The Secret of Chess

[Henk]

Right, a lot of presentations, a lot of attention.
I should do a round trip of Holland once.

Some years ago during open NK tournament in Dieren they also once had a book presentation at one evening I remember. Perhaps only thirty people were attending/watching.

[Ovyron]

This type of thing needs irrefutable proof, and a video demonstration is a very convincing way to show something to people far away.

Well, I wonder if Lyudmil eats from the same soup that he serves...

The other day I saw him claiming that he had provided ideas that have made Stockfish stronger, and thus, that he had the rights to forbid people from using the engine, and he used it to tell some people that he didn't give them permission to use Stockfish, and that they should stop using it.

Well, in 2011 I suggested a change that gave +8 elo to Stockfish, I wonder what Lyudmil would say if I used the same ideas against him and didn't give him my permission to use the engine, that'd sure put a premature ending to his Youtube career!

[Henk]

Right, a lot of presentations, a lot of attention.
I should do a round trip of Holland once.

No need.

Just create a YouTube channel where you demonstrate how to draw with or beat Stockfish and you'll have GMs lining up with questions.

This type of thing needs irrefutable proof, and a video demonstration is a very convincing way to show something to people far away.

If you give away too much for free on youtube viewers may not buy your book anymore.

[BrendanJNorman]

Right, a lot of presentations, a lot of attention.
I should do a round trip of Holland once.

No need.

Just create a YouTube channel where you demonstrate how to draw with or beat Stockfish and you'll have GMs lining up with questions.

This type of thing needs irrefutable proof, and a video demonstration is a very convincing way to show something to people far away.

If you give away too much for free on youtube viewers may not buy your book anymore.

Not true at all.

This is scarcity thinking from an (I assume) non-marketer.

The biggest companies in the world (including chess companies) have large and active YT channels.

Even course sellers like ChessBase, iChess and chess24...

Does it affect sales? No. It increases them...dramatically.

I work in this "chess marketing" field (i.e illustrating via various mediums to chess enthusiasts, how a certain course, product etc will improve/benefit/make more enjoyable their chess) myself and have seen the results with my own two eyes.

It seems like people would be less likely to buy, but that is simply not true.

In fact, the biggest barrier to skyrocketing sales for Lyudmil (assuming his claims are true) is to provide overwhelming proof.

He needs to overcome the HUGE "This guy is full of shit and begs strong players for book reviews" claim, which is, in my opinion, the reason for his slowdown in sales.

The easiest way to do this with a large audience is via video.

[Henk]

You probably need to publish about 50-200 videos before you create a good one. First videos are usually crap unless you got talent.

Much work and once you start don't give up.

[BrendanJNorman]

You probably need to publish about 50-200 videos before you create a good one. First videos are usually crap unless you got talent.

Much work and once you start don't give up.

Are you speaking from experience? Or could we just take the word "probably" in your statement as meaning that you're guessing?

The guy isn't trying to get rich from adsense revenue (which requires VOLUME of videos).

He is trying to bring attention to a single book, build interest and direct traffic to an amazon landing page.

This is easier because the goal is already clear and each video can be directed around it and make mentions to passages in the book to build curiosity in the viewers.

He can also give away maybe 2 chapters for free via PDF, and place the link in the description of the videos.

A ton of people will grab it and those interested will purchase.

This is very basic direct response marketing strategy.

It is made MUCH MUCH easier by the fact that an obscure, middle-aged 2100 guy is outplaying Stockfish (3450Elo) live on camera.

An engine that even 2700 GMs recently said "I'd be happy to draw 1 game in 100 with Stockfish!"

If Lyudmil's claims are proven true, his videos will go viral overnight in the chess scene.

They'll be shared and sites like Chessbase will do articles on this amazing guy who "hacked" the computer chess algorithm.

And.... His book sales will soar.

Assuming he has this ability, a Youtube channel is a no-brainer.

All the negative thinking in the world won't change this fact.

If I could draw or beat Stockfish (any version!) at will, I'd be rich within a year - easily.

Unfortunately, I'm far too weak.

And back to Lyudmil...

Without concrete proof, everybody is going to see the reviews which Lyudmil didn't email strong players pleading for - which say things like this:

"Throughout the book, Lyudmil is trying to show how he plays better chess than Stockfish, an 3000+ ELO chess engine. We don't know if the games are real, in fact my Stockfish 8.0 don't agree the Stockfish moves in the book. Apparently, the games are fake - anybody with a laptop can make a PGN with some random moves, then change the player name to "Stockfish"."

The only way to overcome this skepticism is to play some live games against Stockfish and turn these non-believers (probably 99.9% of chessplayers) into believers.

And if Lyudmil indeed does this, proves existence of such an amazing talent, and silences the skeptics - there is no limit to what he can acheive.

It'll only take ONE or TWO videos to prove this, not 50-200.

[Henk]

I you have not created a video before you make basic mistakes. Bad light, bad usage of voice, bad microphone, bad camera, bad usage of camera, noisy background etcetera. People don't like watching crap videos so they will stop watching after twenty seconds or so. Takes a couple of videos to get that right.
If you don't have that perfectionism it takes many more.

Also content of video might be too boring. So need to rewrite script several times.

If he is just playing live against Stockfish then it's different of course.

[BrendanJNorman]

I you have not created a video before you make basic mistakes. Bad light, bad usage of voice, bad microphone, bad camera, bad usage of camera, noisy background etcetera. People don't like watching crap videos so they will stop watching after twenty seconds or so. Takes a couple of videos to get that right.
If you don't have that perfectionism it takes many more.

Also content of video might be too boring. So need to rewrite script several times.

Not true in this case Henk.

He is not trying to create a "big" Youtube channel, to create Hollywood blockbusters, or even do well financially with his videos.

What the purpose is, is to provide PROOF of his claims.

His intended audience will be linking like CRAZY to these videos when OTHERS criticize him with things like:



or



or



It doesn't matter if he makes the videos in his underwear, with poor lighting while picking his nose...the utility of the video is in providing proof - and that's all this particular audience wants.

When it is provided, his sales soar.

If it isn't, he is mocked into eternity.

That's the situation as it is.

As a sidenote Henk, the quality of video production seems to mean absolutely nothing in the chess niche.

Kingcrusher has one of the biggest chess channels on YouTube and had absolutely terrible production quality even well beyond 50,000 subscribers.

And the guy (KK) is only 2100 or so....similar level to Lyudmil, but without his magic powers.

There are several others doing the same too.

[hgm]

Like it would be difficult to fake a video...

[BrendanJNorman]

Like it would be difficult to fake a video...

Better to do nothing then, right?

That's the key to success in life.