need the dust cover to make my own cover. After that comes out I will also be reprinting the next Watson book, which will appear at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891749 I know that if I were going to start playing bridge again, I would read Watson's "Outline of Contract Bridge" first, for the simple reason that it is short enough to digest. The section on The Play of the Hand is only 149 pages and I could get through that much more easily than the 492 page longer book. Sam Sloan http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891943
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Date: 21 Apr 2008 18:11:25
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent
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The two Watson books on bridge are out now. The reprinting of these books was completed last week. You will be able to see that my reprint is a vast improvement over the 1958 Sam Fry reprint. My fonts are larger and clearer. His were smaller and a bit fuzzy as his book was basically a photocopy. In short, my reprints are 1000% better than the previous reprint. This is because of the benefits of modern high technology. It is now possible for a reprint to come out clearer and better than the original. My three reprinted bridge books are available on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/092389182X http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891749 http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891943 Sam Sloan On 22, 1:17 pm, samsloan <[email protected] > wrote: > Late last night I sent "The Outline of ContractBridge" by Louis H.Watson to the printers for reprinting. > > It should be out and available for sale in ten days to two weeks. When > it comes out it will be available on Amazon at: > > http://www.amazon.com/dp/092389182X > > Does anybody have the dust cover for this book and for the other Watson Book "Watson on the Play of the Hand"? I have several copies of > these books but only the hard cover book, not the dust cover. I really > need the dust cover to make my own cover. > > After that comes out I will also be reprinting the next Watson book, > which will appear at: > > http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891749 > > I know that if I were going to start playing bridge again, I would > read Watson's"Outline of Contract Bridge" first, for the simple > reason that it is short enough to digest. The section on The Play of > the Hand is only 149 pages and I could get through that much more > easily than the 492 page longer book. > > Sam Sloan > > http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891943
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Date: 30 Mar 2008 05:29:15
From: Rob
Subject: Soup From SLoan
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On 30, 6:23 am, samsloan <[email protected] > wrote: > On 27, 12:24 pm, Rob <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > On 27, 8:26 am, samsloan <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > On 27, 5:28 am, J=FCrgen R. <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Why don't you tell them about the report of Peter Leko's death? Or s= hall I? > > > > > Peter Leko is a well known Hungarian chess player. Sam Sloan is ... = well you > > > > have gotten a whiff of Sam Sloan recently, so you have some idea wha= t he is. > > > > > Sam Sloan, before he became a publisher, used to pretend that he was= , > > > > among other things, a journalist. One day he reported that Peter Lek= o, who > > > > is a live and well, had died. This became a joke on the chess news g= roups, > > > > because it describes Sloan's regard for the truth so well. > > > > > Not much later Sloan disappeared from his favorite news group > > > > (rec.games.chess.politics) > > > > which I sometimes read for entertainment, apparently because > > > > he hadn't paid his phone bill. So I posted the spoof that he had die= d. > > > > The "Peter Leko is Dead" incident was a hoax that took place on Dec 1= > > > 2002 at 11:46 pm, which is nearly six years ago. > > > > It was first reported on ICC that Peter Leko was dead by a hoaxer who > > > has never been identified. I heard that Peter Leko was dead almost > > > simultaneously from several sources, all of whom turned out to have > > > seen it on ICC. > > > > I reported it to the chess newsgroups and to readers of my email > > > lists. Several others did as well, including Susan Polgar who > > > broadcast it on WCN, the World Chess Network. > > > > Only nine hours later, I reported that it had been a hoax. This is the= > > > part of the story that J=FCrgen R. fails to mention every time he brin= gs > > > this up, that not only was I one of many who fell for the hoax but > > > also I was among the first to report that it had been a hoax. > > > > J=FCrgen R. also fails to mention that Susan Polgar who is Hungarian > > > like Peter Leko and had actually grown up with him in Budapest, also > > > reported that Peter Leko was dead. > > > > Almost every news reporter has fallen for a hoax at one time or > > > another. Dan Rather still to this day refuses to admit that the > > > infamous "Killian Documents" were a hoax. > > > > None of this justifies the report by J=FCrgen R. that I was dead, nor > > > his claim now that I had failed to pay my telephone bill nor his many > > > other false statements that J=FCrgen R. (who remains anonymous) has > > > posted about me over the years. > > > > Sam Sloan > > > Adam Beneschan and the Bridge Community, > > Please be aware that you will begin to become infested with zillions > > of cross-posts from Sam Sloan. In short measure his simple interest in > > your game will distort his significance beyond all measure. Please be > > fore warned and prepared. Do not exibit the least interest in his > > projects as you will become embroiled in useless conflicts which can > > only damage your game. Pray he does not attempt to entrench himself in > > your national organizations or they may soon become targets for his > > frivilous lawsuits. Frivilous though they may be they still require a > > defense and cost thousands of dollars to simply respond to prior to > > dismissal. > > Best of luck! > > Rob > <Sloan Drivel snipped > Beware of Mohammed <The Liar > Sloan
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Date: 30 Mar 2008 04:23:37
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: Dear Bridge Player: Beware Sam Sloan
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On 27, 12:24 pm, Rob <[email protected] > wrote: > On 27, 8:26 am, samsloan <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > On 27, 5:28 am, J=FCrgen R. <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Why don't you tell them about the report of Peter Leko's death? Or sha= ll I? > > > > Peter Leko is a well known Hungarian chess player. Sam Sloan is ... we= ll you > > > have gotten a whiff of Sam Sloan recently, so you have some idea what = he is. > > > > Sam Sloan, before he became a publisher, used to pretend that he was, > > > among other things, a journalist. One day he reported that Peter Leko,= who > > > is a live and well, had died. This became a joke on the chess news gro= ups, > > > because it describes Sloan's regard for the truth so well. > > > > Not much later Sloan disappeared from his favorite news group > > > (rec.games.chess.politics) > > > which I sometimes read for entertainment, apparently because > > > he hadn't paid his phone bill. So I posted the spoof that he had died.= > > > The "Peter Leko is Dead" incident was a hoax that took place on Dec 1 > > 2002 at 11:46 pm, which is nearly six years ago. > > > It was first reported on ICC that Peter Leko was dead by a hoaxer who > > has never been identified. I heard that Peter Leko was dead almost > > simultaneously from several sources, all of whom turned out to have > > seen it on ICC. > > > I reported it to the chess newsgroups and to readers of my email > > lists. Several others did as well, including Susan Polgar who > > broadcast it on WCN, the World Chess Network. > > > Only nine hours later, I reported that it had been a hoax. This is the > > part of the story that J=FCrgen R. fails to mention every time he brings= > > this up, that not only was I one of many who fell for the hoax but > > also I was among the first to report that it had been a hoax. > > > J=FCrgen R. also fails to mention that Susan Polgar who is Hungarian > > like Peter Leko and had actually grown up with him in Budapest, also > > reported that Peter Leko was dead. > > > Almost every news reporter has fallen for a hoax at one time or > > another. Dan Rather still to this day refuses to admit that the > > infamous "Killian Documents" were a hoax. > > > None of this justifies the report by J=FCrgen R. that I was dead, nor > > his claim now that I had failed to pay my telephone bill nor his many > > other false statements that J=FCrgen R. (who remains anonymous) has > > posted about me over the years. > > > Sam Sloan > > Adam Beneschan and the Bridge Community, > Please be aware that you will begin to become infested with zillions > of cross-posts from Sam Sloan. In short measure his simple interest in > your game will distort his significance beyond all measure. Please be > fore warned and prepared. Do not exibit the least interest in his > projects as you will become embroiled in useless conflicts which can > only damage your game. Pray he does not attempt to entrench himself in > your national organizations or they may soon become targets for his > frivilous lawsuits. Frivilous though they may be they still require a > defense and cost thousands of dollars to simply respond to prior to > dismissal. > Best of luck! > Rob Please note that Rob, who posted the above, is not a chess player at all. He is not a member of the United States Chess Federation, much less an official of one. He has no USCF rating. He has never played a rated game of chess in his life. He has never had any status or position in chess. He has applied several times for jobs working for the USCF and has been turned down every time. He became known as Rob ("The Robber") Mitchell after there were complaints from potential investors that he had been trying to swindle them. He had been going around claiming that he had a contract with Bobby Fischer to play a chess match for $14 million and he wanted for investors to give him $35,000 front money to organize the match. Of course, Bobby Fischer had signed no such contract and had never even heard of Rob Mitchell. Sam Sloan
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Date: 29 Mar 2008 17:37:54
From: Tim
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent
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On 29, 8:03 pm, samsloan <[email protected] > wrote: > I just this minute sent the book "Watson on the Play of the Hand at > Contract Bridge" to the printers. This is the famous book that every > strong bridge player in the world has read and studied in great > detail. I doubt that is the case. But, we're unlikely to find out by polling RGB.
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Date: 01 Apr 2008 00:32:10
From:
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent to the printers
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On Sat, 29 2008 17:37:54 -0700 (PDT), Tim <[email protected] > wrote: >On 29, 8:03 pm, samsloan <[email protected]> wrote: >> I just this minute sent the book "Watson on the Play of the Hand at >> Contract Bridge" to the printers. This is the famous book that every >> strong bridge player in the world has read and studied in great >> detail. > >I doubt that is the case. But, we're unlikely to find out by polling >RGB. This has nothing to do with chess. Stop Spamming unless you want your own 'group' spammed. This constant idiotic spamming of offtopic newsgroups that make you a target sloan. I have NO sympathy for your pathetic attemts against the USCF because you are too stupid to figure out that non chess items should NOT be posted to chess newsgroups. J.LOhner
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Date: 29 Mar 2008 17:03:50
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent
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I just this minute sent the book "Watson on the Play of the Hand at Contract Bridge" to the printers. This is the famous book that every strong bridge player in the world has read and studied in great detail. When the book comes out in about ten days or less, it will appear at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891749 I need especially to thank Tim Bourke. He sent me a scan of the cover of the original book. The cover itself contains useful information. I have restored the cover to its original perfect condition and put it on the book. I am also re-doing the other Watson book for the same reason: That is the book entitled "The Outline of Contract Bridge: Part I Contract Bidding Part II The Play of the Hand". Thanks again to Tim Bourke I am in the process of putting the original cover on that book as well. That book is available now at http://www.amazon.com/dp/092389182X but without the original cover yet. Sam Sloan
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Date: 28 Mar 2008 13:18:54
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent
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On 22, 1:17 pm, samsloan <[email protected] > wrote: > Late last night I sent "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. > Watson to the printers for reprinting. > > It should be out and available for sale in ten days to two weeks. When > it comes out it will be available on Amazon at: > > http://www.amazon.com/dp/092389182X The book is out, published today. See: http://www.amazon.com/dp/092389182X However, thanks to Tim Bourke I now have a copy of the original cover. I will be putting the original cover on the book in a few days. Sam Sloan
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Date: 26 Mar 2008 19:41:12
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent
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On 26, 6:43 pm, J=FCrgen R. <[email protected] > wrote: > There is no point correcting your misconceptions about copyright law, > but one thing is certain: You have no right to most of the books > that you are copying and trying to sell. Readers here should be made aware that J=FCrgen R. is an Internet gadfly who has a long history of attacking me all the time. It was J=FCrgen R. who announced that I was dead, a report that was widely believed at the time. See: http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.chess.politics/msg/3f2a877bdcae8075= What had really happened is that I was moving and lost my Internet connection for about two weeks. By the time I got back online and discovered the "Sam Sloan dead" thread, there had been one hundred postings about my supposed "death" and even church prayers had been extended for me. Even two of my children thought that I was really dead. Recently J=FCrgen R. has been saying that my reprinted books are made at Kinko Copies. Anybody who has seen my books and has seen the incredibly high quality of production knows that this is not true. Now J=FCrgen R. is saying that my reprints violate copyright laws. I can assure the readers here that in every case I have checked the copyright status carefully. In the case of my books, where the authors are still alive, I have signed contracts with the authors to print or reprint their books. And example is Elista Diaries where a former world chess champion asked me to reprint his book. (Book sales are down worldwide and many major book publishers have gone out of business. Suddenly I have become the book publisher of choice. I have published 37 books in the last year and a half. (Note that the number went up over what it was a few days ago.)) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891978 Regarding the Watson books, Louis Watson died in 1936. His widow reried only one year later. He had no kids. Under copyright law in effect at that time, the copyright had to be renewed in exactly the 28th year or else it had expired. The copyright was not renewed. Thus, the book is in public domain and I or anybody else has the right to reprint it. The first book of the two books will be out in the next two or three days. As this has been going on for several years, I probably should sue him but, like so many Internet posters, J=FCrgen R. is a fake name. Nobody knows what his real name is. Sam Sloan http://www.amazon.com/dp/092389182X http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891749
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Date: 26 Mar 2008 15:47:21
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent
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On 26, 7:24 am, J=FCrgen R. <[email protected] > wrote: > "Carl" <[email protected]> schrieb im Newsbeitragnews:7e66c3bf-1dd5-4252= [email protected]... > > > > > On 25, 7:47 pm, David Babcock <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > the Harkness book is one of the very first books to introduce > >> > the "Goren Standard American" system of bidding. The system under > >> > which Ace =3D 4, King =3D 3, Queen =3D 2 and Jack =3D 1 is introduced= on page > >> > 72 of the Harkness Book. > > >> From Milton's Work's _Contract Bridge_ (1927): > > >> "Reckon an Ace as 4, a King as 3, a Queen as 2, and a Jack as 1." (p. > >> 28). > > >> On a related matter, I have spoken with Amazon about the > >> misattribution of the authorship of the Harkness reprint to Goren in > >> the listing on their site; their customer support representative > >> appreciated the information, repeated everything back to me (at his > >> suggestion), and said he is forwarding the information to a > >> supervisor. Perhaps Mr. Sloan's hope that the error will be corrected > >> is just a bit closer to realization. > > >> David > > > Amazon Customer Support is the galactic opposite of eBay. They > > actually listen and then act on the information. I manage several > > forums, of which one is for book sellers. 99% of the members speak > > well of Amazon. > > This may be so; however, even for Amazon it isn't a simple matter to > determine > who owns a Copyright. Sloan seems to be selecting books that might either = be > in the public domain or under Copyright that isn't likely to be defended. > > The grossest error he has made so far is to copy a book by G.M. Kasparyan > (Domination in 2545 Endgame Studies). This is an important book that went > through several editions in Russia. Kasparyan died in 1995, so the Copyrig= ht > cannot have expired. The English translation was published by 'Progress', > which didn't survive the ravages of Capitalism. Most likely one or another= > of the Oligarchs holds the rights to the book lists of Progress and Mir, > the foreign language publishers in the days of the Soviets; and sooner or > later they will realize that these are valuable. The Kasparyan book was published in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union did not honor international copyright law and pirated many, many books published in the West. An example is "My 60 Memorable Games" by Bobby Fischer. Since the Soviet Union did not recognize our copyrights, we do not recognize their's. Also, the Kasparyan book was itself a copyright violation. Kasparyan himself composed only a few of the problems in the book. The rest were created by other composers. For example, the Kasparyan book cites "365 Selected Chess Endgames" by Norman T. Whitaker. Whitaker was an American. I knew him well. (Nothing to do with the Lindbergh kidnapping though.) I have reprinted both the Whitaker book and the Kasparyan book. See: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891846 http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891870 Somebody on this group, it may have been J=FCrgen R. himself, contacted the Russian State Press when my reprint of the Kasparyan book came out last year, and reported back here that they have no rights to and no interest in the Kasparyan book. Sam Sloan
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Date: 25 Mar 2008 18:51:17
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent
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On 25, 6:47 pm, David Babcock <[email protected] > wrote: > > the Harkness book is one of the very first books to introduce > > the "Goren Standard American" system of bidding. The system under > > which Ace = 4, King = 3, Queen = 2 and Jack = 1 is introduced on page > > 72 of the Harkness Book. > > From Milton's Work's _Contract Bridge_ (1927): > > "Reckon an Ace as 4, a King as 3, a Queen as 2, and a Jack as 1." (p. > 28). > > On a related matter, I have spoken with Amazon about the > misattribution of the authorship of the Harkness reprint to Goren in > the listing on their site; their customer support representative > appreciated the information, repeated everything back to me (at his > suggestion), and said he is forwarding the information to a > supervisor. Perhaps Mr. Sloan's hope that the error will be corrected > is just a bit closer to realization. > > David Thank you very much. It certainly bothers me that they list Charles Goren as the author rather than Harkness first because Goren is much more popular among bridge players and readers and some will feel no doubt feel misled when they find out that the book is actually by Harkness, and secondly because I reprinted the book priily as a tribute to Harkness since I have also reprinted two of his chess books. Thank you again. Sam Sloan
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Date: 25 Mar 2008 17:38:54
From: Carl
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent
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On 25, 7:47 pm, David Babcock <[email protected] > wrote: > > the Harkness book is one of the very first books to introduce > > the "Goren Standard American" system of bidding. The system under > > which Ace = 4, King = 3, Queen = 2 and Jack = 1 is introduced on page > > 72 of the Harkness Book. > > From Milton's Work's _Contract Bridge_ (1927): > > "Reckon an Ace as 4, a King as 3, a Queen as 2, and a Jack as 1." (p. > 28). > > On a related matter, I have spoken with Amazon about the > misattribution of the authorship of the Harkness reprint to Goren in > the listing on their site; their customer support representative > appreciated the information, repeated everything back to me (at his > suggestion), and said he is forwarding the information to a > supervisor. Perhaps Mr. Sloan's hope that the error will be corrected > is just a bit closer to realization. > > David Amazon Customer Support is the galactic opposite of eBay. They actually listen and then act on the information. I manage several forums, of which one is for book sellers. 99% of the members speak well of Amazon.
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Date: 26 Mar 2008 13:24:40
From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?J=FCrgen_R.?=
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent to the printers
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"Carl" <[email protected] > schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:7e66c3bf-1dd5-4252-85cb-0886ffcd3058@a23g2000hsc.googlegroups.com... > On 25, 7:47 pm, David Babcock <[email protected]> wrote: >> > the Harkness book is one of the very first books to introduce >> > the "Goren Standard American" system of bidding. The system under >> > which Ace = 4, King = 3, Queen = 2 and Jack = 1 is introduced on page >> > 72 of the Harkness Book. >> >> From Milton's Work's _Contract Bridge_ (1927): >> >> "Reckon an Ace as 4, a King as 3, a Queen as 2, and a Jack as 1." (p. >> 28). >> >> On a related matter, I have spoken with Amazon about the >> misattribution of the authorship of the Harkness reprint to Goren in >> the listing on their site; their customer support representative >> appreciated the information, repeated everything back to me (at his >> suggestion), and said he is forwarding the information to a >> supervisor. Perhaps Mr. Sloan's hope that the error will be corrected >> is just a bit closer to realization. >> >> David > > Amazon Customer Support is the galactic opposite of eBay. They > actually listen and then act on the information. I manage several > forums, of which one is for book sellers. 99% of the members speak > well of Amazon. > This may be so; however, even for Amazon it isn't a simple matter to determine who owns a Copyright. Sloan seems to be selecting books that might either be in the public domain or under Copyright that isn't likely to be defended. The grossest error he has made so far is to copy a book by G.M. Kasparyan (Domination in 2545 Endgame Studies). This is an important book that went through several editions in Russia. Kasparyan died in 1995, so the Copyright cannot have expired. The English translation was published by 'Progress', which didn't survive the ravages of Capitalism. Most likely one or another of the Oligarchs holds the rights to the book lists of Progress and Mir, the foreign language publishers in the days of the Soviets; and sooner or later they will realize that these are valuable.
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Date: 25 Mar 2008 16:47:07
From: David Babcock
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent
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> the Harkness book is one of the very first books to introduce > the "Goren Standard American" system of bidding. The system under > which Ace = 4, King = 3, Queen = 2 and Jack = 1 is introduced on page > 72 of the Harkness Book. From Milton's Work's _Contract Bridge_ (1927): "Reckon an Ace as 4, a King as 3, a Queen as 2, and a Jack as 1." (p. 28). On a related matter, I have spoken with Amazon about the misattribution of the authorship of the Harkness reprint to Goren in the listing on their site; their customer support representative appreciated the information, repeated everything back to me (at his suggestion), and said he is forwarding the information to a supervisor. Perhaps Mr. Sloan's hope that the error will be corrected is just a bit closer to realization. David
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Date: 25 Mar 2008 09:39:50
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent
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On 25, 1:10 am, tin Ambuhl <[email protected] > wrote: > samsloan wrote: > > I can assure you that I have studied the subject, I know copyright law > > very well, and I have consulted with the Copyright Office and the > > Library of Congress in Washington DC. > > > I know what I am doing. > > For certain values of "know what [you] are doing." Republishing Kenneth > Harkness's trivial re-presentation of Culbertson, a book of little > interest in its time and almost none now, republishing Watson's _outline > of Contract Bridge_, which even you suggest ignoring half of, a half > that is a minimalist rehashing of Culbertson's books; republishing the > unexpanded and uncorrected version of Watson's _Play of the Hand_: all > these suggest that you haven't a clue what you are doing. Sorry, but you are mistaken. The book, Invitation to Bridge by Kenneth Harkness, is not a "trivial re-presentation of Culbertson". It has nothing to do with the Culbertson System. The term "honor tricks" is never mentioned in the Harkness book. Rather, the Harkness book is one of the very first books to introduce the "Goren Standard American" system of bidding. The system under which Ace = 4, King = 3, Queen = 2 and Jack = 1 is introduced on page 72 of the Harkness Book. Also, Harkness was a professional writer who happened to play bridge, as opposed to other authors who were professional bridge players who happened to write too. Harkness worked as a writer and editor of radio articles and textbooks before he got involved in chess and bridge. I am not qualified to make a comparison but I would imagine that his explanations are easier to read and understand than that of other writers. Regarding "The Outline of Contract Bridge", I briefly considered reprinting just the part that deals with The Play of the Hand for which Watson is famous, but since the play of the hand is affected by the bidding, I had to leave that in. Also, as Watson points out, there is a best contract for every deal and in principle every correct bidding system should reach the same contract. Of course, we realize that this is just in theory, as in practice it does not work out that way. I have been through every page of the original 1934 book "Watson on the Play of the Hand at Contract Bridge" and compared it with the 1958 update by Sam Fry and I am unable to find any changes at all in the text. Sam Fry just added 12 pages at the end, which is the equivalent of two or three issues of a daily newspaper column. Sam Fry also added footnotes to the bottom of some of the pages, but I am unable to find any other changes. The original Watson book was not even retyped. It was just a photocopy of the original. When my book comes out next week, you will be able to see clearly that my books are much better. The fonts will be larger, clearer and easier to read. The pages will be blown up and bigger. I took several of my new books to Foxwoods this past weekend and everybody who saw them agreed that the print quality is superior to that of the original books. Sam Sloan http://www.amazon.com/dp/092389182X http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891749 http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891943
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Date: 25 Mar 2008 13:20:49
From: Martin Ambuhl
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been
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samsloan wrote: > On 25, 1:10 am, tin Ambuhl <[email protected]> wrote: >> samsloan wrote: >>> I can assure you that I have studied the subject, I know copyright law >>> very well, and I have consulted with the Copyright Office and the >>> Library of Congress in Washington DC. >>> I know what I am doing. >> For certain values of "know what [you] are doing." Republishing Kenneth >> Harkness's trivial re-presentation of Culbertson, a book of little >> interest in its time and almost none now, republishing Watson's _outline >> of Contract Bridge_, which even you suggest ignoring half of, a half >> that is a minimalist rehashing of Culbertson's books; republishing the >> unexpanded and uncorrected version of Watson's _Play of the Hand_: all >> these suggest that you haven't a clue what you are doing. > > Sorry, but you are mistaken. The book, Invitation to Bridge by Kenneth > Harkness, is not a "trivial re-presentation of Culbertson". It has > nothing to do with the Culbertson System. The term "honor tricks" is > never mentioned in the Harkness book. Again proving you haven't a clue. 1) An evaluation technique is not a bidding system. 2) Ely Culbertson published books using point-count evaluation, and after his death his wife Jo taught point-count evaluation exclusively. "Culbertson" and "honor tricks" by no means imply each other 3) Goren's methods of 1950 were nothing more than Culbertson's with a short-suit count for distribution instead of the exactly equivalent long-suit count the Culbertsons were using, but with additional conceptual errors. > > Rather, the Harkness book is one of the very first books to introduce > the "Goren Standard American" system of bidding. This is simply a lie. You have been told, for example, of Goren's _Point Count Bidding_ (a year before Harkness) _Standard Book of Bidding_ (6 years before Harkness) _Contract Bridge in a Nutshell_ (4 years before Harkness) _Contract Bridge Complete_ (8 years before Harkness) And all of the last three had gone through at least two editions (the last through 4) before Harkness's book. You have been told this; you ignored it; now you lie pretending that it isn't true. Further, Goren was a real champion. Harkness was not. Goren's writing was extremely accessible, and has the virtue of being the real thing. Why would anyone bother with Harkness's completely inconsequential scribblings? > The system under > which Ace = 4, King = 3, Queen = 2 and Jack = 1 is introduced on page > 72 of the Harkness Book. And page 1 of Goren's _Contract Bridge Complete_. What's your point? As I said, you haven't a damn clue. You don't know anything about bridge, the history of bidding systems, or the history of bridge publication. You clearly have no idea about what is worth reprinting. You are attempting to fool the few people more clueless than yourself.
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Date: 26 Mar 2008 02:50:02
From: Nomen Nescio
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent
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On 25, 12:20 pm, [email protected] (tin Ambuhl) wrote: > samsloan wrote: > > On 25, 1:10 am, tin Ambuhl <[email protected]> wrote: > >> samsloan wrote: > >>> I can assure you that I have studied the subject, I know copyright law > >>> very well, and I have consulted with the Copyright Office and the > >>> Library of Congress in Washington DC. > >>> I know what I am doing. > >> For certain values of "know what [you] are doing." Republishing Kenneth > >> Harkness's trivial re-presentation of Culbertson, a book of little > >> interest in its time and almost none now, republishing Watson's _outline > >> of Contract Bridge_, which even you suggest ignoring half of, a half > >> that is a minimalist rehashing of Culbertson's books; republishing the > >> unexpanded and uncorrected version of Watson's _Play of the Hand_: all > >> these suggest that you haven't a clue what you are doing. > > > > Sorry, but you are mistaken. The book, Invitation to Bridge by Kenneth > > Harkness, is not a "trivial re-presentation of Culbertson". It has > > nothing to do with the Culbertson System. The term "honor tricks" is > > never mentioned in the Harkness book. > > Again proving you haven't a clue. > 1) An evaluation technique is not a bidding system. > 2) Ely Culbertson published books using point-count evaluation, and > after his death his wife Jo taught point-count evaluation > exclusively. "Culbertson" and "honor tricks" by no means > imply each other > 3) Goren's methods of 1950 were nothing more than Culbertson's with > a short-suit count for distribution instead of the exactly > equivalent long-suit count the Culbertsons were using, but with > additional conceptual errors. > > > > Rather, the Harkness book is one of the very first books to introduce > > the "Goren Standard American" system of bidding. > > This is simply a lie. Sorry, but I do not tell lies.
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Date: 24 Mar 2008 22:17:12
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent
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I can assure you that I have studied the subject, I know copyright law very well, and I have consulted with the Copyright Office and the Library of Congress in Washington DC. I know what I am doing. Sam Sloan
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Date: 25 Mar 2008 02:10:33
From: Martin Ambuhl
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been
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samsloan wrote: > I can assure you that I have studied the subject, I know copyright law > very well, and I have consulted with the Copyright Office and the > Library of Congress in Washington DC. > > I know what I am doing. For certain values of "know what [you] are doing." Republishing Kenneth Harkness's trivial re-presentation of Culbertson, a book of little interest in its time and almost none now, republishing Watson's _outline of Contract Bridge_, which even you suggest ignoring half of, a half that is a minimalist rehashing of Culbertson's books; republishing the unexpanded and uncorrected version of Watson's _Play of the Hand_: all these suggest that you haven't a clue what you are doing.
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Date: 23 Mar 2008 04:46:01
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent
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On 23, 1:24 am, David Babcock <[email protected] > wrote: > > I know that if I were going to start playing bridge again, I would > > read Watson's "Outline of Contract Bridge" first > > because you are aware of its existence. Most newcomers to the game of > bridge won't recognize the name Louis Watson any more than they will > the name Kenneth Harkness, and, preferring new books to old as you > note so many people do, my guess is that they will buy the books their > friends or teachers recommend, or they will browse at the local > Borders or B&N and find something there rather than take a chance on > publishers' blurbs on Amazon. > > The reviews that will come out in Bridge Bulletin and The Bridge World > and perhaps other magazines (you have sent out or will be sending out > review copies of your titles of course) may help, though a survey > commissioned by ACBL a couple of years back found that the vast > majority of bridge players in the US had never heard of ACBL, so they > would not see the Bulletin review-to-be anyway. Otherwise I'm just > not clear on how your intended customers will encounter your > products. The good news is that the ket doesn't much care what I > or any other individual consumer thinks. Only time will tell. > > David Thank you for your helpful suggestions. The truth is that I never heard of Louis Watson myself until a few weeks ago. I always thought that Charles Goren was the World's Greatest Bridge Player. Silly me!! It was my old friend Richard Laver, a chess master and Math Professor at the University of Colorado who played as my bridge partner 40 years ago, who started writing me about these Watson books upon learning that I had recently restarted my publishing company, The Ishi Press (that underwent a hiatus of 10 years without publishing any new books). Due to the wonders of new print-on-demand technology if I can just sell around 20 to 30 books I will break even and thus far almost all of my books have done that with the notable exception with the Kenneth Harkness book "Invitation to Bridge". I have published 34 books in the past year and a half. If you ever get to see one of them, you will see that the print and production qualities are superior to the original books. (By the way, do not believe my long time detractors such as "Rob" and "Jeron" who will try to tell you that I make my books at Kinko Copies. I use a very high quality printer.) The serious bridge players will know that Louis Watson was a great player who tragically died in 1936 at age 29 and whose books are still studied today by all the top players. That is where I hope my ket to be. Sam Sloan
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Date: 22 Mar 2008 23:24:20
From: David Babcock
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent
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> I know that if I were going to start playing bridge again, I would > read Watson's "Outline of Contract Bridge" first because you are aware of its existence. Most newcomers to the game of bridge won't recognize the name Louis Watson any more than they will the name Kenneth Harkness, and, preferring new books to old as you note so many people do, my guess is that they will buy the books their friends or teachers recommend, or they will browse at the local Borders or B&N and find something there rather than take a chance on publishers' blurbs on Amazon. The reviews that will come out in Bridge Bulletin and The Bridge World and perhaps other magazines (you have sent out or will be sending out review copies of your titles of course) may help, though a survey commissioned by ACBL a couple of years back found that the vast majority of bridge players in the US had never heard of ACBL, so they would not see the Bulletin review-to-be anyway. Otherwise I'm just not clear on how your intended customers will encounter your products. The good news is that the ket doesn't much care what I or any other individual consumer thinks. Only time will tell. David
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Date: 22 Mar 2008 18:49:32
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent
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On 22, 5:40 pm, "Tyler Eaves" <[email protected] > wrote: > samsloan wrote: > > Late last night I sent "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. > > Watson to the printers for reprinting. > > > It should be out and available for sale in ten days to two weeks. When > > it comes out it will be available on Amazon at: > > >http://www.amazon.com/dp/092389182X > > > Does anybody have the dust cover for this book and for the other > > Watson Book "Watson on the Play of the Hand"? I have several copies of > > these books but only the hard cover book, not the dust cover. I really > > need the dust cover to make my own cover. > > > After that comes out I will also be reprinting the next Watson book, > > which will appear at: > > >http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891749 > > > I know that if I were going to start playing bridge again, I would > > read Watson's "Outline of Contract Bridge" first, for the simple > > reason that it is short enough to digest. The section on The Play of > > the Hand is only 149 pages and I could get through that much more > > easily than the 492 page longer book. > > > Sam Sloan > > >http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891943 > > Uh, you realise "Play of the Hand" is still in-print, right? > > -- What is "in print" is "Watson's Classic Book on the Play of the Hand at Bridge By Louis H. Watson New Edition Enlarged and Modernized by Sam Fry, Jr." published in 1958 by Sterling Publishing Co. Inc. That book is entirely different from the book that I am reprinting, which is entitled "The Outline of Contract Bridge: Part I Contract Bidding, Part II The Play of the Hand". Not a single word is the same. In addition, the 1958 book says =A9 1958 by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. That is a false copyright notice. I know this because I have encountered another "copyright" by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., which turned out just to be a copy of a book published in the Soviet Union in 1923 by an author who had died in the Soviet Union in 1942. Sam Sloan
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Date: 22 Mar 2008 21:40:41
From: Tyler Eaves
Subject: Re: "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. Watson has been sent to the printers
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samsloan wrote: > Late last night I sent "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis H. > Watson to the printers for reprinting. > > It should be out and available for sale in ten days to two weeks. When > it comes out it will be available on Amazon at: > > http://www.amazon.com/dp/092389182X > > Does anybody have the dust cover for this book and for the other > Watson Book "Watson on the Play of the Hand"? I have several copies of > these books but only the hard cover book, not the dust cover. I really > need the dust cover to make my own cover. > > After that comes out I will also be reprinting the next Watson book, > which will appear at: > > http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891749 > > I know that if I were going to start playing bridge again, I would > read Watson's "Outline of Contract Bridge" first, for the simple > reason that it is short enough to digest. The section on The Play of > the Hand is only 149 pages and I could get through that much more > easily than the 492 page longer book. > > Sam Sloan > > http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891943 Uh, you realise "Play of the Hand" is still in-print, right? --
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