Chess was a royal game while draughts was played by the seamen and soldiers and known as the "game of the proletariat". Such terms clearly classify the first game as noble and worthwhile and the second as silly or worse. Many people like to speak about the superiority of chess over the draughts. However, "simple" game does not mean "easy" game. In fact, such people only show their ignorance about these two games. Chess is not harder than draughts. The opposite is true - draughts on a 100-square board is more difficult than chess. Draughts is not easier to play well than chess. The game may seem more monotonous or less interesting than chess, but playing it really well is challenging. Any really good draughts player can play blindfolded just as really good chess players do. In this book you will observe the ideas and comments of a lot of chess and draughts players on the question of which game is more difficult - chess or draughts. You will observe that most of them came to the conclusion that draughts is more difficult than chess. It is interesting to observe that Pierre Gestem who was world champion of draughts and bridge and also a very good chess player observed that for him draughts was the most difficult game in the world. Other world champions of draughts and other chess players were of the opinion that draughts on the 100-square board is much harder than chess. Therefore, draughts can no longer be thought of as a simple game due to people's ignorance. On the other hand, the question always arises whether we can compare these two games as they are so different.

It’s a fact of chess life that if you want to win, you have to put a bit of study in. Every chess player, from near-beginner to experienced tournament player, needs to learn the openings and keep on top of current theory. But studying doesn’t have to be dull. This indispensable book contains foolproof ways to help the information go in... and stay in. Acclaimed chess author Andrew Soltis reveals the key techniques: - Why you can’t study chess the same way you study school subjects - How to acquire the most important knowledge: intuition - The role of memorizing (it’s not a bad thing, despite what people say) - How to get the most out of playing over a master’s game - Adopting a chess hero as a means of learning - How great players study - Computers as a study tool - How to train someone else

In a world awash in data, information systems help provide structure and access to information. Since libraries build, manage, and maintain information systems, librarians and LIS students are often propelled onto the front lines of interactions between library users and technology. But what do librarians need to know to best meet their patron's needs? What exactly are information systems and how do they work? Information expert Ratzan uses plain language, humor, and everyday examples like baseball and arithmetic to make sense of information systems (computer hardware, software, databases, the Internet). He also explores their characteristics, uses, abuses, advantages, and shortcomings for your library. Fun exercises and appendixes are provided to illustrate key points in the book and measure understanding. You can be a technophobe and still learn about systems and subsystems to represent, organize, retrieve, network, secure, conceal, measure, and manage information. This basic introduction addresses both theoretical and practical issues, including: What questions to ask technology vendors to meet your library's needs; When technology may not be the solution to a problem; Secrets

The modern game of chess started around 1475 in Spain when the queen and bishop got a much more powerful move. It was called ""Mad Queen Chess."" These new rules quickly spread throughout western Europe and in Spain. The enhanced move for the chess queen started after the coronation of the powerfull queen of Spain Isabella I. The historical records duly note that Queen Isabella I was crowned with the sword of justice raised in front of her, and the sceptre and throne were given to her. This allusion to the real-world event is so clear within the Scachs d'Amor poem to Isabella's actual coronation that the inspiration of Queen Isabella for the new chess queen and powerfull dama of the draughts game is unquestionable. The Spaniards like the Moors, played a game on the board of lines and called it alquerque. The game became modern draughts through being transferred to the chessboard around that time. This book is the result of at least 30 years investigations in the Spanish archives

This book should be considered a historical book, as it is the draughts' career of Baba Sy, a prominent Senegalese player. He was able to be the best in the world without reading any books. He had a natural talent and was a self-made man thanks to the game of checkers. I have witnessed the achievements of the great Baba Sy and I have been in the early stage of the great players like Harm Wiersma and Ton Sijbrands, on which I predicted in 1964 that they would be a future world champions. So I know the mentality that one must have to succeed in this mind sport. My 40 year stay in Spain and my research on the Moors permits me to know more about the Islamic custom. And so I am now in a much better position than 40 years ago to comment properly on the life of Baba Sy.

Is Nine-Men Morris, in the hands of perfect players, a win for white or for black - or a draw? Can king, rook, and knight always defeat king and two knights in chess? What can Go players learn from economists? What are nimbers, tinies, switches and minies? This book deals with combinatorial games, that is, games not involving chance or hidden information. Their study is at once old and young: though some games, such as chess, have been analyzed for centuries, the first full analysis of a nontrivial combinatorial game (Nim) only appeared in 1902. The first part of this book will be accessible to anyone, regardless of background: it contains introductory expositions, reports of unusual tournaments, and a fascinating article by John H. Conway on the possibly everlasting contest between an angel and a devil. For those who want to delve more deeply, the book also contains combinatorial studies of chess and Go; reports on computer advances such as the solution of Nine-Men Morris and Pentominoes; and theoretical approaches to such problems as games with many players. If you have read and enjoyed Martin Gardner, or if you like to learn and analyze new games, this book is for you.