A compact and comprehensive chronicle of the worldwide origins and history of the game of chess—from 500 A.D. to its modern gameplay today Have you ever wondered what the pieces in the chessboard mean or why each piece has a unique move? In A Short History of Chess, Henry A. Davidson explores the ancient roots of chess and the developments around the world that led to the modern version of the popular game. For people new to the game and experienced players alike, Davidson includes a polyglot—a lexicon of chess terms in the forty major languages of the world. And for the skeptical reader or those interested in learning more, there is also a working bibliography of English language references.

Chess: An Historical Perspective Chess � the �Royal Game” � is an ancient board game, perhaps fifteen hundred years old. There are many legends about how chess came to be. Most of them are folk tales and are far from reality. Arguably more books have been written about chess than all the other games combined, but relatively little has been written about the history of chess. The topic is difficult; it requires thorough knowledge, and there are still many unknown historical pitfalls. It is therefore no surprise that there exist a variety of hypotheses concerning the origin of chess. In this book, the author, legendary Russian grandmaster Yuri Averbakh, presents a well-researched and documented theory about the origins, development and spread of this immensely popular game. In addition, over three dozen splendid color plates � presented on coated stock making the images suitable for framing � supplement his historical analysis.

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.

Chess in Britain - Chess and machines - Chess in poetry and prose - Chess and mathematicscs _

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 intellectual tool? Nearly everyone has played chess at some point in their lives. Its rules and pieces have served as a metaphor for society, influencing military strategy, mathematics, artificial intelligence, and 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 other popes, rabbis, and imams. Marcel Duchamp was so absorbed in the game that he ignored his wife on their honeymoon. Caliph Muhammad al-Amin lost his throne (and his head) trying to checkmate a courtier. Ben Franklin used the game as a cover for secret diplomacy.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 aesthetic of modernism in twentieth-century art, to its twenty-first-century importance in 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 be for individuals what it has been for civilization: a virus that makes us smarter.

Among the papers left by the late H. J. R. Murray was the typeset of A Short History of Chess which he wrote in 1917. This was not an abridgment of the standard work he had published some years earlier but a new and original brief history of the game from its beginnings until 1866. It has been brought up to date by Mr. B. Goulding Brown and Mr. Harry Golombek.