I spent a dozen years writing with Adorjan, and recently while looking through my library [stacked!] I found some old titles, or pre-titles, which were immediately interesting, the top one having an introduction by Lajos Portisch on the evolution of the Sicilian plus unusual sub-variations + additions, and boy! these Hungarian players loved Fischer! "Hardly anything in the modern repertoire that owes nothing to Fischer" he says. While Adorjan [which is not his real name, btw] and Susan Polgar are also great fans.

Another anecdote I have not read elsewhere is this one: Bobby Fischer asked Portisch many years ago:

'Lajos! is it true that you work on your chess as much as 8-10 hours a day?'
'Yes,' P. L. answered, — 'but what is so strange about that? You do the same thing, don't you?'
'Yes, but I am considered to be a madman...' Bobby said.

But the last in the "Black is Okay" series "Black is Back" has now been written, published by NiC, and I am grateful to read my own name in it [a couple of times.]

Phil Innes

On Wednesday, April 12, 2023 at 5:56:27 AM UTC-6, Phil Innes wrote:
> While Adorjan [which is not his real name, btw]

I looked that up. Yes, he was born Andras Jocha, and for some reason
he changed his name to adopt his mother's maiden name as his surname.

I would not say that this means that this is not his "real" name; it's not
an alias or a pen name where he writes books under one name, and
plays chess under another.

John Savard

He also chose a different first name John, but I dunno if that is private or not. Anyway, I suppose a measure of his work is that he was Kasparovs second for a world championship series, and Kasparov is [Carlson better?] best scoring GM with black ever. But for those unfamiliar with this series, Adorjan asks, "why do we adopt the 'win with white, draw with black' orientation as a 'success strategy? Isn't that a self defeating, or limiting attitude? But we all have been programmed into accepting it rather than look at the double-edged factor of having the initiative. The suggestion is that the initiative can rebound as it were unless you maintain it, which means pushing too hard in positions where you 'ought' to have an advantage, but understand not how to continue it. The sub-title of his last book in the series is "what is white's advantage anyway?"

Phil Innes

> I looked that up. Yes, he was born Andras Jocha, and for some reason
> he changed his name to adopt his mother's maiden name as his surname.
>
> I would not say that this means that this is not his "real" name; it's not
> an alias or a pen name where he writes books under one name, and
> plays chess under another.
>
> John Savard

One of the funniest exchanges I have had with a player-author came about when AA pointed out some dozen reviews of his first "Black is OK" titles. Evidently even certain GM reviewers had obviously done no more than read the back cover. Other more diligent types had gone as far as to read the introduction, in fact representing parts of it it as their own take, but then demurring to the general import of such an approach. I wrote 2,000+ words, which was the start of a great tho sometimes rocky friendship and collaboration.. Phil Innes