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Categories: Science fiction Fantasy Mystery Romance Business Classic Sports Young adult Humor Memoirs See all categories... |
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Categories: Science fiction Fantasy Mystery Romance Business Classic Sports Young adult Humor Memoirs See all categories... |
An idea that I'm surprised hasn't been imitated more: a satire masquerading as a self-help manual. While pretending to instruct you in the various tricks you can use to make your opponents feel uncomfortable, Potter takes generally quite successful pot-shots at all sorts of targets. The most obvious one is, of course, the ridiculous lengths people will go to in order to win games, but there are few aspects of British society that escape unscathed. He's completely deadpan throughout; in fact, when I first came across this book at age 10 or so, I didn't realize it was a satire.My favourite section, you will not be surprised to hear, is the one on chess. Potter sensibly points out that there is no way a person unversed in chess theory will be able to beat a chess expert. Instead, he recommends the Potter Gambit: you play any three moves and then resign, after which you use some version of the following script."Very nice! Well, I must resign of course."Your opponent will have no idea what's going on, so you elaborate a little:"Oh wait! When you exchange, I could perhaps recapture with the bishop... ah... no, it doesn't work, does it. Your queen comes in and it's all over."You shake your opponent's hand vigorously and add:"Would you mind if I made a note of it? Interesting position. I suppose I should write it up for The British Chess Magazine, they usually publish these things."
