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Oct 02, 2007 | ISBN 9781400034086 Buy
Sep 04, 2007 | ISBN 9780307387660 Buy
Sep 05, 2006 | 487 Minutes Buy
Sep 05, 2006 | 371 Minutes Buy
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Oct 02, 2007 | ISBN 9781400034086
Sep 04, 2007 | ISBN 9780307387660
Sep 05, 2006 | ISBN 9781415933558
487 Minutes
Sep 05, 2006 | ISBN 9780739340059
371 Minutes
A fresh, engaging look at how 32 carved pieces on a Chess board forever changed our understanding of war, art, science, and the human brain.Chess is the most enduring and universal game in history. Here, bestselling author David Shenk chronicles its intriguing saga, from ancient Persia to medieval Europe to the dens of Benjamin Franklin and Norman Schwarzkopf. Along the way, he examines a single legendary game that took place in London in 1851 between two masters of the time, and relays his own attempts to become as skilled as his Polish ancestor Samuel Rosenthal, a nineteenth-century champion. With its blend of cultural history and Shenk’s lively personal narrative, The Immortal Game is a compelling guide for novices and aficionados alike.
A surprising, charming, and ever-fascinating history of the seemingly simple game that has had a profound effect on societies the world over.Why has one game, alone among the thousands of games invented and played throughout human history, not only survived but thrived within every culture it has touched? What is it about its thirty-two figurative pieces, moving about its sixty-four black and white squares according to very simple rules, that has captivated people for nearly 1,500 years? Why has it driven some of its greatest players into paranoia and madness, and yet is hailed as a remarkably powerful educational tool? Nearly everyone has played chess at some point in their lives. Its rules and pieces have served as a metaphor for society including military strategy, mathematics, artificial intelligence, literature, and the arts. It has been condemned as the devil’s game by popes, rabbis, and imams, and lauded as a guide to proper living by different popes, rabbis, and imams. In his wide-ranging and ever fascinating examination of chess, David Shenk gleefully unearths the hidden history of a game that seems so simple yet contains infinity. From its invention somewhere in India around 500 A.D., to its enthusiastic adoption by the Persians and its spread by Islamic warriors, to its remarkable use as a moral guide in the Middle Ages and its political utility in the Enlightenment, to its crucial importance in the birth of cognitive science and its key role in the new aesthetic of modernism in 20th century art, to its 21st century importance to the development of artificial intelligence and use as a teaching tool in inner-city America, chess has been a remarkably omnipresent factor in the development of civilization. Indeed as Shenk shows, some neuroscientists believe that playing chess may actually alter the structure of the brain, that it may for individuals be what it has been for civilization: a virus that makes us smarter.
David Shenk is the national bestselling author of several books, including The Forgetting, Data Smog, and The Immortal Game. He is a correspondent for TheAtlantic.com, and has contributed to National Geographic, Slate, the New York Times, Gourmet, Harper’s Magazine, The New Yorker, NPR, and PBS.
Praise for David Shenk’s The Immortal Game“Elegant . . . A true page-turner, and a superb introduction to the game of chess.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Clear, elegant, sophisticated and easy to understand. . . . Just the thing to get you in the thrall of this ancient game.” —Los Angeles Times
“Shenk, a spry writer. . . . [Offers] a strong case for the game’s bewitching power.” —The New York Times Book Review“Shenk’s book possesses an almost inestimable advantage over the many other publications about chess. . . . You can be an utter novice, just a simple wood-pusher, and enjoy the author’s engaging prose, honest self-deprecation (he’s a lousy player), and the charm of his personal connection to the game.” —The Washington Post
“Fresh and fascinating . . . A world-spanning story [Shenk] relates with skill and verve.” —Chicago Sun-Times
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