his position was played by Life Master Brian Wall on the Internet Chess Club. 

 

   In the position on the right it is White to move. 

 

   Answer below.

   Congratulations to Life Master Brian Wall who is the clear first place winner in the 2013 Colorado Closed!

 

   The Colorado Closed is an invitational event, where the 6 highest rated players in the state are invited to compete.  There are also sections for the scholastic players, and recently there were added "challenger" sections for players who were on the fringe of being invited to the closed.

 

   One of the things that makes this accomplishment by Brian even more impressive, is that for four of the games, he was playing a rated clock simul!

 

   The Colorado Senior event (for players over age 50) was being held at the same time as the Closed, so Brian was playing in both events at the same time.  

 

   It was quite a funny sight - Brian had two wooden boards set up, and a Captain Kirk style chair so he could play both boards at the same time. 

 

   Here is a photo that Shirley Herman took of Brian playing in round 5 of the closed, and Round 4 of the Senior:

 

 

   On a totally different topic....

 

   I would like to talk briefly about a subject that really has nothing to do with chess, but I get a ton of questions about.

 

   That topic is "How do I become a successful author on kindle".  (If this topic is not of interest to you, just skip the rest of this newsletter today).

 

   After the success of my Tactics Time eBook, I have sort of become an accidental "eBook guru".  I have people contacting me from literally all over the world asking me for advice on publishing Kindle eBooks. 

 

   I got emails from an author in Italy asking for advice, and I was able to help him get his book in the top ten chess books on amazon.  I have done Skype calls with New in Chess in The Netherlands where I taught them how to convert their books to Kindle.  Just yesterday someone from Atlanta, Georgia called me wanting some advice for a kids chess book that he wrote. 

 

   Anthea and I started doing on gigs on fiverr.com, where we help authors do book promotions, and it has been very well received.  

 

   At this point I probably spend more time helping other authors than I do answering questions about chess or chess tactics.

 

   It is very flattering when people want your advice, and even look up to you as a role model, but it also gets kind of overwhelming at times.

 

   I read somewhere that 80% of people would like to write a book.  

 

   With the current tools and technology that are out there, the "barrier to entry" is lower than ever, and I really do believe that anyone can write and publish a book these days.

   The sad truth though is that most books that are published barely sell any copies.  Everyone thinks that their book will be the "exception to the rule", but most of the time, it isn't.

   The BIGGEST mistake that authors make though is that they spend all their time WRITING the book, and none of their time learning about the things which actually SELL a book.

 

   If you want your book to sell you have to understand MARKETING.

 

   Writing a good book is only STEP 1.

 

   You also have to understand sales, marketing, design, copy writing, persuasion, formatting, keywords, search engine optimization (SEO), and a dozen other things.

 

   It wasn't a freak accident that my book is consistently the top selling chess book on amazon.

 

   It is because I took the time to learn all of these things.

 

   And one of the people who I learned the most from is now offering his own course on how you too can be a best selling author.

 

   His name is Tom Corson-Knowles, and he is the real deal when it comes to writing and promoting eBooks.   He is the author of multiple book in the "Kindle Bible" series, and I have learned a ton from him.  Some of his ideas are truly genius, and I owe a lot of my success to following his teachings.

 

   I have been friends with him for a while now, and I have shared a lot of my own best tips with him, and I was even featured in one of his books, "Kindle Success Stories".

 

   He is starting a video eCourse, where he will reveal all of his secrets, tips and tricks.  I honestly think if you follow what he teaches you too can have a best selling book (and actually make a decent side passive income as well).

 

   If you are interested, check out http://ude.my/c5wr0.

 

   Full disclosure: This is an affiliate link, and I will get a commission if you purchase through my link.  If you have been a subscriber to my newsletter for a while, you know I don't normally do this kind of thing, and try to avoid anything that might be perceived as "spam".  I fully believe in Tom's methods, and I am not prepared to teach people everything that I have learned about eBook marketing myself, but he is.  If you are serious about publishing a book on Kindle, then this course will be the difference between success and failure in my opinion.

 

   His course is called "How to Become a Bestselling Author on Amazon Kindle", and you will learn a ton - I personally guarantee it!

 

  

   Answer: 

 

   White has 27. Qxe7+ Kxe7 28. Bg5# with a Boden's mate pattern.  

 

 

   Happy Tactics!

 

   Your Friend,