Monday 16 April 2012

What did go wrong?

Hello Chillians

As always in Alan Williams world, things go slower than expected, so I missed my self-imposed end of March deadline to get What Can Possibly Go Wrong? on the shelves.

But I am very pleased to announce that the book is now finally available for immediate shipment. You can order it online at Ralentango Books.

In a few days time I will also have updated the Chilli bidding site, and the book will also be available through Amazon (but use the Ralentango site if you want a signed copy).

Best wishes

Alan

6 comments:

Takis said...

Congratulations!

Moisés said...

OK, ordered it from amazon. Now I have to wait. I'm eager to see how it ended. :)

So, is this officially Chilli 3.0 or what?

Unknown said...

Moisés

I haven't yet seen your Amazon order, which is probably because they have messed up on their listing. If you go to the product page you'll see the book listed but shown out of stock at Amazon. If you order through their link you will wait forever as they do not have a stock and never will.

Instead use the '2 new' link either below this or under 'More Buying Choices' to order the book from me. You'll pay through the Amazon system and get their buyer protection stuff but it will be me that physically ships the order.

Amazon know about the problem and will fix it soon.

Moisés (and anybody else), if you have done that please cancel your current order and then resubmit using that link.

Alternatively buy from me direct.

Alan

Moisés said...

OK, done. Estimated delivery date, Apr 30, which is cool.

Gavin Tillman said...

I have nearly finished reading the book. Overall I have it enjoyable and clear, although I know I will have some questions.

I know I will need to read it at least one more time before I get it, the system has evolved quite a bit. This is understandable, as the version on the website in general tries to assign a particular meaning to a neutral bid whenever it occurs. However a limited hand isn't going to force, so 2C and 2D can be freed up for other purposes. The book is more complex as it puts these freed up bids to use.

I look forward to the website being revamped. When this happens, please shift some of the superseded ideas into the blog. It would be a shame if the excellent work on shunts, for example, we're lost to posterity - although no longer for chilli, they could sit well within other systems.

More anon

Unknown said...

Hi Gavin

Glad you're enjoying the book - that was the main point of writing it!

I agree that at first read the book may look more complex, with the 2C/2D neutral continuations no longer being always the Invitational/Compelling type.

However the concept of limitation which is behind this is used consistently throughout to determine the meaning of bids e.g. 2NT, suit-setters etc. So hopefully it will all look coherent and worthwhile on the next read. If it doesn't, I'm sure I'll hear back from you!

I like your thought on the website, which I should be doing in the next few days. I'm thinking I'll have four sections:

(a) The system as defined in the book

(b) Corrections to the book

(c) Useful theory that is no longer used - your idea for shunts, for example

(d) New or revised theory that might be incorporated into the system e.g. things that arise from discussions on this blog and/or stuff I am trying out now with Geoff.

Cheers
Alan